When it comes to the skin care, African black soap is a legend. I give my dab offering to the formulator of the soap. The good old soap have been saving skins, restoring shine and the good part? at a very affordable rate.
You know it’s not expensive to look good, as long as you know what suits your skin.
It’s true that African Black Soap solves a lot of skin problems but if you’re not careful, you may end up compounding your skin issues. As always, fasten your seat belt ‘cos this ride is going to be bumpy and interesting with a lot of sights to see. Lest i forget, there’s popcorn and zobo next to you. (You’ve gotta snack healthy too)
As against the name “African Black Soap”, the soap is not a black kind of black soap in its natural state unless it has been tampered with. The ABS in its true nature is light brown to deep brown. I’m sure you must have heard of Dudu Osun before now, right? Yes, that is an example of branded ABS that has been tampered with. Yeah, Dudu Osun has camwood extracts and some other additives in it.
What Then Is African Black Soap?
There is nothing like: “the darker it is, the more original it is”. Don’t use dyes and charcoal to bath please. African Black Soap is not dark in complexion. She is a chocolate beauty without additives.
The reason why the soap is brown is one of it’s key ingredients: ash. It contains ashes from cocoa pods, plantain skin and sometimes other ashes as well. The ashes also contain a form of natural lye, and therefore ABS requires no extra lye in the production. This is the reason to why the black soap is softer and comes out in crumbs than your regular bar soap.
The origin of African Black soap is quite interesting and making it varies from region to region. In this documentary by SpiceTV, you’ll see the origin and twitch in its making.
What I love the most is in the making of African Black Soap. You may wonder why. This is because it can be twitched to suit any skin condition and formulated for any skin color. What should be key is in not making it too harsh or overly mild. All in all, moderation is key! Before we go into the details, watch how raw black soap is made.
Making The Raw African Black Soap. (For All Skin Types)
The ingredients and steps in making the raw African Black Soap is quite easy and direct. You would not need much but you’ll be very patient.
Recipe:
- Cocoa Beans,
- Plantain Skin,
- Palm Oil,
- Shea Butter,
- Essential oil(optional)
- Honey.
Procedure:
There is nothing serious in the making of the African Black Soap.
In making Solid African Black Soap,
- Dry the plantain skin, cocoa beans and palm tree leaves under the sun.
- Burn cocoa beans over low flame until they turn to ash.
- Burn the plantain skins to ash as well.
- Add water to the cocoa bean and plantain skin ashes.
- Place the palm oil in a boiler.
- Add the ashes and Shea butter to mixture.
- Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture becomes smooth.
- Add the honey to the mixture.
- If you want, add an essential oil like lavender or eucalyptus while liquid is cooking to add a scent.
Soap should start to solidify and float to the top of liquid. Use a spoon to scoop out the soap mixture as it settles on top of the liquid.
Place the soap mixture in a mold. The soap will conform to the mold once it has completely cooled.
N.B: Allow two weeks for soap to cure before using.
Some people may be as lazy as I am in terms of picking up a bar soap, there is an alternative in making your black soap into the liquid form too.
Liquid African Black Soap can be made by following the same directions for making solid form and adding distilled water to prevent hardening. Use one part water to four parts of soap mixture.
For the team light skin, you may be wondering if ABS won’t “stain” your skin tone. Don’t worry, that is where the twitching of black soap comes in. The above process was for the regular black soap, for all skin types.
African Black Soap For Fair Skin
The major twitch in the making of African Black Soap for far skin is by adding organic lightening herbs. I recommend dry herbs if you’ll be making the soap in large quantity so as ensure its longevity.
Your knowledge of organic skin lightening herbs come to play here. You can infuse as many herbs as possible, but be careful not to use too much so as not to have an inefficient pack of herbs and oils. Little goes a long way in this way. Below are some skin lightening herbs, juices or oils that may be incorporated into the ABS:
- Camwood
- Turmeric powder
- Neem
- Tea Tree oil
- Hibiscus flower
- Rosehip oil
- Lemon Juice
- Lime Juice
- Rice Flour
- Oat powder
- Beet root
- Indian Gooseberry powder
- Licorice powder
- Castor Oil
- Grapeseed Oil
- Vegetable Glycerin
- Vitamin A Palmitate
- Kojic Acid
- Kojic Acid Dipalmitate
- Rosehip Oil
- Hempseed Oil
- Carrot Oil
In making your fair skin soap or brightening soap, you don’t need to add all the ingredients listed above. They are just some of the things used in making a brightening soap.
Below is a very detailed video on how to make the brightening soap.
N.B: There is no fixed rule on how to go about the black soap making. You can incorporate whatever to suit your skin’s health as long as you’re not overloading the soap.
Also, if you’re using already made soap as the base of your soap, do well to check the ingredients to avoid doubling.
That said, I hope you know you can also incorporate bitter leaf into your African Black Soap? The result is out of this world. Your skin will thank you with glow everyday.
Now, we know we’ve talked greatly about the benefits of African Black Soap and how it wows the skin and body. Do you know it has side effect too?
Side Effect of African Black Soap.
The African Black Soap is lovely, kind to the skin, improves skin health, and so on only if you’re sure of what is in it. Buying regular ABS from anyone or anywhere may cause you more harm than good. I remember having breakouts and a very sore face when i started using the almighty Dudu Osun at a time. My skin is oily in nature and using the soap dried out all the oil on my face. It felt good for a few days till I started breaking out. At this point, i was using the soap as a mask. Having understood the cause of the breakouts, I melted the soap and added honey into it. And boom! My face was back.
What am I saying?
ABS has side effects on the skin too, especially if you do not formulate the ingredients.
