Monoi oil
Monoi oil, or Monoi Tiare de Tahiti, is a traditional beauty product made in French Polynesia . The oil is produced by maceration of the white, strongly scented flowers of the Tiare ( Gardenia tahitensis ) with coconut oil ( Cocos nucifera ) and used externally.
Monoi oil is said to make the skin soft and supple and give the hair a silky sheen. To make it, the flowers of the tiare are picked before dawn and macerated in fresh coconut oil for some time. The flowers give off moisturizing and nourishing ingredients and the typical fragrances to the oil . Bottles with a tiare flower inlaid in the yellowish oil are sold as a sign of authenticity for natural production.
James Cook does not seem to have appreciated Monoi oil, however, because he writes in the log of his first voyage on July 13, 1769 about the inhabitants of Tahiti:
“The only unfortunate thing about them is the oil they rub their heads with, Monoe as they call it; this is coconut oil, to which certain sweet herbs and flowers have been added, and the oil is generally very rancid, which does not give its user a particularly pleasant scent. "
In the Polynesian language, Monoi means “fragrant oil”, but only the extract from the island of Tahiti can be called “Monoi de Tahiti”. The word Tiare for Gardenia tahitensis has its origins in Tahiti. In the Vanuatu language the plant was called Neace-ya-vat , Mbua in Fidji and Siale in Tonga . In the international nomenclature for cosmetic ingredients (INCI), the flower extract is called GARDENIA TAHITENSIS FLOWER EXTRACT .
The pleasant smelling, blooming bush, which originally only appeared in Micronesia , was carried along by the Polynesians during their migration . This “national plant” of Tahiti and its neighboring islands has solid branches, opposite leaves and snow-white petals. The bush blooms all year round, albeit with a particularly large number of flowers in April and September.
Plants of the Rubiaceae family are perceived as having a very sweet smell, especially white specimens such as Gardenia tahitensis . The scent of the tiare is reminiscent of gardenia and Polianthes tuberosa (Mexican herbaceous plant) and also contains an apple blossom component.