Real black soap looks natural looking and almost looks like some sort of stone or food that you can't eat (not really in a tasty way though) or looks similar to a rock. The ingredients in authentic black soap are usaually made of the following:

- Plantain Skins
- Palm Kernal oil
- Coconut Oil
- Natural Sodium

Beneficial Properties of Black Soap

A few of the beneficial properties for the skin are: The smell is usually fairly neutral and has little scent, lathers well, gentle on the skin, cleanses the skin very well removing dead skin cell buildup, dirt, germs, makeup, ability to unclog the pores. Revealing a more smooth, youthful, and brightened skin. The appearance looks similar to a rock or some sort of food. Although this is a gentle soap, it can not be overly used, as it is still soap. This is how Authentic and genuine African black soap actually looks like:

Black Soap As A Mild Exfoliator?

Using black soap along with a good skin lightener can help you to lighten your skin. But, it will have to be authentic African natural black soap which is actually different shades of brown and have a slight soft texture, and not the artificial black soap sold by many which is literally "black" in color due to the black dye being used and harsh chemicals, hard in texture, and mostly commercialized. Fake black soap may contain skin lighteners that are added to the formula and still not be the genuine black soap. Artificial black soap has caused some people's skin (including mine) to break out and swell due to the harshness of it's chemicals, thus causing red marks, brusing swelling, etc to ths skin **this isnt authentic black soap.

This type will not give the beneficial properties common with authentic black soap such as improving discolorations and scars, removing acne, gentle cleansing, etc. (also called Dudu Osun). Black soap does not actually lighten the skin in shades (at least not for brown complexions) but it will fade discolorations and give gentle exfoliation (can work good with other skin products). In which papaya/kojic type soaps have a stronger exfoliation capabilities. I enjoy using natural black soap and papaya/kojic soap.

Again, actual black colored soap is fake as well and utterly crap. It isn't the real thing. It may have a very small amount of traces of the actual black soap, shea butter, and aloe vera and may give some benefit. But unfortunately in small amounts and far from the actual benefits of genuine 100% black soap, raw shea butter, and organic aloe vera which all 3 are very gentle and can help very well by themselves without the use of strong inexpensive chemicals and fragrance. It is the name of the brand in order to sell, but by far from being actual "African".

The Nubian Heritage Soap Experience

One of the kinds that I had used was called "Nubian Heritage". It smelled very lovely and nice, but that was only parfume fragrances though and the soap was too harsh on my skin. Most of the stuff they call "black soap" that are sold in the beauty supply stores that are literally "black" are 9.9999 times out of 10 are NOT authentic and most likely are manufactured in the US. Here are a few more fake black soaps to avoid:

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So there are actually 2 kinds of black soap? Is the kind at the beauty store real or fake and has anyone used these before?

One genuine kind of black soap, which isn't literally "black" in color but as seen in the photo is a dark brown color and soft in texture. I guarantee you that most likely the "black soap" sold in your beauty store is not the authentic kind and can cause more irritation or nothing at all, is drying to the skin, concentrated with black or purple dye that leads to your sink having grey colored water stains and wash cloths dirty-looking. Imagine the same stuff being absorbed in your skin?

I can`t different this thanks for this idea.