Does the idea of using soap on your face terrify you? Because it definitely terrifies me. Always has, actually. I rarely use soap bars on my body, let alone my face; I always find them way too drying and irritating; my skin always feels tight, dry and itchy afterwards. Shea Moisture’s Black African Soap ($5.00) might just be a game changer.
I always saw this “African Black Soap” popping up on my Amazon.com feed as a recommendation, but since I’m not a huge fan of bar soap, I never thought twice about it. Since then, I’ve heard only good things about the Black Soap and decided to see if it’s as awesome as everyone claims it to be.
First thing that I noticed immediately after opening this soap was the scent. Ermahgerd, this smells awesome. It’s like a sweet and musky scent, sort of a combo between licorice and bamboo. It’s such an intoxicating smell, I found it hard to believe that it was a 100% natural product. This brings me to a second great thing about this soap; it’s completely natural, made with organic and ethically sourced Shea Butter, it doesn’t contain any synthetic colors or fragrance, parabens or harsh chemicals. The Black African Soap is said to calm and clear, balance and resolve troubled skin.
Despite being a bit hesitant about using it on my face I did give it a try. It lathers up beautifully and feels surprisingly soothing on skin. The best way to use it is lather it up in your palms or washcloth and proceed to wash your face/body in circular motion. I’d definitely wouldn’t use this directly on my face as it can irritate it a bit since it’s a large and bulky bar. I actually really liked using this on my face, I felt that it was a very calming, non-drying experience. I’m not sure if I’ll make it a daily habit of using this on my face since I’m scared of changing up my routine, but will definitely continue to replace my cleanser with this few times a week.
During this time of the year, I tend to get few breakouts on my back ( I think it’s due to my skin being a bit dry) and this has helped to eliminate them 100%. Those little annoying bumps were literally gone after 2 days, crazy, right? I also used this soap all over my body and avoided using a body lotion after a shower, just to see how my skin would react. Surprisingly I didn’t feel my skin being overly dry, which is what always happens if I don’t use a lotion right after a shower. I also had this horrible dry patch on my shoulder that never seems to go away and this has helped to not only soothe it, but eventually it made it heal and disappear. That’s when I knew that the hype was real with this soap. The Black African Soap is also said to help skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis and it’s supposedly a miracle worker for acne-prone skin. I have a friend who suffers from eczema and I’m thinking of picking up a few of these for her.
One other thing worth mentioning is that this soap leaves a bit of a black/brown residue on washcloths and tiles, but it’s easily rinsed. I also wish that I cut the soap into a few smaller pieces before using it since it is a bit bulky. On a second thought though, it’s probably better that I didn’t. Last time I tried to cut something in half (a block of cheese to be precise), I stabbed myself with a fork. Don’t ask.
Ingredients include: African Black Soap Base, Certified Organic African Shea Butter, Oats, Aloe, Plantain Extract, Vitamin E, Essential Blend Oil Blend, Vegetable Glycerin, Palm Ash, Rosemary Extract and Iron Oxides.
