Black soap is used all over the world. As a black woman, black skin care is a priority, especially in a beauty industry that is just learning the benefits of diversity. While natural hair products are fast growing in popularity, black skin care products are just beginning to have their appearance in the spotlight.

If you’re new to the scene, you’ve probably been bombarded with advertisements of different companies touting their latest product as a miracle. Usually the hype isn’t worth believing but with black soap, a lot of you love it.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. It’s Cheap:

African black soap is made from great natural ingredients like plantain peels, coconut oil, cocoa pods, palm oil, kernel oil, cam wood and Shea butter.

All these natural ingredients are great for your skin and provide a product at an affordable price.  For some of you it actually lives up to hype, it is multi-functional and has an earthy smell.

2. It’s Anti-Bacterial:

Black Soap is made from natural ingredients made specifically for black skin care. It contains great phytochemical and cleansing oils gotten from plants that work hand in hand to get rid of incredibly bad bacteria.

3. It’s Used in Anti-Ageing Treatment

The composition of black soap makes it optimum to fight ageing. Some of the ingredients in the soap like plantain peels contains antioxidants, quercetin, protocatechuic acid and rutin. While others like cocoa pods contain gallic acid, tannis and catechins.

These ingredients are responsible to a large extent in the reversal of damage done to the skin by agents like free radicals.

4. It’s Known to Aid in the Treatment of Acne:

Black Soap contains lauric acid which is great for fighting acne. That’s not where the goodness stops. Black African soap is enriched with great fatty acids like the ones contained in the coconut oil and palm oil. It contains Vitamin E, oleic acid, capric acid, linoleic acid, etc. All these helps soothe irritated and inflamed skin and also balances the pH of your face to avoid further inflammation.

5. It Exfoliates

Black soap is great for exfoliation. Exfoliation is one of the easiest ways to get your glow back but keep it as long you want.

Exfoliation is simply the removal of dead skin cells either through the use of a sponge, special kind of acids and scrubs.  African soap is mostly unprocessed and is ground by hand. This simply means to the average black soap is a little rough and grainy.

When it’s rubbed against your skin, the grainy texture of the soap gently exfoliates and removes dead skin cells. Also on the plus side, removing dead skin cells also gets rid of the bacteria that has settled on your face.

How to Use Black Soap for Black Skin Care.

• Use only organic black soap. Organic black soap is darkish brown, rough and has an earthy smell. Soaps are readily sourced from reliable organic stores or from local stores in West Africa; Nigeria and Ghana.
• If you feel up to it, you can make your batch of  black soap by watching tutorial  videos on YouTube.
• For first timers, tryout your soap on a patch of skin inside your elbow and take note of any skin reaction.
• First timers usually  report a burning sensation on first use. This sensation usually regresses as the soap is used. However, if burning sensation persists, stop use and see a dermatologist.
• For best results, use black soap only at night and remember to moisturize.
• Black soap increases sun sensitivity, so using a sunscreen during the day and preventing unnecessary sun exposure is advised.

African black soap can work for a lot of you.  It typically works best on those challenged with oily skin.  That’s it for this week.  As always …

Dedicated To Your beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Esthetician/Author/Publisher

Nyraju Skin Care