Mastic tree: the lentisk pistachio and its Mediterranean mastic

Mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus) is an evergreen shrub found in the garrigue, a cousin of the true pistachio tree and the terebinth. Its resin produces the famous mastic, the "tear" harvested since antiquity on the Greek island of Chios. In cosmetics, mastic extract is renowned for its purifying properties: it helps clarify the appearance of combination to oily skin and gives skincare a fresh, typically Mediterranean resinous note.

Pistacia lentiscus, the mastic pistachio tree, is a shrub from the Anacardiaceae family – the same as the true pistachio tree (Pistacia vera) and the terebinth (Pistacia terebinthus). A dense bush with a compact habit, it rarely exceeds three meters and colonizes the garrigue, maquis, and arid limestone soils of the Mediterranean basin, in full sun.

Its evergreen foliage remains green all year round: the compound leaves, without a terminal leaflet, bear leathery and shiny leaflets with a characteristic winged axis. In spring, small reddish flowers precede clusters of fruit – tiny drupes that turn from red to black as they ripen. This robust species draws its strength from its dense wood and hardiness, which allow it to thrive where few plants can.

When incised, the trunk exudes an aromatic resin that solidifies into translucent "tears": this is mastic, a gum harvested since antiquity. The island of Chios, in Greece, remains its historical birthplace, but the cultivation and harvesting of mastic are also found in Corsica, Provence, Morocco, and Algeria. From this same plant, cosmetics derive several materials: the extract, the essential oil, and the macerate.

The mastic pistachio tree is a full-sun species: it loves limestone, dry, and poor soils, where other plants give up. This hardiness explains the presence of the shrub throughout the garrigue of France, Corsica, and Provence, as well as in the arid lands of Morocco and Algeria. Its cultivation requires little water; its evergreen foliage, leathery leaflets, and dense wood are all adaptations to the Mediterranean climate.

Mastic harvesting is a patient process. On the island of Chios, Greece, cultivators incise the bark to allow the resin to flow; the tears harden in the sun and take on their final color, from translucent to pale amber, before being sorted by hand. The leaves, on the other hand, are distilled to produce essential oil, while the flowers and fruits — these small red then black drupes — punctuate the plant's cycle throughout the seasons.

From the gum to the leaves, each part carries this resinous, woody, and fresh signature. It is what distinguishes the mastic tree from other species of the genus Pistacia, from terebinth to true pistachio, and what makes its oils and extract sought-after ingredients for combination skin care.