Sweet as Strawberries
Myanmar, 2013-03-25 09:26 by Laerke
I bought a packet of strawberries and shared a couple of them with this little sweetheart :)


The yellow painting on the girls cheeks are thanaka. Thanaka is a yellowish-white cosmetic paste made from ground bark. It is a distinctive feature of Myanmar seen commonly applied to the face and sometimes the arms of women and girls and to a lesser extent men and boys. It is used both to make you look pretty and as a natural sunscreen.

The wood of several trees may be used to produce thanaka cream; common used tress include thee tree or wood apple. Thanaka trees are perennials, and a tree must be at least 35 years old before it is considered mature enough to yield good-quality cuttings. Thanaka in its natural state is sold as small logs individually or in bundles, but nowadays also available as a paste or in powder form. Thanaka cream is made by grinding the bark, wood, or roots of a thanaka tree with a small amount water on a circular stone slab called kyauk pyin which has a channel round the rim for the water to drain into.

2013-07-02 19:34 by memographer
I ve never been to Myanmar. I d love to go one day. Seems like thanaka brings some wonderful photo opportunities. Love the street portraits you got.