African Black Soap – Health Hut Wellness Center

African Black Soap

Conventional soaps can damage your skin

It’s been well documented over the years that conventional soaps, which are made by mixing fat or oil with an alkali such as lye, can wreak skin by changing its pH, obliterating healthy bacteria, and stripping away vital oils.

The pH of your skin really matters

Healthy skin pH is around 5.5, which is slightly acidic, but most conventional soaps have a much higher pH, sometimes as high as 11.

“When the skin’s pH is too high, your body produces excess sebum to fight back and restore its natural pH levels. However, the soap residue ensures the disruptive pH is maintained,” says independent beauty chemist David Pollack. “The end result is that skin can become too oily. If that isn’t bad enough, soap residue emulsifies or binds to the skin’s lipid matrix.”

How long it takes to damage our skin’s acid mantle (a protective layer of oils, fatty acids, and amino acids) can vary, but signs of damage include increased dryness, itching, irritation, and inflammation. All this can also worsen skin conditions such as acne, eczema, dermatitis, and rosacea.

And what would help some of those symptoms? The oils that conventional soap strips away!

These oils serve an important function in keeping skin moisturized and intact. Without them, our skin becomes susceptible to cracks, tears, and other irritation that can jeopardize its function as a protective barrier.

What Makes African Black Soap Special?

Here’s an overview of the core ingredients found in traditional African black soap, along with their benefits:

Plantain Peels

Cooking bananas (or Musa paradisiaca) are a good source of antioxidants, protein, folic acid, thiamine, riboflavin, potassium, and vitamin C.

Cocoa Pods

Rich in antioxidants, cocoa pods – or the shells that house the treasured cocoa bean – also have strong anti-inflammatory properties.

Coconut Oil

A well-rounded ingredient indeed, coconut oil cleans and moisturizes the skin, and helps kick start collagen production.

Palm Kernel Oil

Obtained from the seed of Elaeis guineensis, palm kernel oil is rife with several types of fatty acids.

Palm Oil

Derived from the fruit of the palm tree, unrefined palm oil (known as red palm oil) is abundant in vitamin E, alpha and beta carotene and other antioxidants, as well as essential fatty acids.

Shea Butter

Also plentiful in beneficial fatty acids, shea butter is a prized ingredient for silky smooth skin. It helps repair damaged skin tissues and boost the body’s ability to generate collagen.

Benefits of African Black Soap

This mixture of plants and fats have been used for centuries for beautiful skin and hair. Here’s how:

Natural Skin Cleanser

Like any soap should, African black soap is an effective topical cleanser. The lauric acid in palm kernel oil and coconut oil creates a nice lather and is naturally antimicrobial. Due to the presence of shea butter and other moisturizers in African black soap, it will clean your face and body without stripping oils from the skin.

Good for All Skin Type

Whether you have dry skin, oily skin, or a combination of the two, African black soap works wonders for every skin type. Thanks to the addition of coconut oil, this soap counteracts dryness by deeply hydrating the skin. It’s excellent for oily skin too since it adds moisture to the skin, which helps to correct and balance an overactive sebaceous gland.

Gentle Exfloliation

African black soap is organic, unprocessed, and raw – which means that you shouldn’t be surprised if your bar comes with fine particles of vegetative matter inside. Aside from knowing you bought the authentic stuff, the grainy quality of this soap makes it a fantastic gentle exfoliator.

Fight Acne

In addition to the cleansing powers of lauric acid, African black soap also contains other nutrients and fatty acids that make it a robust acne fighter. Coconut oil is an excellent acne treatment since it is comprised of caprylic acid, capric acid, and vitamin E, which work in tandem to balance the skin’s pH levels and calm inflamed and irritated skin.

Likewise, palm oil can help prevent and heal acne breakouts since it is rich in beta carotene, oleic acid and linoleic acid. These fats also have anti-inflammatory properties that create an occlusive barrier that keeps moisture in, while vitamin A is an essential nutrient for all-round healthy looking and feeling skin.

Reduce Fine Lines & Wrinkles

Utilizing two ingredients that are frequently discarded as waste products, cocoa pods and plantain peels are both a rich source of antioxidants. Cocoa pods are composed of gallic acid, tannins, and catechins while plantain peels contain rutin, protocatechuic acid, and quercetin. Providing a diverse mix of phenolics and flavonoids that work in synergy with one another, African black soap can help fight free radical damage that contribute to the physical signs of aging.

Even Skin Tone

Hyperpigmentation – or the darkening of an area of the skin – can be caused by sun damage, acne, inflammation, and other skin injuries that increase the production of melanin. Tyrosinase is an enzyme that helps regulate melanin; if tyrosinase is not functioning properly in the body, it allows melanin to increase unchecked. This can result in dark circles under the eyes, liver spots, and other patches of discolored skin.
Studies have shown that cocoa pods can inhibit tyrosinase activity, resulting in lighter skin tones. It also has the ability to naturally absorb UV light, offering some added protection from sun damage that causes dark spots to form in the first place.

Treat Eczema

Marked by dry, red, sensitive, and itchy skin, eczema symptoms can be swiftly treated with African black soap. Free of artificial chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin, African black soap is enriched with plenty of things that can counter inflammation and add moisture to the epidermis. Coconut oil, shea butter, and red palm oil, in particular, provide deep hydration while soothing the swelling and pain that often accompanies an eczema flare-up.

Minimize Scars & Blemishes

The unique combination of ingredients in African black soap also means it is excellent for reducing the appearance of acne scars, evidence of past skin wounds, and stretch marks. Shea butter is a well-regarded ointment for repairing skin tissue and boosting collagen production. Red palm oil is a good source of vitamin E, a crucial element for the maintenance of healthy skin. And lastly, the essential fatty acids in palm kernel oil, red palm oil, and coconut oil bolster the regeneration of skin cells to help scars fade away.

Clarifying Scalp Treatment

Dry skin, shampooing too often, using lots of styling products, and dermatitis can cause flaky dandruff on the scalp. Remove this flaky build-up with the African black soap clarifying treatment. For oily hair, dilute a small amount of soap with water and let it permeate the scalp for 10 minutes. For normal or dry hair, dilute with a conditioning oil like coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, or shea butter, and rinse away soon after massaging it into your scalp. African black soap is powerful stuff, so finish by rinsing with apple cider vinegar to help detangle and soften your tresses.

Natural Anti-Fungal

Shown to be effective against several strains of fungus, you can use African black soap to treat athlete’s foot, nail fungus, ‘jock itch’, ringworm, and candida overgrowth. It can be used against household mold too.