Diamonds & Pebbles: Tropical Naturals Dudu-Osun Black Soap.

This is another one of those “I’ve been using this for years” products, and it’s definitely something I’ve taken for granted, and I’ll tell you why. Way back when, when I first saw it in the bathroom, I turned my nose up at it thinking that because it was Nigerian it wouldn’t be any good and that only Western face washes like Clearskin/Clean n Clear/ Neutrogena (you kind of get the picture) would be best for my skin. Back then I was a factory, big named brand snob – if a product wasn’t produced by a well-known brand and couldn’t be bought in Superdrug, Boots or any supermarket, then I just wasn’t interested. Looking back now I see I struggled with my identity and wanted to be as similar as I could to those around me who didn’t have my cultural or ethnic background. As time went on, I’d use the soap occasionally (i.e. whenever my other face washes ran out), but even then I didn’t really pay it much attention. It wasn’t until my first year at university that I properly adopted the soap into my regime, and it wasn’t until much recently that I truly appreciated it.

Anyway, now on to the actual soap!

To use, I wet my face first then use the residual water from my hands to lather the soap, before smothering it all over my face, making sure to massage it in the crease around my nose using my fingers (minus the thumb). I find this gets the soap to penetrate the pores and really clean them out.

The thing I love most about this soap is the matte clear finish it leaves my face with once I’ve rinsed it off. I especially love how it leaves my skin after removing makeup. My skin always feels cleaner, smoother and healthier.

all rinsed off and feeling fresh!

A few months ago I wrote about Avon’s Clearskin blackmineral face wash, but truth be told, I have replaced that with this black soap – soz Avon. I’ve been using this soap every single day for the last three months and I have noticed such a difference in my face.

as you can see, this soap is packed full of goodness! just out the ingredients

However, as this is soap, it does dry out the face so I always make sure I moisturise my face afterwards which helps my skin feel nice and elastic.

I’m so glad that I can appreciate my heritage and the amazing products that come from it, and even though it’s taken me well over two decades to get comfortable with it, I’m happy for the journey it’s taken me on. also, these days I’m not as obsessed with factory-big named brands anymore, as you can probably tell from all of my DIY projects that I share with you on the blog.