We keep an eye on top sellers on Amazon.com and this one is new to top 100 in last 5 days. It’s currenlty at number 9! What the heck is it? To be honest we are really not that familiar with black soap so lets look at the label to see what we can learn.
Dudu-Osun Black Soap ingredients
Since this apprears to be a true soap (not a synthetic detergerent bar) they aren’t required to provide a list of ingredients (LOI). The LOI provided on Amazon.com seems like its pretty accurate so let’s go with that for the sake of this discussion.
Claims: “Specially formulated entirely from natural ingredients and herbs, this soap will have you feeling refreshed and silky smooth. Restores damaged skin and is helpful in healing chronic eczema, acne, freckles and dark spots. Scented with Osun (Camwood extract) citrus juices and native honey. Bio-degradable. No preservatives and no artificial colors. Contains ingredients from natural plants and herbs from the tropical rain forest and Savannah regions such as Aloe Vera and natural vitamins.”
Pure Honey
If these ingredients are listed in order, I’m not quite sure how honey could be the first ingredient in a natural soap. If we have any soap makers reading the blog today chime in with a comment.
Shea Butter
Shea butter consists of a variety of wellness that could be Succasunna five and turned into soap.
Osun (camwood)
This is a type of hard wood grown in Africa and used for wood working and to create a brilliant red dye. According to the website it’s “scented” with this material. It may give color too. It’s a bit confusing why this would be so high on the ingredient list. I’m also curious to learn if this material has any antibacterial properties or any other special properties that would help and support the claim of being good for skin conditions like acne and eczema.
Palm kernel Oil
This looks like the primary oil that’s turned into soap using the next two ingredients.
Cocoa Pod Ash, Palm Bunch Ash
These ingredients are the alkali, the high pH material that’s required to neutralize the fatty acids in oils. (There’s your two second soap chemistry lesson for the day.)
Glycerine
Glycerin can be produced as an offshoot of the reaction that forms the soap. It may also be added to modify the hardness of the bar.
Aloe Vera
I can’t imagine that Aloe extract is very functional and a soap but it may provide some extra creaminess to the foam.
Lime Juice & Oil, Lemon Juice & Oil
Given the potential that citrus juices have for irritating skin their addition seems ill advised. But they must make the soap smell pretty.
Water
Even though this is a solid product it can still contain up to a few percent of water.
Fragrance
With all the Osun and lemon and lime extracts I’m surprised this soap still needs a fragrance.
Image credit: freefoto.com
If you’re intrigued by Dudu Osun Black Soap
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Black soap claims to heal freckles. How do you heal a freckle?
Qwerty: Yeah, the claims are a bit of a stretch on this one. If it really did work on acne, freckles, etc, it would be a drug!
The honey is for texture and to help with the lather. (But IMHO glycerin and/or sorbitol are better for this!) If they used raw honey, maybe it was for it’s antibacterial and “healing” properties?
I have tried it before (mixing Coastal Scent’s black soap with orange blossom honey) and it makes the suds tan instead of white. (Yuck!) That’s probably not what they did here, because it’s a commercial product, but I’m just saying.
I’ve made soap a few times, the required ingredients are fat/oils, and a solution of lye (NaOH) in water. (There are other alkaline solutions you can use, but lye is the one I’m experienced with.) The lye reacts with the fats and becomes soap. Anything you add at the beginning of this chemical reaction is most likely just going to react with the lye and disappear.
Essential/medicinal oils, perfumes, medicinal herbs, etc should be added at the end of the process, when the lye and the less expensive fats have almost finished their reaction. But you can’t use a huge amount of these ‘other’ ingredients, or the soap might not set up. I’ve usually found that the proportions are on the order of 90+% inexpensive fats & water+lye, <10% "other stuff."
I used Dudu Osum everyday and I love it. I started using it when I was looking for a natural moisturizing soap that didn’t leave my skin dry. I use it every day and don’t find it irritating at all. It leaves my skin filling very moisturized and soft.
I have used dudu osun in the past. It is an African soap. It is very nice soap. The ingredients for these products in Africa do not need to be written in order. The natural ingredients are probably named first to attract consumers as Africans are really big in all natural products and stay clear of chemicals. So it is a marketing stategy