I didn't know that and all the time I was thinking of Dudu Osun as a black African soap.
But it is...mostly. I decided to do a bit of research in what qualifies as "African Black Soap" or "Black Soap" from Africa.
The first is the most obvious...that it is made in West Africa". According to the United Nations, Western Africa is made up of the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
African black soap or black soap, is also known by various local names as
ose dudu, salbulun salo and ncha nkota. While Ghana has most certainly become famous for it, it originated with the Yoruba people of Nigeria. The simple fact is, each culture has its own name and own recipe, usually based on what is locally available.
This bring us to ingredients. It starts with the Lye Solution which is made with a 'potash' or 'pot ash'; plant or wood ash that is soaked in water. In the case of ABS, plants include plantain skins, palm tree leaves, cocoa pods and/or shea tree bark. It is then mixed with various oils and fats like coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel and shea butter.
And finally to the process. Until the advent of the Industrial Revolution and a couple of French chemist Nicholas Leblanc and Michael Chevreul who pretty much revolutionized soap making (hello cold process), it traditionally make via cooking the ingredients (aka Hot Process). In fact, "commercially" produced soap is still made with a form of 'hot process' call Continuous Process.
Is Dadu Osun an African Black Soap...yes. It is made in Nigeria, and it uses cocoa pod ash, palm bunch ash and camwood ash and local oils/butters. Is it a
traditional African Black Soap...no. It has added ingredients like honey, aloe vera, lemon juice and fragrance and it is made in a factory.
Is Baraka Original Crumble Bar an African Black Soap...yes. It is made in Ghana and it uses cocoa pod ash, shea husk ash, shea butter and coconut oil. Is it a
traditional African Black Soap...no. It might have once been, but according to the Baraka website it also contains Apricot Kernel Oil, Sweet Almond Oil and Kale. And it was probably made exactly the way they show it in the videos, but given the popularity, I have no doubt that the process has become more 'commercialized'.
I get that there are purist out there and I can respect that because I'm kind of old-fashioned/traditional about some things myself, but I'm also fairly pragmatic. I use goat milk straight from the goat...someone else uses powdered goat milk; does it make my GMS 'better'? No...it's still GMS. I know a gal who uses pure organic natural cane sugar in her sugar scrub...I just use my local store brand sugar 'cuz, ya know, I'm just slapping it on my arms to scrub dead skin off.
