Moroccan soap is made from Olive Oil and Black Olives - this is why the colour naturally appears. It is a natural soap made by traditional artisan method. 

Natural Soaps are alkali products that gently cleanse without disturbing natural skin balance.

The method of making natural soaps is saponification - a process that turns oils into alkali product - soap by adding potash. The process takes long hours and requires maturing, so to make the final product will take from one to three months. As a pure alkali product, it doesn't require preservatives, as bacteria can't bread in an alkali environment - it as it survives only in acidity environment. 

How the soup started?

Ages ago, Ancient Egyptians were using bicarb of soda to clean their body, teeth and hair, and they washed quite regularly.

Ancient Greeks were using bicarb of soda mixed with olive oil that served as a soap.

Later Castile Soap was invented in Mediterranean -  the soap that made purely from Olive oil. Black soap was made in Africa and Moroccan Soap spread from Morocco to the Middle East. 

Is it bad to use commercial shower gels and soaps?

Commercial soaps and budget shower gels made basically by mixing detergents (Sodium Laureth Sulfate) and Lipid restorer together. The process does not require time at all, they don't have to be left to mature and preservative added. Those detergents added to shower gel and even to the facial wash strip natural skin barrier and will make skin tight, dry and unprotected, so manufacturer adds Lipid restorer - in order to replace that natural skin barrier that has been stripped off, but it doesn't sound good, does it?

The actual cleansing reaction using commercial shower gels and soaps that has detergents and surfactant is it -  is oxidization - the skin's healthy pH lowers, skin feels tight and too 'squeaky clean'.  

Plus the whole reaction of 'foaming' isn't good for skin and anything that creates a huge foam - considered as a hazardous product, but we like foam and we keep buying it and manufacturer like foam because it is inexpensive to make. 

 

Over time, most people develop sensitivity to Sodium Laureth Sulphate containing products which are scientifically proven. That's why many brands started to produce SLS-Free lines of Shampoo and even a toothpaste.

This topic is quite personal for me as nine years ago when I was young and beautful, living a healthy lifestyle and not even dye my hair I have faced the problem of hair loss on my early 20s. Browsing the internet, I came across of scientific research of one professor (I can't remember name) who claimed that SLS in an allergic and can make several problems with skin and hair. I had no doubts and went to the drugstore to update my shampoo for SLS free version. You not going to believe but all shampoos where containing SLS and only in a small drugstore I have found a very simple herbal based shampoo - and that was the only option to choose from. After one month using SLS-free shampoo the problem of hairloss dispappered so quickly as it started. 

When you see organic made products and they use SLS because it is made from Coconut, and even if it's organic Coconut or not it is the same SLS.

But the good thing is that we become smarter in our consumer choices. 

We choose to buy online if we can get a good price rather than buying from our local luxury department store.

We choose Cruelty-Free and Vegan products over fashion labels. 

And even if we have no clue about magic formulas but we know if the list of Ingredients is too long we become suspicious.

This is the right direction - conscious consuming and taking your own responsibility for your own health and environment. 

 

And the world around us starts changing!

New vegan and handmade brands appear, as the consumer is there and want to have something special than a plastic bottle with three hundred ingredients in it.

This is one of the reasons why I started Perfance brand. I wanted to create products that I couldn't find on the beauty market myself. Products that I would use for myself and share is with the world. 

The Perfect Formula and the Precious Raw Materials turned into Perfance 100% Pure Black Soap - a unique, versatile and natural product that will replace many of your beauty bottles - soaps, showers gel, shaving foam. It's gentle enough for babies and even toddlers, and it's awesome for acne prone, sensitive and even eczema skin. 

Perfance 100% Pure Black Soap is:

- SLS, Detergent and Surfactant-Free

- Preservative-free and Colourant-Free

- Cruelty-free and Vegan

- Biodegradable and Environmental-wise packaging (allumium tin instead of plastic)

We do everything in our power to be an environmentally ethical brand and show a new side of a beauty industry.

What are Ingredients?

ONly three ingredients - Cold Pressed Virgin Olive Oil, Black Olives and Potash.

Few oils and Absolutes added as well depending on the type. 

Why Olive Oil?

Olive Oil resembles the closest to human sebum - that natural skin balance that contains from oil and water that skin produces by itself in order to protect herself from the environment. 

Another good this is Olive Oil is non-comedogenic - do not clog pore or provoke acne and blackheads.

For this Black Soap, I use high oleic cold pressed olive oil as only good quality materials can turn simple into goodness. 

When Black Olive Fruit added it turns the product into complete goodness - full of fatty acids and antioxidants, that protects skin from ageing, irritation, redness and inflammation. 

How it's made?

To turn oil into alkali product - soap caustic potash (KOH) added to the heating oils at certain temperatures and using special equipment. This inorganic compound only acts as catalysator and completely disappears after the reaction is finished. So it does not stay in the ready-made product. 

The process of making a small batch of soap is quite long and needs constant human attention. After it has been made it has to mature for one month and other Raw Cold Pressed Oils and Absolutes are added to enrich the benefits of the soap.

This product is so good and high alkali that it doesn't require preservatives and does not have expiry product just like natural honey, for example. 

How to use it?

The texture of the jelly paste makes product lasts for ages as only a small amount needed. 

 

The best way to use is applying on the wet skin in shower or bath by using any ordinary exfoliation glove. The Black Soap creates rich leather, cleansing and exfoliating skin perfectly without disturbing natural skin balance.

Black Soap is perfect for Sensitive skin and even babies and toddlers skin. 

It is perfectly leathering when applied just by hands onto facial hair for shaving. 

It is not only a versatile product but when used for a few months can fix lots of skin problems: balance skin sebum, treat acne and blackheads, remove dryness and totally nourishes skin.

What is Beldi soap? 

 'Beldi' in Moroccan means 'traditional' so Moroccan Beldi Soap - Moroccan Traditional Soap. Which, I think could mean any traditionally made soap in the Eastern part of the world.

Life without detergents

I have tested this soap on my own skin. From that day I never bought a shower gel.

 

I can tell you I'm a big fan of L'Occitane and Chanel bath products and I like only the best! So at first, testing something like Black Soap was quite a challenge for me.

The skin on my is more dry than normal and it is quite sensitive to anything 'too chemical', like strong synthetic fragrances or colourants (I can't wash with Radox, apologies to the brand but that's true).

Feeling of the texture of this soap is quite rich paste with softening sensations.

I apply it on wet skin with an exfoliating glove or one of that good quality cotton small face towels. If you don't have any of that - body mitt will do as well. But it is nice to do a bit of exfoliation while bathing with Moroccan Black Soap. 

Feeling on the skin is very nourishing feels more like a nourishing facial mask but it turns to gentle rich leather.

When you wash it off it turns into a milky soapy water. The skin dries out much quickly I have noticed - because natural skin balance (oil and water on the top layer of the skin) were not disrupted.

Usually, after washing with regular commercial shower gel I get this feeling of dryness on my back like the skin is very tight and uncomfortable. And this usually happens after ten minutes of shower. So I ending up applying body lotion all over to recover that natural skin balance that been washed off with SLS and Detergents in shower gels. Seems like a vicious circle to me. 

This is one of the reasons why I started using natural Moroccan Soap on the daily basis: I want my skin to feel glowing and moisturised naturally.

Have you tried Moroccan soap? If you have any experience to share please leave a comment.