Morocco Trip: Argan Oil

Berber lady is cracking the nut to obtain the argan

Honestly before visiting Morocco, I had never heard of Argan oil (زيت أرجان) so here is a little info. Argan trees are only found in Morocco & some parts of Algeria. They live for 150-200 years. They produce fruit which take one year to mature. There are oil-rich seeds in inside the Argan nuts that Berber people rely on to make their living. Berber people manually extract the oil from the nuts to sell it and they also use it as a replacement for olive oil.

Argan in its original form

When I went to Ourkia river (see previous post), we visited a village store that sells Argan oil and products that were based on Argan Oil. There was a Berber lady who showed us how they extracted the oil. It’s really labour-intensive work. It takes 20 hours of intensive labour to obtain 1 litre of Argan oil. First, they crack the nut with two stones to obtain the oil-rich seeds and then they manually grind the seeds to extract the oil.

The Nut is grained to obtain the oil

It’s rich in Vitamin E & has essential fatty acids. It is supposedly to be very healthy and beneficial for people who who have diabetes (مرضى السكر)  and it also lowers cholesterol (يخفض الكوليسترول). Furthermore, it has many of cosmetic benefits as skin & face moisturizer (مرطب للوجه والجسم), and it also reduces skin scars and skin discoloration, reduces aging-lines and wrinkles (تجاعيد) and increases skin elasticity (مرونة الجلد) so you won’t get stretch marks. It also softens & nourishes the hair.  It really sounds like a miraculous oil, does it?    😛

Argan

I bought 500ml and I have been trying it for two weeks. I can verify that it’s great as a moisturizer for face and body.  I noticed it when I apply it, my skin quickly absorbs so I don’t feel greasy. As for the hair, one tea-spoon of oil is good enough to apply on the hair after washing. And No, the hair won’t look greasy as well as  the hair will quickly absorbs the oil. My hair does feel softer after its use.

Argan Nut is cracked

From what I googled, many European and American cosmetic companies are now trying to incorporate Argan oil in their products and also more research are being done to find out more about its benefits.

After trying Argan for two weeks, I do believe Argan Oil is going to be the next BEST thing. I really wish I had bought more. 😕  Please be aware in some places, they mix sun-flower seed oil with Argan so be careful from where you buy the oil.

Going to post more about the trip so stay tuned!  🙂