Ingredient Spotlight: Tamarind Extract (Asam Jawa) In Cosmetics. How To Use It Safely.

During MCO last year; i took up a new skill that i was never interested before; cooking! 

When i was young and whenever my mom asked me to get into the kitchen i would say its ok; i will study hard, get a high paying job and hire a chef:-D little did i know now i dont even need to hire a chef in house; i can try any chef’s food i want in Grab or Food Panda:D

I didnt even need to study hard to get an ‘in house chef” :-D

So anyways; MCO; i would cook and i tried making everything vegan including Malaysian cuisine that so called cant be made into vegan (ya right!), and one of the ingredients i realise we used the most was Tamarind (asam jawa/ keping) and so it got me curious to find out about its effect on skin; and thats what this post is all about.

Tamarind are mostly found in Asia; especially in India, Bangladesh, and SEA. 

So lets see what are the chemical constituion in it and what it does:

Chemical Constituents Found

1. Tartaric Acid
2. Maleic Acid
3. Ascorbic Acid
4. Beta Carotine

What Do They Mean In Cosmetics:

Tartaric Acid

its a type of alpha hydroxy acid that works as keratolytics and to treat malasma. This means that its best for removing dead skin cells, and well as a skin lightener. 

This would suit products that are made for people with acne, pigmentation, and anti aging products. 

Maleic Acid

Similar to Tartaric acid; this is also an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) thats used as a keratolytics and pigmentation. 

Similarly; it usually used in anti acne, anti aging and anti pigmentation products. 

Ascorbic Acid:

Ascorbic acid are vitamin C; mostly used as antioxidant, and skin lightener. 

Its suitable to be added into products for brightening, and as scar reduction. Its also suitable as anti itch and other eczema like conditions.

Beta Carotine:

Beta carotine are Vitamin A precursors. Its usually found as red pigments and its mostly used as antioxidants, as well as keratolytics in higher dose. Its suitable for acnes.

What’s My Take In This

Now because tamarind is mostly found in Asia; i could really find much studies on them. 

They were few studies found in India though; however; it was mostly used to study what happens when one ingests it instead of applying.

Therefore i cant really say for sure that the product would be effective by itself when made into skincare unless more study is done. Again. Its 50-5- So for now; we can only test and see the results based on the chemical constituents found:-) 

Now based on the phytochemical detection; it looks like overall tamarind will be perfect do be done into a skincare that is meant to remove deadcells, as well as lightening.

What Products to Make?

This would be something that is removeable as leaving it on too long might cause iritation. 

For this reason; i would say the product to be made is either; cleanser, toner, Mild face scrub and Mask. I Wouldnt advice to make a leave on like a serum or moisturisers using this tamarind extract.

Writing this post already gave me an idea of what to make:-D stay tune and checkout our next post for our Free Recipe using this Tamarind Extract! 

Thank you for Reading;

Nisha