Description

This product in made by local women in Ghana, West Africa. Known as “alata samina (soap),” African black soap is rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and iron and possesses a unique antiseptic quality. This raw, organic, unrefined black soap is a mild and wonderful cleanser that can be used on the entire body. It’s been said that it can be used for acne, helping the discomforts of eczema, psoriasis, itchy scalp and sensitive skin in general.

Having been around for centuries, like most other soaps, it’s a mixture of oils, waxes, vitamins and ash. The absence of lye, traditionally used in soap making, makes African Black Soap much softer, with a crumbly and uneven surface. Real African black soap is never uniformly black, and if you find one that is, it’s probably not the real deal. Real African black soap varies in color from brown or beige to gray or combination of all three.

Authentic Black Soap contains water, cocoa pod ashes, plantain skin ashes, and palm oil cooked together to form soap. Tiny coconuts from the palm plant are used for their oily husks. The oil filled husks are put into a press and muscle power forces the pure palm oil from the fiber. Oils are in their purest form which makes for a highly nourishing soap. The Palm Oil is then heated. The Cocoa Pod is packed full of seeds (cocoa beans) which are released and burnt to produce Cocoa Pod Ashes. The plantain skins are dried in the heat of the sun and then roasted in a clay oven. The heat is at a constant temperature in order to achieve a particular color, texture, and smell. The cocoa pod and plantain ash are cooked in water to make them dissolve. This combined ash water is added to hot Palm Oil. The mixture is cooked and stirred. Soap begins to form from the foam on the surface, scooped off the top, and placed on a cooling table.