African black soap

African black soap originated from west Africa and has become popular enough that the western world like the U.S. wants a hand at ruining it. The original soap is pretty natural in that someone burns some stuff like cocoa pods and plantain leaves and cooks the ashes with some oils like shea butter and palm oil for a really long time. Then they leave the soap out to dry and I guess that's the curing process. It's become popular enough in the U.S. that U.S. manufacturers are making their own version, but with synthetic, not so natural or healthy materials like sodium laurel sulfate.

I first noticed black soap when I was order a new batch of oils to make my lotion. The seller had added black soap to their list of wares and I was really curious. They claim theirs is the authentic stuff shipped from Africa. I held of buying it for a while but eventually decided to just try it out. I got it yesterday and tried it out last night.

The soap is unlike any other soap I have ever encountered. It's pliable and you can mold it with your hands. It also has a deep brown, mottled color. To use, you break a piece off and take it with you to the shower. After, you have to let it dry. Letting it sit in a puddle will melt the soap away.

So the verdict is, I love it! It is better than any soap I have ever used! I even used it on my face, though I haven't tried washing my hair with it yet. The soap provides good slip, but not much lather. However, I noticed a real difference a few minutes after leaving the shower. My skin felt really soft, as if I had already applied lotion to it. It felt so nice, that even though I only tried this soap out once so far, it is now my favorite soap!