Washing, exfoliating, purifying, moisturizing and totally natural, black soap has multiple benefits. This ancestral product has been a beauty ally of Moroccan women for millennia. If you too want to know everything about the virtues of black soap on the face, read on!
With the cold coming slowly at the end of the year, now is more than ever the time to treat yourself to a little moment cocooning, just for yourself. And why not an oriental beauty ritual with a 100% natural product? It’s time to indulge in an hour of relaxation at home with a wellness break using black soap. Packed with exceptional properties, this organic soap with natural ingredients is as effective as it is pleasant to use.
Where does black soap come from?
Absolutely inseparable from the ancestral beauty rituals practiced in the heart of hammams, black soap originates from Morocco, and more precisely from the south of the country, in the Essaouira region. If it's this dark, it gets its color from its composition: black soap is made from oil and black olives. Like other treatments with natural ingredients such as Aleppo soap or argan oil, black soap, stuffed with vegetable oil, transports us to a sensory experience to the rhythm of oriental beauty ceremonies.
What is black soap?
Made from black olives that are first crushed before being macerated in salt and potash, black soap is found as a paste or ultra-hydrating liquid oil. It is the potash that solidifies the vegetable oil and turns the mixture into a paste. Rich in fatty acids (and particularly oleic acid), its olive oil gives it a very good affinity with the sebum of the skin. But beware, the name "soap" can be confusing, because unlike Aleppo soap, it is not a soap in the true sense of the word. And it should not be confused with its household version either! Black soap in cosmetics is completely natural and is used as a traditional scrub in Morocco to purify the body and skin. Full of vitamin E, it is also hydrating and regenerating. Mixed with a little water, this plant-based treatment only foams very little. It can be used in the shower or in the bath for a timeless moment of well-being, recreating the hammam experience at home, thanks to its natural fragrance. It can also be applied to hair as a 100% natural shampoo, or even as an intense hydration treatment to find soft hands and restore strength to the nails.
The benefits of black soap
As mentioned above, black soap soaked in salt and olives is above all a very good exfoliation, traditionally used on the body with a kessa glove (an exfoliating glove) and on the hair. Thanks to its purifying action, it is a perfect ally for combination to oily skin, because it regulates excess sebum. It also erases all impurities and rids the skin of dead cells without drying it out, since the fatty acids and polyphenols (antioxidants) it contains make it an excellent emollient. Finally, black soap is also ideal in summer or after returning from vacation, because it enhances the tan and allows it to be kept for longer thanks to the carotenoids it contains.
Can you apply black soap to the face?
Although it is recognized for its virtues on the body and the hair and if, of course, pay attention to sensitive skin in order not to attack them and not to weaken them further, black soap has multiple virtues for the face. It contains antioxidants (vitamin E, polyphenols) and helps relieve skin imperfections (pimples, acne, excess sebum). It purifies and cleanses the face in depth and rids the skin of toxins. Thanks to its moisturizing action like shea butter, this treatment fights against the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, but also nourishes, deeply hydrates and relieves dry skin. It even says it could improve eczema patches, although it may sting during application. However, avoid using a kessa glove to use it on the face, unlike the body scrub. Indeed, its coating is far too abrasive for dry facial skin. And like after any scrub, make sure to rehydrate the skin with a rich treatment, after a treatment with black soap.
How to use black soap on the face?
Apply a good layer of this dark treatment to damp, cleansed skin, avoiding the eye and lip contours. Leave on for a few minutes (depending on the desired effect), so that the black soap can deploy all its actions on the skin. Rinse off with plenty of lukewarm water, then apply a moisturizer or nourishing treatment.
On zone T
Blackheads, inflamed red pimples, unpleasant white pimples, acne breakouts … Nothing can resist it thanks to its antibacterial properties. If you suffer from imperfections due to oily or combination skin, it will find its place in your bathroom. Apply a little of this olive-based product to the T zone: forehead, nose and chin. Leave on for 2-3 minutes, then rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water.
Before a mask
Ideal for preparing the skin before applying a mask, black soap erases and washes the epidermis to promote the penetration of active ingredients. After delicately exfoliating the skin with black soap, you can apply a clay or Rhassoul mask, for example, if you want to stay in an oriental atmosphere.
In cure
If necessary, you can wash your face with black soap daily for a week in order to purify the skin and get off to a good start. For more effectiveness, before applying the soap, draw inspiration from the treatments in the hammam by doing a steam bath to open the pores. Alternatively, apply the black soap after cleaning your skin with your usual gel under a hot shower for an effect similar to steam from the hammam.
What type of black soap to choose?
There are two main types of black soaps: the one used in cosmetics and the one used to clean the interior. Be careful not to confuse them, because their composition is not quite the same. The household version contains more potash to optimize its degreasing effects, which could attack the hydrolipidic film on the surface of the skin and therefore… make it live. Then, if the cosmetic is all natural and very often organic, the maintenance black soap can contain chemicals, present to improve its effectiveness.
On the skincare side, there are a few variations. Some black soaps are endowed with argan oil in order to gain softness and beneficial properties for the skin. Others contain eucalyptus essential oil and have healing and relaxing properties in addition to an invigorating scent. Remember to check the compositions on the packaging and beware of counterfeits sometimes sold in the souks, which can be made with fish oil, animal fat or even worse, motor oil! If it is possible to make this homemade care paste with olives, there are very good organic products with black soap from many brands (shower gel, liquid soap based on vegetable oils and black soap, scrub, etc.) stores and delivery on the Internet. There is also an African black soap, but the composition is different in all respects, since it does not contain oil, but shea butter and cocoa pods. As to which one is best, opinions differ!
How to keep it?
It is quite possible to keep your black soap in the bathroom, but it may dry out in the long run. You can place it in the refrigerator to keep it longer and to preserve its benefits as much as possible.
The traditional oriental black soap
With its traditional recipe made from 100% virgin olive oil, this oriental scrub plunges us into the heart of ancestral purification rituals and thrills our senses.
Beldi Black Soap, Cinq Mondes, € 42
Black soap enriched with eucalyptus
Regenerating olive oil accompanied by revitalizing eucalyptus gently purifies the skin. On the body, use a Kessa glove for a deep cleansing.
The Ritual of Hammam, Black soap, Rituals, € 8.50
Moroccan black soap
To free the skin from all impurities, this black soap has been concocted in the purest of oriental traditions. First cold pressed organic olive oil mixed with purifying eucalyptus essential oil leaves skin cleansed, hydrated … and which breathes.
Traditional pure organic olive black soap with eucalyptus essential oil, Aroma Zone, € 12.90
The black soap that makes you travel
With its olives straight from Morocco, black soap exfoliates and nourishes all skin types with the greatest respect.
Black soap with eucalyptus, La Sultane de Saba, € 29
Face scrub: this purifying and regenerating treatment that you cannot do without