# african black shampoo base?



## Obsidian (Jan 27, 2018)

Anyone know of a supplier that sells premade african black shampoo base? All I can find is plain shampoo base.


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## cmzaha (Jan 27, 2018)

Can I ask why? Now you are back to a lye soap. True ABS comes from East and West Ghana made by the villagers and from what I have been told after talking to importers they do not make LS in the villages, of course that could have changed but would still be lye based. Dudu Osum, which is a manufacturer of a soap called ABS does make a liquid shampoo, but it is not the same as the ABS from the tribes. I prefer, even though I do not like ABS myself, the darker ABS from tribes in West Ghana, versus the ABS from East Ghana which is usually a lighter mottled brown and drier. I just picked up 15 lbs of ABS a few days ago and still do not like it...

Did your syndet bar you made from the kit not work like you expected?


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## SoapAddict415 (Jan 27, 2018)

Have you tried Amazon? They have African Black soap in several forms. There's this powder that you can add to your soaps, there's a paste, liquid soap and Dudu Osun.


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## Obsidian (Jan 27, 2018)

Someone on a hair forum I go to was asking. Said her favorite black shampoo was being discontinued and the owner of the shop mentioned a premade base but she was unable to find such a base. I though maybe someone here might have seen such a thing on some suppliers site.

Edit; Just checked the thread on the hair forum. It sounds like she is after a liquid african black soap. Apparently the stuff she is after comes from a african village so it's not going to be a syndet base.


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## Zany_in_CO (Jan 27, 2018)

I seem to remember someone having an ABS shampoo base. I've checked my files and can't seem to find it. Until I do, here's a recipe from Amanda at Lovin' Soap Studio (who, BTW, happens to travel every year to teach soap making to women in third world countries so they can become independent business owners. :

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2014/08/liquid-soap-with-african-black-soap/

ETA: Bulk Apothecary has authentic Dudu Osun ABS that Carolyn mentioned...
https://www.bulkapothecary.com/prod.../melt-and-pour-soap-bases/african-black-soap/

ETA: This is the shampoo I used to duplicate a formula for making my own ABS shampoo. S'wonderful shampoo!

http://www.coastalscents.com/as-004.html


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## Obsidian (Jan 27, 2018)

Thanks, I'll pass the links along. 

@Carolyn the syndet bars from the kit are pretty good, not near as good as that "other" bar I have though


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## cmzaha (Jan 27, 2018)

Obsidian said:


> Thanks, I'll pass the links along.
> 
> @Carolyn the syndet bars from the kit are pretty good, not near as good as that "other" bar I have though


Thankyou for letting me know. I ordered samples for most of the ingredients she used in the kits syndet shampoo bars. Now I have to wait and see if my samples come. I just wanted to compare


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## cherrycoke216 (Jan 28, 2018)

Obsidian said:


> Thanks, I'll pass the links along.
> 
> @Carolyn the syndet bars from the kit are pretty good, not near as good as that "other" bar I have though


May I ask which one is the "other" syndet shampoo bar,please? Would like to know which brand or your homemade one is better than the set.

Oh, and would you please let me know the price of the etsy set? It's sold out, so won't show any price. Thanks.


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## Obsidian (Jan 28, 2018)

Sorry, I'm not comfortable giving out info on the other bar without permission. It's not commercially or available for purchase, at least not that I know of. It was a gift.

The kit is 19.99 and really is a good product. It cleans well and leaves my hair soft. The other bar is just a bit more conditioning feeling to my bleached out hair


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## cherrycoke216 (Jan 28, 2018)

Thanks for the info, and  sorry I thought it was a bar that owned  by huge brands or indie brands like some of us do. 

Sent from my SM-G532G using Soap Making mobile app


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## Saponificarian (Jan 29, 2018)

Dudu Osun was made here before the guy went international. I grew up using Dudu Osun. . Now that I make my soap, it’s too harsh. I can tell you it has plenty PKO though.


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## Zany_in_CO (Jan 29, 2018)

Saponificarian said:


> Dudu Osun was made here before the guy went international. I grew up using Dudu Osun. . Now that I make my soap, it’s too harsh. I can tell you it has plenty PKO though.


...but no NaOH, correct?


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## Saponificarian (Jan 29, 2018)

Judging by the ingredient list, I would say no. Judging by the way I remembered it, I will say Yes that soap has NaOH in it. That soap likes to run down the drain and it doesn’t have the ‘feel’ of traditional soap made with Cocoa pod ash..... Can’t explain it better, am sorry but my great grandma use to make black soap before she died so I grew up using it and it is very different from Dudu Osun.


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## Zany_in_CO (Jan 29, 2018)

Thank you for that input, Saponificarion! ! I have lots of research on ABS in my files and sometimes it gets confusing. Evidently, the ingredients and process vary from one region to another, like from Nigeria vs. Ghana. One link I have says cocoa pods and plantain skins are roasted then tossed into a pot of boiling water with the other ingredients and the "skum" that bubbles up is skimmed from the surface, eventually hand molded into a solid mass and used as soap. Fascinating really.


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## riffwraith (Feb 1, 2018)

Obsidian said:


> Someone on a hair forum I go to was asking. Said her favorite black shampoo was being discontinued and the owner of the shop mentioned a premade base but she was unable to find such a base. I though maybe someone here might have seen such a thing on some suppliers site.
> 
> Edit; Just checked the thread on the hair forum. It sounds like she is after a liquid african black soap. Apparently the stuff she is after comes from a african village so it's not going to be a syndet base.



That_ she_ just happens to be a_ he_. 

I too am on the hunt for an  african black shampoo base, for the reason mentioned above. I am awaiting delivery on some black soap, which I am then going to attempt to turn into a shampoo, along with some herbs.

What is a "syndet" shampoo bar?

Cheers.


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## Obsidian (Feb 1, 2018)

Sorry, I'm used to saying she on LHC, not many active guys.

A syndet bar is a solid bar made with synthetic detergents instead of lye based soap. It's basically like commercial shampoo in bar form.

Lye based soap can be very damaging to hair. It ruined mine a couple years ago, had to shave it all off.


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## riffwraith (Feb 1, 2018)

Hey - no reason to apologize; it's cool. 

Synthetic detergents - such as? Where does one find them?

And yes, I am aware of lye (and a lot of other chemicals used in commercial hair products) being bad for you and your hair.

Cheers.


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## Obsidian (Feb 1, 2018)

Such as Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine and a lot of others. www.saveoncitric.com/ has a lot of surfactants and other ingredients needed for syndet bars

Syndet bars are a bit complicated though, its not just buy some ingredients and toss them together. I don't understand how to formulate a recipe but I was lucky I got my hands on one I like. Not made them from scratch yet though, so far I've just bought a premade kit.

here is a good place to start learning http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2010/06/shampoo-shampoo-bars-overview.html


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## Obsidian (Feb 1, 2018)

if you would just rather try a premade syndet before buying all the expensive ingredients, here are a couple etsy shops that sell them.
I've used these bars before, the solid conditioner is decent too https://www.etsy.com/shop/ScenterSquare?section_id=11560472

these have good reviews, not used them myself https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlaiynaBSoaps?ref=l2-shopheader-name&section_id=12128356


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