We have several products that feature an ingredient called Thanaka, including all of our face masks, our Thanaka Unscented Soap, and our Thanaka Tea Tree Soap.
But what is Thanaka?
Thanaka (Limonia Acidissima) is a tree native to Southeast Asia. It has been used in Myanmar (Burma) as makeup, sun protectant, and a skin soothing agent for centuries.
To this day, if you visit Myanmar, you will see it on the faces of children, women, men, applied for sun protection and for general skin health. It is also used to help even skin tone, clear acne (including whiteheads and blackheads), and reduce wrinkles. Loaded with vitamin E and antioxidants, it is both anti-inflammatory and antibacterial.* Mothers in Myanmar will also feed Thanaka paste to children when they have diarrhea or when their bodies are too heaty.
So how do you get this magical substance? A Thanaka tree must be allowed to grow for at least 20 years before it can start being harvested. Most Myanmar people will then buy pieces of the branches at a local market. The bark of the branches is then ground up on a special stone slab (every traditional Myanmar home has one) to create a paste that can be lathered upon the face and body, or even eaten, for its many benefits.
When applied to your skin, Thanaka is cooling, soothing, cleansing, and tightening, making it the perfect base for our face masks and a great addition to our soaps. In our products, we use pure Thanaka in a powdered form, which makes our masks apply light and thin on your face, but retains its ability to act as a powerful skin conditioner. In our soaps, it gives you a cool cleanse and smoothes your skin. Our Thanaka Tea Tree Bar is the perfect remedy for oily and acne prone skin!
*Journal of Ethnopharmacology 132 (2010) 466-472, Chulalongkorn University and University of London