What makes Sewa Black Soap special
Aside from the Neem leaves, we have augmented the recipe of our Black Soap to make it special and unique for our customers! The base of our Black Soap is made with Shea Butter, Coconut Oil and our potash made from only cocoa pod ash. We source our Blacksoap base from an amazing social enterprise in Northern Ghana. While the black soap base is great on its own it can often be drying so to mitigate that we enrich it with Olive Oil and glycerine for a truly deep and moisturizing clean. So many of our customers love our Black Soap for so many things, and many have found it is great to use for dermatitis, rashes and on their face for clear skin!
Other Black Soaps
West African Black Soap is not the only Black Soap on the market, there is a Moroccan Black Soap as well. West African Black Soap contains the plantain skins, potash and the other ingredients listed above, whereas Moroccan Black Soap is mostly puree’d olive and oil. Both are full of history and tradition, but made so differently. Which is one of the reasons I bring my Black Soap to Canada, to carry on the traditions of home, and teach people about my history and culture.
Follow Sewa on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about our products and the stories behind them! And click here to purchase Black Soap! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
One of our top sellers has to be our black soap - and people are always asking us, what is it that makes this soap black?! Part of the Sewa brand is being transparent and sharing the stories behind the products we make, so we wanted to dive into the history of Black Soap and where it comes from, and more importantly - why we love it! Let’s dive in.
A rich history
Black soap is an age-old tradition from West Africa, the process of making this soap is something passed through generations and often varies from family to family. In West Africa, specifically Nigeria and Ghana, the tradition of Black Soap is very popular. It is traditionally made from plant based oils and potash. Potash is ash that comes from different sources, such as the bark of medicinal trees, cocoa pod, plantain skins, and palm kernels etc. Different cultures have their unique recipes. One of the things that made me start the Sewa brand is my love of passing on these traditions from my home. My mom made Black Soap for me, and now I make it for my family. I remember my mum further customized my black soap with African sandalwood! This history and memory is very special to me.
What makes it black?
Well, West African black soap isn’t actually ‘black’ it is really more of a deep brown. Each batch of black soap will have a different shade of brown based on a number of factors such as the raw materials used,how long the soap was processed for and the actual formula used to produce it. The dark color of the soap comes primarily from the potash which depending on how burnt the ash is can vary in color. The Sewa black soap however, is unique! Our’s is an even darker colour because we add Neem leaves, Neem is a tree that grows in the tropics and its leaves are antibacterial and amazing for skin! Neem leaves are a beautiful dark green colour and when added to our Black Soap recipe they deepen the colour, making our Sewa Black Soap super special.
]]>I have to admit I am more than a little anxious about starting a blog but there is so much we have to share with you about the brand, the stories behind our products, the science behind our products and so much more.
We thought a good place to start was the name of the brand - Sewa!
Sewa pronounced (share wa), means to "make beauty" in the native tongue of the Yoruba people of West Africa.
The word is made up of two words, "Se" meaning to make, and "ewa" meaning beauty. When combined they come together to "make beauty".
We wanted a brand name that had a universal message while connecting to our African heritage. The name of the brand carries 2 fundamental truths.
1. Everyone is beautiful
As cliché as it sounds, I honestly believe everyone is beautiful! Yup, I am one of those never ending optimism people LOL. You are inherently beautiful and there is nothing in our products (or any product for that matter) that will make you more beautiful than you already are! The most they will do is sustain or enhance beauty that is already there. You are beautiful, you are beautiful, you are absolutely beautiful!!!!
2. Everyone can make beauty
We all have the ability to bring beauty to the world around us in small and big ways. To us beauty is anything that brings joy and happiness to another person, and that my friend is our greatest super power. Today I challenge you to take at least just 1 minute to make some beauty around you. It could be a simple as a gifting a stranger a smile or taking time for some much needed self care.
So that's why we chose the name "Sewa" so whenever you hear it you remember you are beautiful and that you can make beauty every where you go.
Remain beautiful!
Yoyin ]]>