Black Soap: A Beauty Secret From Africa

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Africa's Best Kept Beauty Secret or should I say secrets are not just limited to Shea butter.

Black Soap or African Black Soap also known as Anago Soap or Alata soap, originates from West Africa and is claimed to be one of the healthiest and most beneficial soaps you can use on your skin and hair. It has been used for centuries in Ghana. It's methods and secrets have been passed down from generation to generation to keep the soap close to mother nature and avoid exploitation & imitations. Many have tried to create their version of black soap with all kinds of ingredients.

African black soap is especially recommended for the very young and the elderly, or anyone with tender skin. The main benefits behind African black soap are its superior antiseptic properties. 
 
What Exactly is Black Soap?

Black Soap comes from plantain skin. It is a natural source of vitamins A & E and iron. (In case you don't know what a plantain is. Plantain is a popular food in Africa, South America & other parts of the world. It can be found in ethnic or international grocery stores such as Latino, Caribbean or African. It looks like banana but much bigger. It does not taste like a banana & has to be cooked before eating) The skin of the plantain is gingerly dried to a precise texture under the hot African sun. It is then roasted in a clay oven (although you can purchase raw black soaps). The heat must be constant in order to achieve a particular color, texture & smell. In some recipes, cocoa pod is used instead of or in a addition to plantain skins. Cocoa pod is the shell of the cocoa fruit. The cocoa beans are used for making chocolate or cocoa butter among other things.

The next process is very delicate because if it is not done properly, with the right ingredients, there will be no soap. The roasted plantain skin is mixed with palm oil, palm kernel oil to form the soap. The roasting of the plantains determines the color of the soap. The longer the plantains are roasted, the darker the soap.

Black Soap's Many Benefits

You can use black soap on your body, face, and hair. It can be used by any ethnicity, gender and age. Some of it's uses include cleanser, bathing, aftershave, foot soak, and shampoo. For centuries, Ghanaians have used black soap to help relieve acne, oily skin, clear blemishes and various other skin issues. It has also been used to achieve beautiful skin. Africans have used this natural soap for bathing and washing their hair. Great for removing make-up. Black soap will leave your skin soft and soft.

Skin Benefits:
-As a face treatment, black soap enhances the skin's natural PH-balance thereby restoring the skin's natural protections which fights damaging bacteria, revives pores, improves skin tone, texture and color.
-African black soap is rich in antioxidants and polyphenols. Regular use of black soap helps to remove facial lines that are mostly early signs of aging. Thus black soap can be used to delay aging of skin, especially when combined with shea butter.
-Black soap is very beneficial for reducing the discomforts that are associated with skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema.
-Black soap can be used for the treatment of problems on all types of skin including the dry and rough, oily and moderate skins.
-Use of black soap helps to remove skin irritations like rashes.
-Black soap not only cures skin problems but can also be used as a perfect cleanser for removing make up. It removes every bit of chemicals that can spoil the skin and help to make it clean and fresh.
-African black soap contains antibacterial properties that aid in the prevention of acne and blemishes. Black soap penetrates the skin to pull embedded impurities out of the skin. It helps to prevent excessive oil production and hinders bacterial growth from developing on the skin.
-African women often use black soap during and after pregnancy to minimize the appearance of stretch marks and to alleviate dry skin.
-Black soap is also slightly exfoliating which can help reduce fine lines, even out skin tone and help eliminate the occasional bump and blemish.

Cleanser/facial: You can use this natural soap for just your face if you wish. It deep cleans and is especially helpful to acne prone skin. You can use it as a cleanse or give yourself a facial. It's simple. Get a small towel, dip it into some warm water, squeeze out and place the towel over your face for about 10 seconds or until the towel goes cold. Repeat several times. When you are done, wash your face with our black soap. Don't forget behind your ears, under your chin and your neck. Rinse with warm water.

Shampoo: Before there was shampoo, there was black soap. Since centuries ago, Africans have been washing their hair with this amazing soap. Used as a shampoo, black soap can leave your hair healthier, shinier and with more bounce. Simply, wet your hair, rub black soap in your hair until it lathers. Wash your hair, rinse & repeat the process until your hair is clean. African black soap can be used to treat and prevent dandruff; the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties contained in African black soap are beneficial for prohibiting bacterial growth on the scalp and relieving minor scalp irritation. If you are experiencing excessive dandruff or itching of the scalp, please contact a trichologist, a professional skilled in treating scalp disorders.

 
Real Versus Fake Black Soap

If you want to reap all the many benefits of black soap, you must get the genuine stuff. REAL BLACK SOAP simply consists of roasted plantain skins, cocoa pod, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, palm oil & natural sodium. Plantains are a major component of black soap. For this reason people who find themselves imitating black soap do not tell their consumers that a major component of the soap is left out. Also Black Soap's method is a well kept secret. So unless the recipe is given to a person, there is no way that person can produce traditional black soap which is mostly found in Ghana & Nigeria. If one does not have the original recipe, one has no choice but to buy the original soap straight from it's origin.
 

So in an effort to duplicate the soap, people have disregarded the original components, added their own, and labeled the soap African Black Soap. This practice is an insult to Africans who have used black soap for centuries before it was whispered to the world. The fake soap is hard, dyed black and does not even compare to the original. Real Black Soap is always brownish-black. The longer the plantain skins are roasted the darker the soap. But the soap is never completely black. It is not scented.

In this era of shea butter craze, black soap has also fallen to a million and one versions out there. Many black soaps now include shea butter, vitamin E (which the original black soap has plenty of already) and various other ingredients. Do yourself a favor and purchase samples. Try it out for quality and texture and then decide from there. Just as there are a million versions of shower gels on the market, there will be a million versions of shea butter and black soap.

There is no such thing as traditional liquid black soap. If you encounter liquid black soap bear in mind it is not traditional. There are liquid black soaps on the market made from natural ingredients that are wonderful, just not traditional (many rave highly about Shea Terra Liquid Black Soap). Do not confuse these with traditional black soap. Liquid black soap is new to the market and an extension of traditional black soap. Always check the ingredient list.

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