I have an obsession with handmade bar soap. I like to travel to different places and buy it from different locations. I like to chat up the owners and buy their most unique bars. I like it so much that I even make my own soap.
As you could probably imagine, I have oodles of soap. Thus, it takes a lot for me to return to a vendor and buy more which is what I did with this company. This is the first bar I’m reviewing from them but I would like to say unequivocally that I truly do love this brand.
When I found this company, I was actually at a food festival (where else would I be?) when a soap stand caught my eye and lured me over. This guy had some of the best crafted soaps I’d seen and they all smelled incredible! We got to chatting and he pointed out Caribbean Black telling me that he didn’t use lye to make the soap.
I was confused. The basics of handmade soap is lye + fats/oils = soap. Lye is *always* in the equation. However, he explained that he used volcanic ash, basically creating his own lye to make the soap. THAT IS SOMETHING ONLY MASTERS OF SOAPMAKING CAN DO. Seriously, I couldn’t believe it. I immediately picked this up due to the uniqueness of it.
Their website describes it as a fusion between traditional African bar soap and activated charcoal soap which it definitely is. It’s named “Caribbean” black due to using an authentic Jamaican soap recipe. I think these little facts are pretty unique and add a great cool factor to the product!
My sense of smell may be awful but I don’t think this has any scent. A con might be that it lathers a bit grey but it doesn’t stain anything, just creates some darker bubbles! The pros are that it is skin loving and the ingredients are basic enough that I’m not having to worry about an allergic reaction.
Another bonus is that they are very eco-minded. They do their best to use all-recyclable materials, and like to source their ingredients locally. They even go so far as to try to grow and distill their own ingredients! They also have an organic approach to their products.
The Caribbean Black soap is a very affordable $6.50. I’m saying that as someone who has bought organic soap for $15 in the past. Trust me, this is an amazing deal.
Find the soap here: Caribbean Black Soap
PS. They also have a beard oil in the scent “Fight Club” that smells absolutely amazing. I make my boyfriend wear it because I’m in love with it.
This is so interesting! I haven’t been able to find a bar soap that I really love, but this one seems promising!!
They have so many great soaps and scents to choose from and the company owners seem like genuine and amazing people! I have three more bar soaps from them because everything seemed so great!
This sounds amazing! I’d love to try more soaps. Just this morning I read about an African black soap I want to try (Dudu Osun), and this one made me curious too!
It’s a really great soap! It’s the only African Black Soap I’ve tried though I’ve seen many different kinds at markets. It’s definitely been kind to my skin. 🙂
I’ve bought handmade soap at a food festival before, too! How funny! The one I found wasn’t half as cool as this stuff though. Even not knowing what lye was before this post, I know it’s amazing that he makes his own out of volcanic ash. I’m usually more of a liquid over bar soap gal but, this company sounds so unique & I love that they’re so eco-conscious. The dark bubbles sound like a fun thing to me! ;D
I moved to bar soap because liquid soap was drying me out terribly. Now that I’ve learned more than one really needs to know about soap making, I realize I was buying the wrong stuff, but I enjoy my bar soap now!
It is super cool and amazing that he used volcanic ash! My eyebrows shot so high up they almost fell off when he told me he did that!
The soapmaker is a totally great guy, very genuine and passionate about what he does. He spoke with great pride when he mentioned that they were growing as many of their ingredients as possible. It’s really amazing what they’ve been able to do!