LET'S HAVE A QUICK CHAT ABOUT AFRICAN BLACK SOAP. STEP INTO MY OFFICE.....
Okay, so black soap has been put on the stake to burn by skincare influencers. Fair enough, it is a strong bit of skincare that perhaps we didn’t quite understand how to use effectively. It is the reason behind countless broken moisture barriers and dehydrated oily skin conditions. Let’s not forget the confusion that comes with using black soap. ‘Wait, I thought black soap is natural? Isn’t natural the best? ’ ‘After all, my skin feels reeeeaaalllyyy clean after I use it’ ‘Such a great price! Aaaand after all if our grandmothers used it then why not us?’
I get it. Black soap was ( and still is) misunderstood but instead of schooling ourselves about CLEANSING, we decided to punish the soap and blame it. ( The cultural implications ...sigh..A conversation for another day). By the way, this blog post has started, you can tell that I am somewhat of an advocate for black soap. I am an advocate because I chose to understand it for what it is and use it in a way that respects its nature AND my beauty needs.
Let’s start with what exactly black soap is. Traditionally, black soap is made from oils, butters and potash. Potash is the ash needed to turn the butters and oil into a soap and this potash can be made from cocoa pods, shea tree bark and plantain. Sounds good already, right? This simple recipe varies according to the region and recipes handed down through the generations. The recipe creates a soft crumbly soap that is speckled with different shades of brown. This is AUTHENTIC black soap.
Black soap became ridiculously popular in the last two decades. Oily skinned folk and acne prone folk loved the stripping nature of the soap. After all, all we knew was ‘wash all the oil from the skin’. I also feel it made those who love to ride the natural wave and were of African descent have something from home in the beauty routines and that warmed their hearts ( A conversation about the erasure of African beauty. Not today ) . FYI. The recent perfect hard bar of black soap is something created to satisfy the tastes of a market that is used to a hard bar of soap and that is not authentic black soap
Back to why I advocate for it. I think black soap is an amazing thing. I love it for my hair and because of what I know about cleansing, I can definitely make black soap work for cleansing my skin without breaking my moisture barrier and turning myself into a prune. Here is where I think we should have gone with it. We should have added more hydrating ingredients to it! Who says we can't change the recipe? Isn't evolution what we are all about as humans? It is until some white person (or cooperation. Shea Moisture’s black soap is evidence of this. And NO. Shea Moisture is not black-owned) will come and take our heritage from us and use it to make a lot of money ( because this is one white supremacy’s favorite sports). I am waiting for this change. We can make black soap something even MORE epic. I pray this change comes in the hands of the descendants of those who created this. prays to the ancestors
Okay, enough. Let me share my tips on how you can incorporate black soap into your beauty routine safely!
Buffer it! Before using the soap to cleanse the skin, massage the skin with any good quality oil that suits your skin type and budget. Feel free to also use a balm or a butter. I have found this technique to work wonderfully when I have used black soap.
Don’t use this as a morning cleanse. It’s far too much. No one needs to clean their skin THAT clean in the morning. Unless you have busy sweaty hot dusty mornings before you do your morning cleanse. I repeat, always leave room for context in skincare!
If you can, don’t let this be your predominant cleanser. One of the reasons behind the popularity of black soap is its affordability. This in turn creates an assumption that one’s beauty budget is tight. I absolutely acknowledge this! If your skin health is important to you, save up and buy a secondary cleanser. Do some research and find one that is within a price point that works for you and one that is gentle. Black soap is a strong cleanser. Using it daily may not be the best move for any skin type.
A few companies are trying to make black soap, even more, user-friendly with the addition of hydration-loving ingredients such as glycerin, honey, and oat extracts. I have tried some. Not bad. Personally, I still found them to be too strong for me to use daily. Do some research. You may find a black soap that is not too much for your skin.
It’s the best shampoo I have ever used. In fact, it's the only shampoo I use. Love it. If you don’t know, I have thick coily hair that loves to be fed with oils and butters in between washes. In fact, most women with my hair type will resonate. The hair loves some oil and butter! Black soap is such an effective and nourishing way to cleanse my scalp and hair.
I do sometimes use black soap on my body but the water in my home is hard and black soap does not like hard water. I would use it more to be honest if it was not for the hard water. Black soap is a fantastic body cleanser. Just make sure you moisturize your body well.
So here is to the VALIDITY of black soap. Here is clarity. And here is to that epic human who will take the old and beautiful recipe of African black soap, treat it with respect and honor and turn into something that will serve us even better.