Ingredient

Tonka

Tonka? Sweeeet!!

What is tonka?

The tall camaru tree (Dipteryx odorata) belongs to the legume family (Fabaceae) and grows in Costa Rica, Brazil and Peru. It bears fruits that contain a single seed, oblong and smooth, called the tonka bean. The bean is used as a spice, grated into culinary preparations such as desserts to give them a sweet, complex taste. It can also be subjected to a solvent extraction process to obtain an absolute: a thick, concentrated extract of the bean’s scent.

Why do we use tonka in our products?

• Tonka has a sweet, comforting aroma that enriches vanilla fragrances.
• It’s very soothing to the skin and mind.

Did you know?

Some say that tonka smells of vanilla, but the bean has its own perfume. It is sweet but also fruity, reminiscent of cherries and bitter almonds, and has notes of hay. This complex scent is mainly due to coumarin, an aromatic compound that naturally occurs in tonka in such quantities that it creates a white crystallised coating around the bean when it dries.

Where does Lush get tonka from?

The tonka beans we purchase are wild harvested by indigenous and local communities in the Amazon forest, helping provide livelihoods for those who are protecting one of the richest ecosystems in the world. Through these partnerships, we ensure quality products, empowerment and economic support.

Among these communities are the Kayapo people of Brazil, who carefully collect fallen tonka fruits and manually crack each one open with hammers to extract the valuable beans. The beans are then sun-dried and gathered in large sacks before being transported to France, where they are refined into an absolute for use in our products.

Tonka absolute reveals its sweetness in some of our most tempting Gourmand fragrances while complementing the lullaby sung by lavender and vanilla in our relaxing Sleepy range.