This soap is based on not only the legendary black soap made in Africa, but also the famous black soap made by the Owens sisters in the popular Practical Magic series of books--which is based on an actual folklore witch recipe. It was claimed that "whoever used it would benefit and appear younger, perhaps by as much as ten years."
The scent ingredients and description *in the books* may have been popularized by a work of fiction, but genuine black soap has a very long, rich, and skin-benefiting history originating in Africa. Traditional key ingredients include shea butter, coconut oil, charred plantain, palm, and cocoa pod leaves. Then, we use the Practical Magic-mentioned blend of essential oils known to be anti-microbial and skin smoothing!
My own experience with genuine African Black Soap (I've tried 4 different sources, direct from Ghana and Nigeria, Africa) has been that I find it a wee bit too alkaline as well as scratchy (exfolianting bits) for my own skin type, yet the benefits are real!
So.....to craft *my* version of "Black Soap", I set out to combine the benefits of genuine African Black Soap, with the tried and true mildness of my own blend of soap ingredients, and the scent blend of the Practical Magic soap, and crafted this soap! So as you can see, we have tweaked and customized the recipe to make it our own. It's effects are no work of fiction!
Based on Maria Owens grimoire recipe by Alice Hoffman. This is the famous black soap made by the Owens sisters, who claimed that "whoever used it would benefit and appear younger, perhaps by as much as ten years."
"She made her own soap every March, enough to last the year long, burning wood from rowans and hazelwoods for the ashes that would help form her lye, using licorice-infused oil, honey and clove, adding dried lavender for luck and rosemary for remembrance. Ladles of liquid soap were poured into wooden molds, where they hardened into bars. Maria had written down the recipe in her Grimoire, for this soap was most often asked for by the women from town. They said a woman grew younger each time she used it: if she had sorrows, the soap washed them away and if there was illness in the house it would not spread, for the herbs in the soap defeated fevers and chills." - Magic Lessons - Alice Hoffman
FYI re: African Black Soap
Be sure if trying African Black Soap yourself, to read the ingredients and not be duped by soapmakers merely melting down a hunk of melt & pour glycerine soap and adding just black oxide colorant, or activated charcoal. Activated charcoal possesses great skin benfits, but THAT IS NOT genuine African Black Soap and will not carry the skin benefits of genuine African Black Soap with it's traditional ingredients. Unfortunately there are many soapmakers doing this nowadays and it is misrepresentation, pure & simple.
This soap costs a bit more due to the cost of ingredients.
#africanblacksoap #practicalmagicsoap #witchsoap #witchesblacksoap #owenssistersblacksoap #witchesblacksoaprecipe
