One of the first questions I had upon arriving in Yangon, (Pronounced Yan-goon) was what in the world was the yellow paint I was seeing on all the faces of the children and most of the women (not so much on the men)?
My understanding is that this is a cultural practice found almost exclusively in Myanmar and it is a root from sandalwood and is commonly called “Thanaka”, which is ground up, mixed with water and then applied to the face. Locals believe that that Thanaka root application has numerous health benefits including: tightening of the skin, anti-septic and natural sunblock. I also noticed that many of the children have interesting patterns of Thanaka drawn on their faces, I am assuming their mothers do this as a fun way to start their child’s day.
This is what the root looks like when it is sold:I am serious when I say nearly every native woman and child had this on their faces. I found it fascinating.
Any google search on Thanaka will pull up a host of websites, but here are a couple good links:
Thanaka On Wiki
Thanaka Skin Care
So gLad you put this on here, because that is the first thing I noticed in your pictures and became curious about! I guess we think a lot alike….haha! Very cool facts. So my next question is did you bring some of that root back since it is believed to have some skin tightening benefits!!?? 🙂
Very nice images, M…
we need Thanaka bark powder and kusumba oil for permanent hair removing in bulk quantity please quote reasonable price. we are buyer and seller