Tamanu oil, extracted from the fruit of the Calophyllum inophyllum tree, is renowned for its remarkable skin healing properties.
The Tamanu tree blooms twice a year, and has aromatic white flowers that create clusters of yellow-skinned fruits.
Producing Tamanu oil is harder than you might think!
Tamanu oil doesn’t actually exist in the fruit when it falls from the tree, but forms during the drying period.
The fruit has a large nut within it. The harvested fruits are crushed to extract the nuts. The nuts are then sun-dried for eight weeks. During this time, the nuts turn brown and lose a third of their original weight. Only now does the oil content become very high inside the nut.
Once dried, the oil is extracted from the nuts by cold pressing. Tamanu oil has a curry-like, nutty aroma.
Tamanu oil’s ability to heal damaged skin has been well researched. The oil is notable for treating scars, stretch marks (fades stretch marks with great results), minor wounds, skin irritations, rashes, bedsores and many other skin concerns.
- Greatly aids wound healing for severe cuts and burns.
- Acts as an effective germicide to kill or prevent infection.
- Analgesic effects, useful with St. John’s Wort herbally-infused oil for sciatica.
- Used for shingles and skin ulcers.
- Promotes new tissue formation, accelerating healing and healthy skin growth.
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antibacterial
- Anti-fungal
- It can be used undiluted on the skin or blended with other carriers, butters and essential oils. I like to melt it with shea butter, jojoba oil, beeswax and coconut oil for a rich and healing body butter.
The shelf life is about a year and a half from pressing and the oil is best kept refrigerated.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
There is an article in Woman’s World discribing the benefits of Foraha oil for the face and body.I,m interested in trying it for sun spots and general aging.I have rosea…but not serious.Will this be safe to use?I also like the other medicinal applications.Do you have any feedback on others using this product?
Hello there,
This is just a FYI email. It is possible to have a severe reaction to Tamanu oil. I did, and quite unexpectedly. I haven’t reacted to any other facial oil before, including Argan oil. My symptoms were extreme redness and swelling all over the face, including around the eyes. In total, this lasted about 4 days. I strongly recommend that people try a tiny bit of this on the inside of the arm – or maybe neck – first. This way they will not get the surprise I did. One just never knows.
The product I used was a highly reputable organic source, so it was not the product.
Thanks!
Chado