Black Soap
What is African Black Soap?
Raw African Black soap or Alta Samia is mainly produced in Ghana Africa and is made with all organic ingredients such as palm kernel oil, cocoa pods and/or plantain skin ashes, an unrefdined shea butter. Black soap has been a staple in western Africa for centuries. Authentic African Black Soap is crumbly by nature, exfoliating by nature, brown in color, unscented and soft to the touch. Imitation black soap being sold on the market is hard, black and made with surfactants, unstable oils and scented with artificial fragrances, colors and dyes. These imposters are easy to spot. Imitation black soaps are being mass produced in China and sold as authentic black soap to online stores. If you want authentic black soap obtained from Ghana (See photo) with no artificial ingredients, Cori’s Naturally is the place for you.
Benefits of authentic black soap are numerous and have been well documented to be able to detoxify the skin and alleviate skin conditions such as eczema, hives, ringworm, rashes and hidradenitis. African black soap is made up of almost 50% shea butter which increases its ability to reduce dark spots, acne scars, and discoloration, helps to even skin tone. Black soap’s ability to penetrate skin and clean clogged pores, helps alleviate conditions associated with razor bumps, skin blemishes, blackheads, and the occasional outbreak. It is also great for removing make-up.
Uses of Raw African Black soap include face cleansing, bathing and washing hair. Black soap helps to remove product and oily build-up from hair. It detoxifies the scalp, alleviates sore scalp, dandruff and flakiness. Because of the high shea butter content black soap creates a rich, creamy lather that leaves the skin and hair feeling fresh and clean.
How to use: For deep facial cleansing - Dip a washcloth in very warm water and place it on your face for about 10 minutes. Rub black soap between your hands and apply the lather to your face, rinse well with cool water. This method is deep cleaning and can be drying so should only be done twice a week. To avoid excessive drying, African shea butter should be used as a moisturizer.
For bathing/shower - Wet a washcloth or loofah with water and apply soap to the cloth or bare hands. Do not rub Raw African black soap directly on skin as it is exfoliating and can scratch the skin, to avoid this please use washcloth or loofah. If you choose to rub directly on your skin please use caution.
For hair washing - Thoroughly wet your hair, rub soap between hands and apply to your hair. Alternatively, you can break off a piece of soap and soften in a container with water to liquify then pour on your hair like shampoo. You can use the bar in your hair if you don’t mind hair in your soap or pieces of soap breaking off in your hair.
Storage tips: Black soap is very soft and dissolves quickly, a little goes a long way. To make your soap last longer do not hold soap in your hand while bathing. Store away from heat and moisture, it will melt. If melting occurs in a bag or soap dish, no worries black soap is still good in liquid form.