Damar resin is a very people and earth friendly ingredient. Damar resin is harvested from trees in Malaysia and these trees are slashed yearly to ooze sap for harvesting. These trees are not damaged from this process; it is very similar to the tapping of maple trees for syrup. As the sap dries and solidifies, it captures insects, dried leaves, and tree bark so when the damar resin arrives in its crystal form at Enkaustikos, all of these embedded impurities must be removed. Enkaustikos heat filters the damar resin to make our wax medium and paint. If you buy this damar you will also have to remove these impurities to make a usable product. Damar in combination with beeswax produces a paint film with a higher index of refraction and Enkaustikos uses it as a main ingredient in their encaustic paints making the colors appear luminous.