- Allergic reaction
This is one of the very rare and unlikely side effects of African Black soap. The human skin and nature varies largely from one individual to the other.
Hence, it may contain some ingredients that some humans may be naturally allergic to. People allergic to cocoa, plantain and maybe physical melon may become allergic to using African black soap. Symptoms and signs that you are allergic to what’s inside black soap include breathing difficulty, itchiness, tightening of the chest and rash.
- Over Drying of the skin
If you naturally have a dry skin, using African black soap may pose a bit of a problem. It might cause serious flaking and over drying of your skin. People with oily skin may have no problem with this, but for people with completely dry skin, it may adversely affect you.
However, there’s a very slim possibility that you might have hard water in your area. If you do, I strongly recommend against using Black soap.
- Flaking and peeling
There are different ways the African black soap is produced so depending on the way it is produced and the quantity of exfoliating ingredients used, it may cause excessive flaking and hurt your skin. The way to avoid this is to physically inspect the soap and be sure that you are not going to cause a peeling by using it.
It may start from the nose bridge, to the legs and so on.
- Skin irritation
When purchasing the raw black soap as seen in the first video, it is usually not molded into large blocks. It’s usually in pieces. This form is not supposed to be used directly on the skin as its effects might be adverse. You may mix it with honey to soothe its acidity.
Nevertheless, even with the dilution with other things, you might experience skin irritation. Most likely, your skin is not compatible with African Black soap. You might also have scars or cuts that are causing that. In this case, it is advisable to stop using it till you get your skin all sorted out.
You do not need to be scared about the side effect of the soap. That is why you can formulate it to suit your skin condition.
Here, are the goodness of the soap.
Benefits of African Black Soap:
Protects Against Photo Aging
Antioxidants in black soap protect the skin from free radical damage, which is a cause of premature skin aging, wrinkles and facial lines.
Improves Skin Tone
If you want to blend your skin tone, African Black soap should be on your mind. It firms and tones skin and improves skin texture, for more supple and glowing skin.
Fades Skin Discolorations
Black soap helps even out and fade brown spots and discolorations through balancing the melanin production in the skin.
Reduces Inflammation and Skin Irritations
Black soap helps reduce inflammation and skin irritations. It is soothing on dry and irritated skin, relieving dry patches, rashes and red areas.
Helps to Heal Problem Skin
It eases the symptoms of skin conditions like acne. Users have said that black soap helps lessen, treat and clear acne, gets rid of blackheads, psoriasis and eczema.
Has Deep Cleansing Action
Black soap has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties and is great for deep pore cleansing. It also is effective at removing makeup because of the oils and butters. Why not try this as a make up remover?
Alleviates Razor Bumps
African Black Soap is often used by men during shaving because of the high shea butter content, which protects the skin.
It’s an Effective Exfoliant
The ashes in black soap provide exfoliating properties to remove dead skin cells and thereby improve fine lines, soften and rejuvenate rough skin.
There’s something worth sharing about this African Black Soap. Some claim it is the same as Moroccan black soap. That is FALSE
Before talking about the difference in the soaps, here’s a little to know about Moroccan Soap.
- It is mainly made from oils.
- It’s slightly darker than the raw African black soap
- It is of a creamier consistency.
How to make Moroccan Black Soap.
If you prefer homemade cosmetics but do not know how to make Moroccan soap, here is a simple recipe.
Moroccan black soap ingredients:
- 300 g of olive oil
- 60 g of coconut oil
- 40 g of castor oil
- 140 g of water
- 73 g of potassium hydroxide
- 100 g of eucalyptus leaves
- 8 g of eucalyptus oil
Moroccan black soap recipe:
- Heat the oils with a water bath.
- Mix the oils with a blender.
- Add grinded eucalyptus leaves, previously sifted to remove big pieces.
- Mix everything well and pour into container. Seal tightly and leave for 1-1.5 months.
- Then, add eucalyptus essential oil and mix well.
- Use in sauna bath or as a part of regular shower routine.
Moroccan Black Soap vs African Black Soap.
Source: jiji.ng
As you could already notice, both African and Moroccan black soap are effective for curing acne and dark spots, for dealing with stretch marks, skin lightening, and general skin care. After using African black soap, you will shortly notice before and after effect.
Nevertheless, reviews show some differences between African and Moroccan black soap.
Differences Between Moroccan Black Soap and African Black Soap.
- Main ingredient: for African black soap it is herbal ash, for Moroccan black soap it is olive oil (with adding fresh mashed olives sometimes).
- Consistency: African soap is solid, while Moroccan is creamy.
- Application: African soap can be used for daily shower routine, while Moroccan soap is better for spa procedures.
Popular Brands of African Black Soap.
There are tons of black soap out there, especially now that everyone seem to be going back to organic care. This is not an ultimate list, but a good one on the varying brands out there.
Zee soap(now you know the origin of that station. haha)
Dudu Osun African Black Soap (it just have to be there)
NaturaGlow Black Soap (we’ve gotta make the list)
Kimora Bitterleaf Black Soap (Many have sworn about this too)
Orico Black Soap
Dudu Yoyo( don’t mind the name. It did my skin good)
Ambi Black Soap with shea butter
Shea moisture African Black Soap
Nubian Heritage African Black Soap
Incredible by Nature’s Black Soap
There’s no end to this list, like I said earlier, pick the one that suits your skin based on the ingredients used in their formulation or you mix yours yourself.
Conclusion:
So, have you been using black soap, do you plan on mixing yours, do you need black soap expert advise *winks drop a comment and I’ll rush down to tell you all you need to know.
Yours Soapily,
Omoyele.
Great post, how do I incorporate bitter leaf into my black soap?