I thought that by the time I reached my 40s my skin would stabilize but I was quite wrong. Welcome hormonal acne! If you have breakouts around the jawline and neck, that’s hormones, and ain’t no Clearasil clearing this up!

Nubian Heritage African Black Soap

So when I was asked if I wanted to try a few items from the new African Black Soap collection by NUBIAN HERITAGE, I was open to it. Every product is especially made for acne-prone skin, which is exactly what I need.

Here is what I tried:

• African Black Soap Facial Wash & Scrub $12.99/4oz. 
• African Black Soap Clarifying Pads $16.99/60 pads.
• African Black Soap Exfoliant Spot Treatment $12.99/.5oz.
• African Black Soap Facial Moisturizer $16.99/2oz.
• African Black Soap Mud Mask $16.99/6oz.

A little about NH – the brand was created in Harlem to combine ancient traditions from different parts of the world using traditional practices, cultural wisdom, and indigenous ingredients to create modern natural solutions for the skin and hair.

And Nubian Heritage has strong ethics when it comes to doing business so everything they ensure everything they source, like the Shea Butter found in all their products, can help the communities they reside in. Their fascinating story can be found on their website and is worth the read. After all, it’s good to know where your money is going.

Back to my acne-prone skin! This specific collection of products is made with Palm Ash, Tamarind Extract and Plantain Peel, which has been used in Africa for centuries to lessen the appearance of blemishes, and Shea Butter, which every product in their line uses. And the fragrances in these are essential oils and they smell so good!

So let’s talk ingredients as they really do have some good ones inside these like the Clarifying Pads – in addition to the above ones listed, they also have aloe vera and vitamin E to calm skin and not strip it. And the Mud Mask cleans up those pores and give the skin a deep cleaning using kaolin clay and tea tree oil.

What I liked about this line mainly were the ingredients and using a homeopathic route to get my skin under control. While this collection didn’t seem to make a difference when it came to a few deep ones that cropped up over the 6 weeks but it seemed to have kept away those pesky surface ones; the ones that always get so red so quickly and can look unsightly. Check these out and more @ nubianheritage.com, ulta.com. 

What are you using to keep hormonal acne away?

Disclosure: Samples of these items were provided for review purposes.