A prized treasure
The star of the beaches of Saint-Tropez and the Côte d'Azur, a summer elixir for skin and hair, Monoï de Tahiti has acquired cult status in mainland France. It conjures up scents of warm sand, awakens sensual, voluptuous sensations, and conjures up marvelous longings for paradise and elsewhere. It's as if here, in France, on the other side of the world, it could deliver something of its age-old tradition, still retaining the strength of the Maohi culture from which it springs. Because in Tahiti and its islands, monoi covers a much wider and more extraordinary reality..
Unfortunately, while a number of Western brands use the term "monoï" for marketing and sales purposes for by-products of sometimes dubious quality - most notably self-tanners - genuine Monoï de Tahiti is rarely to be found on the shelves of our supermarkets in mainland France. So take advantage of your trip to stock up!
A 100% Fenua product
A 1992 Appellation d'Origine decree defines precisely how this much-loved elixir is made. "Monoï de Tahiti is the product obtained by macerating tiare flowers in refined copra oil, extracted from coconuts harvested in the geographical area of French Polynesia at the ripe nut stage, on soils of coral origin. These nuts must come from the Cocos nucifera coconut palm and the tiare flowers from the Gardenia taitensis plant species (Flore de Candolle) of Polynesian origin, harvested at the bud stage...".
The coconut palm from Polynesia's coral soils produces a refined oil (from first pressing) that cosmetics laboratories particularly appreciate for its silky, light feel.
Tiare flowers are endemic to French Polynesia. It has even become its emblem. A symbol of purity and beauty, it is worn gracefully over the ear - on the right if the heart is free, on the left if not - and welcomes new arrivals and celebrates their welcome. But beyond its charms, the tiare flower is also one of the most important plants in ra'au Tahiti: the traditional pharmacopoeia of Tahiti and her islands. The flowers are used in a wide variety of preparations, from the treatment of eczema to headaches and insect bites.
An ancestral recipe
In the preparation of Monoï de Tahiti AO (appellation d'origine), the flower is used fresh, picked in the morning at bud stage, and macerated within 24 hours of picking. Maceration in refined copra oil - the flesh of the coconut - lasts at least 10 days and extracts the flower's virtues. The oil is then carefully filtered.
Papeete markets and artisans also sell another quality of monoï, traditional mono'i (pronounced "mono-i"), which is made using an older method: freshly grated coconut flesh is cooked in the sun, sheltered by a sheet or pareo, and then mixed with fresh or dried tiare flowers. The occasional addition of crushed hermit crabs or goat's head speeds up the process of separating the oil, which floats to the surface after several days, producing the traditional mono'i, the Mama's famous mono'i.
Undisputed benefits
The use of Monoï de Tahiti as a sun care product is nothing more than a Western detour. In Maohi, the word mono'i can be translated as "fragrant oil" or "sacred oil" (in French, monoï is one of the few Tahitian words to have entered the French language dictionary). Indeed, the etymology reveals more clearly the traditional use of the product. In the islands, mono'i has accompanied Polynesians at every moment of their lives for over 2,000 years.
From birth, mothers massage their babies with monoi oil. The aim is both to stimulate the child's psychomotor development and to condition, nourish and protect the skin. Monoï is then used daily by Tahitians as a genuine natural second skin, whose functions can be modulated by different plants: it protects against the cold of the river; loaded with miri, it also protects against evil spirits; in the Marquesas, humuei, a monoï blended with fragrant plants, is even used to attract a loved one! Monoï is also appreciated for nourishing long, thick hair, which the rigors of climate and the elements make dry and difficult to style.
As a natural care and beauty oil, monoï combines the daily symbiosis of man and nature - a notion at the heart of Polynesian cosmogony. Much more than a simple skin care product for those willing to read multidimensional nature into it, monoï expresses the richness of a sense of harmony and balance. Nowhere is this better revealed than in the tradition of Taurumi Ma'ohi, the ancestral massage. It can be practised very simply in a family setting, in the evening, in the soothing shade of a tree, in a place that's both peaceful and open, or more formally by a tahu'a, a specialist.
A whole culture
Skin care, body care and soul care, monoï is obviously a sacred treatment, an anointing oil used in many rituals and ceremonies. No wedding or royal coronation is complete without monoi and Tiaré flowers.
From the sacred rituals of Polynesia to the little tropézienne bottle, Monoï de Tahiti, like tattoos, expresses the strength and modernity of a mythical culture. A culture which, long before the West rediscovered the virtues of balancing body and soul, produced a natural and spontaneous sense of well-being, grace and beauty. Today, Monoï de Tahiti has become an ambassador for Polynesia around the world, inspiring leading beauty and wellness brands to formulate treatments that distill the magic of the Pacific and convey the spirit of a certain art de vivre.
