Osun, popularly known as Camwood powder or African sandalwood powder is gotten from a shrubby red hardwood tree found in Central West Africa. This tree is recognized for its extremely hard, heavy, and durable wood. The wood from the camwood tree is traditionally used to make mortars and pestles, knife handles, furniture, and so on.
The powder from the camwood tree is also suitable for cosmetic uses. This powder is made by grinding the bark of the Camwood tree. Although osun has a fibrous texture, it has a very gentle exfoliating effect that is perfect for all types of skin; including sensitive skin.
Camwood powder is used both traditionally and in modern skincare practices as an antiseptic treatment for common skin conditions like acne and blackheads, and as a condiment in beauty therapies given by spas and aestheticians. It is often used in skin care products like soaps and lotions, because of its numerous skin enhancing qualities.
So what does Camwood do for your skin?
Camwood works for both the face and body, as it contains antioxidants that help regulate blood circulation to the skin and clean up toxic materials off the top skin layers. It can also be used to brighten the skin and clear off skin blemishes. Oftentimes, camwood powder is combined with other ingredients such as turmeric, honey, and essential oils to create DIY skincare mixtures. Depending on the ingredients mixed, it can be a toning mask or a moisturizing mask. When used alone, it is a rejuvenating mask that works for smoothening out wrinkles and fading dark spots.
To get a soft exfoliating effect, you can mix camwood powder with light oil and apply it as a mask. And for an anti-aging, wrinkle-smoothing mask, it can be mixed with rosewater and glycerin. When mixed with turmeric and coconut oil, camwood powder will have a rejuvenating effect on the skin that will clear dark spots and give the skin a healthy glow. Application of any of these masks should be followed by a light rinse off with black soap. Of course, quick research on recommended quantities should be carried out before you go ahead and DIY these homemade masks.
Because of how well camwood powder works with other organic ingredients, we have added it as a major component of our skin products. As a matter of fact, it is the ‘Osun’ in our renowned black soap; Dudu Osun, which literally means ‘Black Camwood Soap’. The combination of the ingredients in our black soap like shea butter, honey, aloe vera, and camwood powder makes it the ideal cleansing treatment for your skin.
A distinct appeal of this powder is how fast it works. Results from direct usage can usually be seen almost immediately and will continue to stay with continued use.
Other benefits of camwood include its natural ability to treat sunburn, restore skin elasticity, even out skin tone, and refine skin texture among others. Also, the oil gotten from Camwood contains lots of minerals, vitamins, cicatrizing, astringent, antispasmodic, anti-aging, and emollient ingredients that help the skin and hair in various ways.
A major advantage of using camwood powder is that it’s very low-risk to use. There are no known cases of an adverse reaction to camwood powder; this is why it comes highly recommended by beauty therapists and skin aestheticians. It’s also very easy to DIY this powder into your daily beauty regimen. Furthermore, it can be mixed with a large range of organic products to help you achieve your desired skin glow.
Camwood is certainly one of nature’s many essential gifts that we cannot do without. From inner body health to beauty and daily life utilities, camwood has proven to be useful in a lot of ways. No doubt incorporating camwood powder into your regular beauty regimen will yield extremely positive results and help you stay beautiful.