Written by Shea Keaveney
It is not hard to see why our African black soap is currently our best selling product with reviews such as ‘Best African black soap’ and ‘The results are amazing.’ This is because not only is our African Black Soap natural and toxin free, but also has many benefits for your skin.
It is no wonder that actress Zendaya has credited African black soap as the reason for her flawless and dewy skin. Another great benefit of our African black soap is that you do not need to worry about if this product is suitable for your skin type, as our African black soap is suitable for all skin types. In particular, our soap can help if you are struggling with oily skin as it has many healing benefits. This is because here at Kokoa we use Shea butter as one of our natural ingredients in our soap. Shea butter acts as an oil balancing moisturiser whilst also having a comedogenic rating of 0; it is vital to ensure that the oils in your skin are balanced rather than totally avoiding oil. Dermatologist surgeon, Dendy Engelman, says “If the skin is stripped of natural oils, it will go into overproduction mode and cause more sebum buildup”. Read on for more about how Kokoa’s African black soap can help with oily skin.
Causes Of Oily Skin
Overactive Sebaceous Glands
Your face contains as many as 900 sebaceous glands per square centimetre of skin. The role of your sebaceous glands is to produce sebum. Sebum is made up from fatty acids, sugars, waxes and other natural chemicals. Its role is to form a protective barrier that protects your skin from moisture loss.
If you suffer from oily skin it’s likely that your sebaceous glands are producing excessive amounts of sebum. Whilst sebum helps to keep your skin hydrated and moisturised, too much sebum can lead to oily skin. This will make your skin feel ‘greasy’ and can result in clogged pores. Clogged pores occur when excess sebum mixes with dead skin cells to form what is known as a sebum plug. When sebum plugs block a hair follicle it can result in blackheads and whiteheads. Therefore, it is important to treat oily skin before it leads to these adverse effects.
Harmful Ingredients
Whilst sebum production is somewhat genetic, something we can control is the products we expose our skin to. Some skincare products contain synthetic ingredients that may be the cause of your oily skin. One ingredient in particular that you may want to avoid is alcohol.
Alcohol gives oily skin sufferers instant gratification by quickly de-greasing the skin. Renee Rouleau, a celebrity aesthetician, says alcohol based products gives a tight, cooling and refreshing sensation. Whilst this feeling may trick users into thinking alcohol is the solution to oily skin it can actually result in a vicious cycle by stimulating even more oil production. Alcohol when used in skin care products in high concentrations can also cause problems to your skin’s protective barrier, which causes issues with your skin and it’s ability to control the moisture your skin is producing.
Luckily for those who do suffer from oily skin, Kokoa’s African black soap is alcohol free containing just 4 naturally sourced ingredients. As a result you don’t have to worry about synthetic nasties that would only be there to trick you.
Benefits Of Kokoa’s African Black Soap For Oily Skin
Shea Butter
Shea butter is one of the main ingredients in our African Black Soap. Shea butter is a completely natural ingredient, like all the ingredients used in our products at Kokoa. One of the reasons why Shea butter is great for those with oily skin is because it works similarly to sebum. However Shea butter is noncomedogenic which means it won’t clog pores. This means Shea butter is highly beneficial to oily skin as it helps to keep skin healthy whilst also helping to balance sebum production, which as discussed is a common cause of oily skin.
Another cause of oily skin might be that you are using the wrong moisturiser. However, it is vital that you do continue to moisturise your skin as not moisturising can actually be a cause of acne. The Shea butter used in our African Black Soap can provide you with that much needed moisture without stripping the skin of its natural oils. It has the ability to protect your skins natural oils and with those natural oils your skin can maintain its hydration.
100% Clean Ingredients
As previously mentioned one of the causes of oily skin can be the use of products that contain harmful chemicals. Here at Kokoa, we are committed to using natural, organic, ethically sourced ingredients in all of our products including our African black soap. The other ingredients in our soap along with Shea butter are roasted cocoa pod ash, sunflower oil and water.
As already mentioned, those that suffer from oily skin are susceptible to breakouts of acne due to excess sebum clogging pores. The cocoa pod ash in our black soap has antibacterial and antifungal properties which makes it great for cleansing pores. T Additionally, the sunflower oil in our soap contains fatty acids which act as antioxidants to fight bacteria that cause acne.
Therefore, our African black soap can be a great solution to your oily skin problems as you can achieve these benefits from our natural ingredients without running the risk of applying chemicals to your skin.
Kokoa’s African black soap should be suitable for all skin types. However, if it is oily skin you suffer from then our authentic African black soap can help to balance out the work of your overproducing sebaceous glands. Moreover, if the build-up of excess oil is causing acne, it can also help with that too. Our African black soap is a real all-rounder when it comes to dealing with the many skin issues that we face. If you still don’t believe us check out the many 5 star reviews on our website!