Charcoal Detox Bar

The history: Charcoal has been used since ancient Egypt, and its activated form, developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, is the deep-cleansing powder of modern skin care.

Traditional use: The drawing powder of the apothecary, stirred into poultices and washes.

The science: Its enormous surface area adsorbs the day's buildup, drawing out impurities for a deep-pore cleanse.

The history: Kaolin is the mild white clay of the Chinese porcelain kilns, the gentlest of the cleansing clays.

Traditional use: The soft clay of the face mask, used for centuries on delicate skin.

The science: It buffers the charcoal and gives the bar a silky, skin-kind glide that keeps the clean from feeling harsh.

The history: The cleansing fat of tropical soap, coconut oil gives the bar its lather and its lift.

Traditional use: The high-lather oil of island soapmaking.

The science: Its cleansing fatty acids carry the charcoal and clay into the lather and the lather down the drain.

The history: Tallow is the original soap fat, the hard white bar of the old household.

Traditional use: The farmstead soap fat, the bar that lasted the winter.

The science: Its fatty-acid profile is close to the skin's own sebum, which keeps the deep clean from leaving the skin tight.

The history: Olive oil is the soap fat of the Mediterranean, the green-gold bar of Castile, washed with for a thousand years.

Traditional use: The gentle oil of the old-world soapmaker.

The science: It adds conditioning and a softer lather to balance the cleanse.

The history: Castor oil lit the lamps of ancient Egypt and anointed the pharaohs; in soap it is the lather oil.

Traditional use: The lather-builder of the old apothecary.

The science: Ricinoleic acid gives the bar fluffy, stable lather that carries the charcoal evenly through the wash.

The history: Tea tree is the paperbark tree of the Australian wetlands, the medicine of the Bundjalung people for generations.

Traditional use: The cleansing leaf of the coastal First Nations, steeped for washes.

The science: Its terpinen-4-ol gives the bar its clean, medicinal-fresh finish, the scent of a skin that has been reset.

The history: Lavender cleaned linens and calmed nerves since Roman laundry day, the flower that made Provence smell like Provence.

Traditional use: The calm herb of the household, dropped into bathwater wherever evenings are honored.

The science: Its linalool and linalyl acetate round the tea tree with a soft, herbal-floral note.