In honor of Black History month, a time to reflect on the beauty of everything tied to Africans and African Americans, at Afrikinky, we wanted to take the opportunity to shine the light on one of our products and the rich history behind it.
Afrikinky is an all natural hair and skin product line whose products are all premium, grade A quality and handcrafted. Our mission is to help share the blessing of maintaining great hair and skin care with the use of Africa’s best kept secrets.
African Black soap is one of our best sellers, and with valid reason. It has a rich history and reputation of being the remedy to skin ailments, from skin diseases to psoriasis to acne, eczema, and even helping to correct skin discolorations and even skin tone. Black soap has been used for centuries for bathing for cleansing and reducing body odor, but it is truly a head to toe cleanser. A lot of people do not know this but it can be used as a shampoo as well as a body wash. It is excellent in helping to alleviate scalp itchiness and cleansing hair pores for healthy hair care. Because of its purity, the soap has also been a staple for women during pre and postnatal care to help prevent dry skin and to use on babies due to its natural purity.
African black soap roots back centuries to the Yoruba people in Nigeria and communities within Togo and Benin. Also known as ose dudu (an alias known to Nigerians) and alata samina (derived from the Twi dialect of the Akan language of Ghana), it is believed that Yoruba women traders who sold peppers and tomatoes introduced black soap to Ghana. Alata meaning pepper traders, samina meaning soap, alata samina became known as the pepper traders soap. These women held important roles as they were responsible for processing raw farm produce for trading.
Black soap is traditionally created with the mixture of water and the ashes of plantain skins, shea butter, cocoa pod, and coconut oil. Although there are many variations of how black soap is made, recipes have been passed down for generations in families as mothers share this gem with their daughters. Typically ingredients can differ and each batch is unique in particular due to region, but how it is made makes the difference. The process can be tedious,cocoa pod are dried under the sun. The pods are then roasted in clay to produce ash. Water is added and filtered. Ingredients such as shea butter, coconut oil, cocoa butter are heated and added and the mix is hand stirred by local women for hours. The soap solidifies and then it is prepared for sale. 
Afrikinky black soap is handcrafted to hone in on the natural properties and benefits of this great treasure. It is recommended that buyers beware of unauthentic black soap as many companies in efforts to save on costs, use very little natural black soap and add harsh artificial ingredients, additives and preservatives. Afrikinky Black Soap, in sticking to the brand’s model of keeping things natural is a sure choice for great black soap that is handcrafted with love.
Visit www.Afrikinky.com to experience this amazing treasure and watch your hair and skincare routine change for the better.
