Monoï Here: Tahiti’s Monoï Week Festival
The Nov. 18-21 festival brought together Tahitian “mamas” from all of French Polynesia’s archipelagos along with Monoï laboratories. This joint effort promoted all the traditional and beneficial aspects of Monoï, introduced the plants of the Maohi, or ancient Tahitian, pharmacopoeia and described the activities related to this product. The public had an active participation in this gathering, participating in workshops and exhibitions and by going aboard Le Truck, or Tahitian bus, to learn how to prepare Monoï.
This provided an understanding of the important role that this natural oil plays in the culture and daily lives of the Tahitians. First, there’s the preparation, the oil obtained by soaking Tiare Tahiti flowers in copra oil extracted from coconuts. Then there’s the many uses of Monoï—a skin moisturizer, a protection against mosquito and other insect bites, a sun tan lotion, a hair treatment oil and a massage oil. Thus, it is easy to understand why Monoï has justifiably earned its famous reputation as a gift from nature that man has known how to use for hundreds of years.
So allow yourself the pleasure of enjoying its gentle caress and its flowered perfume. You’ll have only good feelings with Monoï.