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Tamanu oil is a wonderful oil that should be included in everyone’s skin care regime. With so many environmental changes, our skin goes through a lot in a short period of time.
Tamanu oil will assist in your skin’s health when it comes to environmentally stressed skin. It is one of the oils I consider to be a must have on hand for burns and damaged skin.
Traditionally a Tahitian skin care oil, you can understand the power of this healing oil based on Tahiti’s climate. Heat and sun exposed skin benefits greatly from this nurturing and protecting oil.
This oil has been used by the Tahitians and other populations in the South Pacific as a sun block and natural skin cure from traumatic skin conditions like:
- Dry, dehydrated skin
- Dermatitis
- Eczema
- Rashes
- Protection against UVA and UVB rays
- Acne
Harvesting this Rare Oil
Considered one of the best topical first aid oils, Tamanu oil (Calophyllum Inophyllum Linn) is harvested from the seeds of the Tamanu Tree, found only on a handful of islands in the South Pacific, thus making it a very rare oil.
The few places these trees grows is just the beginning of harvesting this oil. It takes a lot of patience and dedication to retrieve the nectar inside the seeds. The seeds are hand gathered and left to cure in the sun for up to 8 weeks. You can then extract the oil.
It takes the entire annual nut production of a Tamanu tree to create just five kilograms of cold-press Tamanu oil.
How Does Tamanu Oil Benefit the Skin?
Besides the fact that this oil is super rare and very special we actually have many healing benefits from this tree. Tamanu oil is one of the first oils I ever used on my skin when I was younger to help with oily skin and acne outbreaks. So how does it help with these skin conditions?
Anti-Inflammatory
Tamanu oil has been studied by Tsai SC, Liang YH et al, and is published in the journal Oncology (Source) and has found it to be a very effective anti-inflammatory oil, helping in skin conditions such as acne, rashes, and most other irritation brought to the skin. This can include, insect bites, sores, and eczema.
Anti-Microbial
Tamanu oil can penetrate all three layers of the skin allowing for its nourishing anti-microbial abilities to work at a very effective level, where we see infection begin. Tamanu oil is active in fighting potential microbes that manifest as skin conditions like eczema, acne, and psoriasis.
Sun Protection
Tamanu oil provides natural UV protection. Sc Glucan found in this oil protects against UV-induced DNA damage and oxidative stress by providing a biological UV filter with an SPF of 18-22. (Source)
Stimulates the Growth of New Healthy Tissue
This is what makes this oil very healing and capable of treating harsh skin conditions including sunburn, rashes and sores. This process is scientifically referred to as “cicatrisation” and Science has clearly established Tamanu oil as a significant healing oil. (Source)
Finding the Best Sourced Tamanu Oil
When we buy a rare oil such as this, we will notice that some products will try to imitate this oil and promote a non-potent source, or potentially a mixed or synthetic form.
What I really love about Tamanu oil is that, although it is a rare and not readily available oil, it still has a very reasonable price point. Finding a great quality oil is also not as difficult as it may seem.
When you are searching for Tamanu oil, you will want to be sure to check off these important attributes:
- Cold Pressed
- Sustainably harvested
- Organic
- Pure Quality
- No animal testing
- From the South Pacific islands
-> Learn Where to Buy Tamanu Oil <-
Who Should be Using Tamanu Oil?
Tamanu oil is going to be very useful for skin types that are:
Prone to Sunburns
Most of us with fair skin or anyone that spends a lot of time in the sun can be UV protected using Tamanu oil.
Wants to Heal Sunburn
The wonderful cicatrisation ability of Tamanu oil will help to regenerate new tissue and heal burns and insect bites much faster than other products.
Anti-Aging
Another benefit of an oil that helps stimulate new tissue growth will also naturally restore lipids in the skin, which supports natural collagen synthesis and improves skin elasticity, helping improve wrinkles and fine lines.
Dry Skin
Combating dry skin can be difficult. You for sure want to include Tamanu oil to help hydrate and stop the skin from flaking. Because Tamanu oil can penetrate the three layers of skin, you are receiving hydration on a much deeper level, rather than coating the outermost layer of skin.
Acne Prone Skin
We have covered the wonderful benefits of Tamanu oil above stating that this oil has significant antimicrobial activity, which helps destroy acne and other bacterial skin diseases.
When we have too much bacteria in the skins pores, we are more prone to acne breakouts, helping combat this bacteria we need an active antimicrobial product.
Acne and other skin conditions caused by infection are hard to treat, Tamanu oil may be the right product for you [Read: Tamanu oil for acne scars].
Tamanu oil is hypoallergenic, non-irritating, and non-toxic.
-> Learn Where to Buy Tamanu Oil <-
Products Containing Tamanu Oil:
Conclusion
We have explored how beneficial this rare oil can be. It is a unique oil that should be included in your skin care first aid kit, or for daily use for protection and prevention. I use Tamanu oil daily for hydration and skin regeneration. It makes my skin feel smooth and supple.
I love the texture and scent of this oil and I always feel great after I use it. It is a special treasure, a rare and unique oil that comes from so far away, I feel very lucky to have and use.
I would love to hear about your experience with this beautiful oil, leave us a comment!
To a Bright and Beautiful you,
Maria.
I was reading your post about acne scars and tamanu oil, then I read this post, and I saw that you suggested two different brands in each one. Is one better than the other? Is one sponsoring you? If I’m going to use this oil, which brand should I use?
Thank you.
Both of the Tamanu oils we recommend are good quality. We are not sponsored by anyone 🙂 Sometimes we recommend a few different brands for the same product because we believe they are equally good. I know it may be confusing and maybe we should stick to recommending only one brand of product, but there are so many good brands out there, it is hard to narrow it down.
Maria and I both write articles and we have tried different products, leading us to recommend different brands. You can rest assured that if we recommend a product, it is because it is a good product. We do tons of research behind the scenes before we make a product recommendation.
Which Tamanu oil you choose is dependent on where you want to buy from. The Gio Naturals I recommend on the Tamanu oil for Acne Scars post is available on Amazon. The Tamanu Oil Lab recommended in this post is not. If I were to choose one over the other, I would choose Tamanu Oil Lab, since they are a small company that sources Tamanu oil for all of their products and take great care in getting the best quality Tamanu oil there is.
the tree itself is not that rare. It is also grown and harvested here in Indonesia. We call it as the Nyamplung Tree. Great review still.
Thanks Yuki
And I can mix tamanuoil witn another oils for extremely dry skin for butter balm skin care etc,kokum butter ,shea butter ,mango ,its ok?.
Yes of course! Tamanu oil can be used in body butters, facial creams, oils, serums, whatever your heart desires!
hello, I used tamanu oil and find that it stains ALOT, my clothes, my linens.. and doesn’t come off! How use this so that it doesn’t stain?
Tamanu oil is fairly dark so it can stain. The best way to avoid this is to apply the tamanu oil on wet skin, so that you don’t need to use as much oil. Also, wait a bit before getting dressed or climbing into bed, for the oil to soak in. If you find you are too greasy, then wipe off the excess oil with a towel that you don’t mind getting stained. I hope that helps! Another option would be to switch to a clear oil that will be less likely to stain.
I love this oil. It’s absolutely incredible.
We are happy to hear it Leros 🙂