beauty
Castanha: A Warm Way To Nourish Your Hair And Skin
Learn more about this rich Amazonian ingredient, also known as the Brazil Nut.
- By Tania Menai
There is a strong reason why the indigenous inhabitants of the Amazon call the "Castanheira" the "Queen of Forest." This majestic tree (which we pronounce Castañeira) kisses the skies as it can grow up 230 feet tall, live for more than 500 years, protect the ecosystem around it and give us the gift of Castanha, or Brazil Nut. Its fruits, called “ouriços” are capsules of hard woody shells (similar to coconut) and can weigh around 2 to 4 pounds. Each capsule contains around two dozen delicious and nutritious Castanha nuts, one of the main protein sources in the forest.
As you embrace our Castanha products into your shower and daily routine, it's interesting to think about its nobility: to reach the Castanheiras, Amazon workers travel up the river during the Amazonian winter and spend weeks away from home to harvest the Castanhas. Then, women from local communities press the seeds by hand to extract the überrich white milk that will nourish your body, from head to toe. Currently there are 436 families directly involved in Natura’s harvest process.
Let's start with the hair: Natura offers Castanha shampoo and conditioner, which contain castanha oil, rich in ômega-6 and ômega-9. Still in the shower, why not a little indulgence from our Castanha Shower Body Milk? This shower milk contains 10% Castanha oil, plus almond oil and cupuaçu butter, to hydrate, nourish and protect the skin.
Castanha can also be your best tropical friend during the never-ending winter - yes, we are talking dry skin. Take the Castanha Body Butter, which also contains shea butter and olive oil. Your skin will be deeply nourished and hydrated for up to 36 hours.
If you need a constant refresh on-the-go, you may try Castanha Hand Cream, which contains murumuru butter, a stellar ingredient from the Amazon known for its restorative properties. (Enchance your hand care ritual here.) And let's finish with your feet; if they could talk, they would, undoubtedly, say Thank You, or even, Obrigado, for a caress of Castanha foot cream.
The castanheira is considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and in Brazil, it is on the list of threatened species of the Ministry of Environment. The risk of extinction is mainly caused by deforestation, and so Natura is proud to have this rich ingredient as a big focus in our collection. When local people can make a living from the standing trees, our whole world benefits.
Read more on how Natura protects the forest by utilizing natural ingredients in its products.