Copyright 2014 by Gary Pullman
John
Smith
Professor
Pullman
English
101F, Section 1002
10
February 2014
Out of
Africa: Nubian Heritage's African Black Soap
In the
United States, in times past, bathing was an arduous task. There was
no indoor plumbing, and there were no water heaters, so water would
have to be hauled from wells or creeks, heated in large pans atop
wood-burning stoves, and carried, in wooden buckets or pails to
free-standing bathtubs. After the bath, emptying the tub of the used water was no less laborious a task. Often, due to such constraints, water was a
scarce commodity, and it was needed for much more than bathing.
People depended upon limited supplies of fresh water for cleaning,
cooking, and watering their livestock. Consequently, bathing was, at
most, a weekly event, and some took a bath far less frequently.
Today, in the U. S., water heaters and indoor plumbing are
commonplace, and, thanks to river dams, reservoirs, and municipal
water tanks, men, women, and children tend to bathe daily, and few
people would question the need for soap, a product which sells well
with little or no encouragement from advertisers. Indeed, to compete
with one another, U. S. soap makers have found innovation a
necessity, and many a creative soap product vies with others that are
equally original: novelty and seasonal soaps shaped like cookies,
Christmas trees, and footballs; Soap-on-a-Rope; scented soaps that
smell like roses, rum, or vanilla; monogrammed soaps; herbal soaps;
soaps impregnated with lotion; deodorant soaps—the list goes on—and
on. Nowadays, it seems, it is gauche to lather one's body with
anything so plain as ordinary bath soap. The time is perfect,
therefore, it would seem, for Nubian Heritage's African Black Soap,
especially since it not only accords with U. S. consumers' cultural
values, but it is also both healthful and environmentally friendly.
Western
culture, of which the U. S. is a part, originated in Egypt as well as
in Arab lands, Greece, and Rome, so, despite the U. S.'s relatively
late entrance to Western culture, it shares a rich history with Egypt
no less than it does with Europe. Nubian Heritage's African Black
Soap explicitly cites this shared history, or “heritage,” with
the U. S. and, indeed, European nations in its website's “Product
Information,” while identifying the soap's benefits to consumers'
health: “The Nubian Heritage African Black Soap combines the
ancient medicinal properties of black soap with the hydrating
properties of Shea Butter to balance problem skin.” The shared
culture represented by the product's Nubian origin is emphasized by
the company's use of such terms as “traditional” and
“traditionally,” as it is by the company's contending that the
product is not so much an altogether new product as it is an “update”
of the “traditional” soap. (It doesn't hurt the success of the
soap's marketing approach that the text on the elegant black box in
which the soap is packaged for export to the U. S. and other
English-speaking countries appears in English.) This product,
available to all today, was once used exclusively by Egyptian
royalty, including Cleopatra herself! Obviously, if this soap was
good enough for a queen, it should please any lesser mortal who is
privileged to use it. Indeed, an inscription upon the very bar itself
insists that those who use it are “Never Spoiled Enough,”
perhaps, because, like Cleopatra, they can never be spoiled
too much.
Moreover,
Nubian Heritage's African Black Soap is chock full of natural,
healthful ingredients that not only cleanse the skin but also
balances “skin tone” and improves “skin texture,” qualities
upon which many U. S. consumers insist in regard to any product they
might buy:
This traditional African Black Soap recipe contains palm ash,
plantain peel extract and rosemary extract. This powerful combination
has traditionally been used to treat eczema, acne, oily skin,
psoriasis, and other skin ailments. In the apothecary tradition,
Nubian Heritage updates African Black Soap with active botanical
extracts and salicylic acid to more effectively treat acne, balance
skin tone and improves skin texture. Daily use will result in
cleaner, clearer, healthier skin.
The website also spells out the benefits of the product to consumers:
“Benefits: Effective Skin Care Targets Trouble Skin Without Over
Drying,” and its use is effective against “Oily Skin, Combination
Problem Skin,” and “Acne.”
Both the
website and the box in which the soap is packaged testify of the
product's environmentally safe ingredients, which is apt to appeal to
the many U. S. consumers who demand that products be environmentally
friendly. According to the website, the soap's ingredients are both
natural and gentle: “Key Ingredients: “Shea Butter, Palm Ash,
Plantain Peel Extract.” Likewise, the information on the box
supports the environmental friendliness of the soap's contents: it is
a “100% Vegetable Soap,” consisting of “African Black Soap
Base, Coconut Oil* and/or Palm Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea
Butter)*, Avina Sativa (Oat) Kernel Meal, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf
Juice, Plantain Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Vegetable Glycerin,
Mineral Pigment or Vegetable Color, and Essential Oil Blend.” The
company is considerate enough of its consumers' sensitivity to
environmental friendliness to ensure that terms that might be
unfamiliar to them are clarified: the somewhat intimidating-sounding
“Butyrospermum Parkii” is nothing more than “Shea Butter”;
“Avina Sativa” is “Oat”; and “Tocopherol” is “Vitamin
E.” Nubian Heritage African Black Soap has nothing to hide, and
even its list of ingredients is absolutely transparent. Moreover, the
company assures consumers that those ingredients that are marked with
an asterisk (i. e., “Coconut Oil” and “Butyrospermum Parkii
[Shea Butter]” are “Certified Organic Ingredient[s].” In other
words, these ingredients originate from organic farming methods,
including the use of organic ingredients, without the use of
synthetic or chemical products or processes, such as pesticides,
fertilizers, or irradiation. Likewise, the product neither contains
animal products nor engages in animal testing. Once again, for
environmentally conscious consumers, Nubian Heritage African Black
Soap fills the bill.
Nubian
Heritage African Black Soap looks different from the other soap
products with which most U. S. consumers are familiar. It looks
different even than the more unusual soaps sold in novelty shops.
Rectangular, with rounded corners and edges, it is a lustrous black
bar, emblazoned with a crown, the base of which is formed by an
abbreviation of the product's full name: “Nubian Heritage”; the
soap's slogan, “Never Spoiled Enough,” appears inside the crown,
in small, light gray letters as elegant as the product itself. It is
an attractive bar of soap, but it is one that also embraces its
common heritage with the U. S., Europe, and other members of Western
culture; benefits consumers' health; and respects the environment,
both by its use of natural ingredients and its avoidance of the use
of both animal products and animal testing. With Nubian Heritage
African Black Soap, everyone, everywhere can spoil him- or herself as
much as Cleopatra did when, thousands of years ago, the queen of
Egypt lathered and rinsed with what is essentially the same product
that the company continues to offer today.
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