WAHITO: Is raw African black soap the answer to healthy skin?

African women are known for their pure, glowing skin with a melanin touch, of course. Women want to feel more comfortable in their own skin and maintain their natural beauty.

One of the secrets is the original African Black soap which has gone global in the beauty industry.

Made of essential oils from palm tree (coconut oil), sheer barks and burnt leaves from plantain leaves, the soap contain antioxidant properties and moisturising properties from the shea and coconut oil.  It has abundance of iron and vitamin A and E from the plantain ash.

CHARM

Originally from West Africa, the raw African black soap is beginning to be a charm that will change the beauty industry. Also known as ose dudu the soap originates  from the Yoruba from Nigeria , Benin and Togo . The words “ose” meaning soap and “dudu” meaning black translates to black soap . In countries such as Ghana, it is known as anago samina.

Black soap can easily be differentiated from synthetic black soaps. Black soap is actually not black. It has a brown colour, coarse, not uniformly shaped and it is malleable. It is affordable and can retail for as little as Sh400 to Sh600 .

The unique feature about the organic soap is that is safe for all skin types. Humans have different skin types; oily, dry, normal, sensitive and combination skin.

For normal skin type, the skin is less irritant and it’s likely to react well with the soap ingredients thus able to maintain that natural glow even without a moisturiser.

The struggle of having dry skin means that will remain flaky with dry patches, despite intense moisturising, and will often remain tight after cleansing. Black soap is recommended but once or twice per week. It is advisable to use a good moisturiser such as shea butter afterwards.

Oily skin has to be one of the type that is prone to acne and breakouts because pores tend to clog hence if you have oily skin you should be attentive to your skin. The raw properties of the organic black soap would work well with this type due to its natural exfoliating properties and that it is a deep cleanser.

For sensitive and combination skin, it is advisable to test the soap on a small part of the skin just to see how the skin reacts. They are both delicate skin types. Combination skin means having an oily T-zone (forehead, nose and cheeks area) and the rest of the skin appears dry and flaky.

EXFOLIATING

More often than not there are cases of people especially women losing their confidence because of how they look. It is important to note that the possibility of this can be factual.

Common skin problems such as acne, eczema, black heads and black spots, hyperpigmentation, stretchmarks, fine lines and wrinkles are unavoidable when it comes to skin maintenance.

Exfoliation is one of the ways of keeping your skin smooth and get rid of dead skin. Due to its natural exfoliating properties, the moisture in the black soap will help maintain the skin from razor bumps after shaving or waxing. This will also help in improving skin texture.

The organic nature of the black soap brings about its micro bacterial properties, the shea oil and vitamin E content helps in repair of damaged cells hence fighting propinobacterium acenes, the causative agent of acne.

The black soap will also help in reducing hyperpigmentation caused by acne scarring and sun damage. It also helps in soothing redness and irritation caused by skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema.

This also shows that black soap can be an antifungal catalyst hence getting rid of fungal conditions.

A study done by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York) approves that there is a wide range of people who use black soap and there is satisfaction of black soap conquering skin conditions.

However more research is needed to uncover how production differs among products.