Also called black soap, alata soap or anago soap, plantain soap is a traditional African cleanser. It possesses supposed benefits for your skin thanks to the Vitamin E and other nutrients found in the peels of plantain fruits. Resembling a banana, the plantain is large, greenish brown and must be prepared thoroughly before being added to a soap formulation at home.
Remove the skins from the plantains and discard the inner meat and seed of the fruit.
Spread the skins of the plantains, fleshy side up, on the baking sheet.
Bake the plantains at 250 degrees F for about 60 minutes. This completely dries them.
Crumble and pulverize the dried peels with the mortar and pestle. Grind the peel into a fine, black powder.
Add 1 tsp. polysorbate 80, 1 oz. floral water, 4 oz. palm kernel oil and 4 tbsp. stearic acid to a glass bowl. Choose any scent of floral water you desire, such as chamomile, rose geranium or lemongrass.
Microwave the bowl on high for about two minutes, or until the stearic acid flakes are melted.
Add the powdered plantain peel to the bowl of melted oils and liquid.
Beat the mixture with a hand mixer for about a minute.
Pour the hot mixture into an 8 oz. soap mold. Place the mold in your freezer for about an hour.
