Tag Archives: Protium copal

Belize, Our Products, Soap

Copal Resin.

Together.Perspective

Hello There.  We are have been cleaning up copal blocks to use the resin to make soap, ointment and medicinal oil.  These are the blocks which you purchase at PG market:

Fresh Copal Blocks.
Fresh Copal Blocks.
Fresh Raw Copal.
Fresh Raw Copal.

Copal resin is tapped from the Copal tree (Protium copal) which is a tree indigenous to Belize.  It is most commonly used as incense; to use: break off pieces of copal and burn on hot coals.  It has an earthy resinous smell which is very aromatic.  Copal has also been used as a medicine by the ancient Maya for the treatment of skin ailments.  We process the copal to remove all the gunk (leaves, bark, flies and all).  This is the trash that you get out of the blocks…

Copal Trash
Copal Trash

We use the refined resin to make our copal products.  Our copal products are recommended for rash, itch, insect bites and they can also be used as a natural anti-septic and anti-fungal.  Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, Copal Medicinal Oil can be used an external rub for muscle-ache and arthritis.

Copal Products:

Copal Medicinal Soap.
Copal Medicinal Soap.
Copal Medicinal Ointment.
Copal Medicinal Ointment.
Copal Medicinal Oil.
Copal Medicinal Oil.

If you are interested in reading more about Copal, click on the link.  For more product information, click on The Apothecary.

Belize, Medical Related, Our Products, Soap

Fresh Copal.

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Munchkin.with.SwordHope you are having an enlightening Good Friday!  Well, it’s hot and we are definitely in the midst of dry season which means it is  time to tap copal (Protium copal) for the resin.  The most popular use for the copal blocks is as incense.  To use, just break off pieces and burn over charcoal.  Another use for copal is as a skin treatment  for rash, inflammation and itch; copal has been used by the Ancient Maya for centuries as a traditional remedy for skin ailments.  It also has natural anti-septic qualities so can be used for minor bacterial and fungal infections.  Here are some pictures of fresh copal:

Fresh copal has the smell of rainforests with an uplifting resinous scent.

Fresh Raw Copal.
Fresh Raw Copal.
Fresh Copal Blocks.
Fresh Copal Blocks.

If you are interested in reading more about the medical properties of copal, click on Copal As Medicine.

Here are some products that we make from copal.  We recommend these products  for skin conditions including eczema, psoriasis, insect bites and as a preventative treatment for skin infections.

Copal Medicinal Oil.
Copal Medicinal Oil.
Copal Medicinal Soap.
Copal Medicinal Soap.

If you want to view more of our copal hand-made products please look at The Apothecary.   For anyone living in Punta Gorda (Belize!), you can buy our Copal Medicinal Oil and other products at Vance Vernon and Mahong Pharmacy.

Belize, Medical Related, Our Products, Soap

A Day For Copal.

AvatarMunchkinWe are having a busy run right now with making our stuff.  I made a batch of Copal Medicinal Ointment today.  Here is copal (Protium copal) in its raw form with the cleaned-up material to the front of it:

Raw Copal and Cleaned Copal.
Raw Copal and Cleaned Copal.

A pound block of copal is sold in the Punta Gorda market wrapped up in a leaf as shown.  If you actually look closely, you will see all sorts of detritus in the resin.  Through a cleaning and filtering process we remove all the muck out of it to get what is shown in the picture.  It is a really messy procedure because the resin is a very sticky.

So, here is the pot with my magical formula for copal ointment:

Making Copal Ointment.
Making Copal Ointment.

The bright yellow stuff is beeswax melting in sticky goo (sorry for the lack of technical jargon).

And then we package it into containers:

Copal Medicinal Ointment.
Copal Medicinal Ointment.

Copal is used for skin ailments including bacterial and fungal skin infections.  It also has natural cicatrising properties which aids the healing of skin and helps the formation of scar tissue.  You can read more about Copal if you press on this link.

And, Gnome has been working too…

Gnome.SmilingHe has been working his magic on the soaps and has been hand-stamping a custom order batch.  This is definitely not his favourite chore but alas, somebody’s got to do it!  Stamping soaps actually requires co-ordination and correct alignment…it isn’t as easy as it looks!

Stamping Soap.
Stamping Soap.

and this is the result:

Stamped Soap.
Stamped Soap.

Gnome will be cutting a batch of Copal Medicinal Soap later on so I will adding a few more pictures later.  Okay, hope everyone is having a good Sunday!

More Pictures:

Soap Cutter.
Soap Cutter.

In the above picture, the piece of wood at the back is a frame with horizontal wires running along the whole length of it.  The front piece of wood is pushed down to ease the column of soap through the cutting wires.

And, this is the result:

Freshly Cut Copal Soap.
Freshly Cut Copal Soap.

Gnome only uses the cutter for the Medicinal soap because the result can be rough-cut.  For aesthetic reasons, the Artisan Soaps are cut one by one with a single wire.

Belize, Medical Related, Our Products, Plants

Copal as Medicine.

AvatarMunchkinI have been updating the product descriptions and revised the pages on Copal Medicinal Oil and Copal Medicinal Ointment in Product Descriptions.

Copal Medicinal Oil.
Copal Medicinal Oil.
Copal Medicinal Ointment.
Copal Medicinal Ointment.

Since we are doctors down here in Toledo, most locals are actually more interested in our medical products.  Our copal products were the first things we made and still remain the most commonly sought after preparation in Belize.

Copal Resin (Protium copal) has been used by the Mayans for centuries in skin ailments including infections and inflammatory conditions.  It is a medicine which is still used in the villages of Toledo but with westernisation and modernisation, many younger Mayans are losing these traditions.

If you are interested in reading about how we came about making this medicine, please read my article Copal in the Library.