Argan Oil Beauty Products

The argan tree or Argania spinosa has grown in Africa for thousands of years, and archaeological evidence suggests that people have been extracting its oil for centuries. The trees tend to develop gnarled, twisted trunks and branches, with deep root systems which have helped them adapt to harsh desert conditions. When a tree is well-situated, it can live for hundreds of years, producing small flowers in April and following with small fruits which look almost like limes. The tree, a relict species from the Tertiary age, is extremely well adapted to drought and other environmentally difficult conditions of southwestern Morocco. The species Argania once covered North Africa and is now endangered and under protection of UNESCO. So there was alarm that the Argania spinosa, as the tree is properly called, was headed for extinction, along with its precious goat-related oil. UNESCO, and people excited by the oil's reputed anti-aging qualities have helped by creating a global market for the exotic oil, the unlikely alliance hopes to raise awareness about the inherent value of the trees, encouraging more careful grazing and stopping the local population from chopping the trees down for firewood. The people in the area are poor, as they now understand the value of the tree, they are protecting it. UNESCO declared a 25,900-square-kilometer of land between the Atlantic and the Atlas Mountains and provided money to manage the trees' preservation. (source - Wikipedia)

Now some of you may have heard about the Argan tree climbing goats.  No I haven't used Photoshop or changed this photo in anyway!  There really are tree climbing goats and they actually provide a benefit to Argan Oil production.  For centuries, Berbers  would collect undigested Argan nuts from the waste of goats which climb the trees to eat their fruit. The pits were then ground and pressed to make the nutty oil used in cooking and cosmetics.  While this may sound disgusting the enzymes in the goats intestines actually soften the nut and make it easier to crush.  There is no adverse effect on the oil and adds some "color" to the overall history of Argan Oil.  However, the oil used today in cosmetic and culinary products has mostly been harvested and processed with machines to insure the highest sanitary standards.Believe me, the first time I ever drove from Marrakesh to Essouiria and saw these goats I had to stop and investigate.  It isn't every day that you see a goat climbing to the top of a tree - sometimes 4 meters in height!

Perhaps the very best aspect of the Argan Oil story is that of the Berber Women's Cooperatives.  Obtaining the oil is not only a tedious process but done solely by the Berber women.  Interestingly,  men do not partake  in the process of crushing or extraction of the oil.  The process was traditionally done by hand and involves breaking the very hard shell of the argan nut open with stones, mixing the seeds into a paste and then squeezing the oil from the paste by hand. This has been largely replaced by machinery, but it is still the women who control the process.  Much of the benefit is owed to Dr. Zoubida Charrouf, who is an expert on Argan Oil and also realized the danger facing the over-harvesting of the tree by commercial entities.  This has become especially poignant as the world has come to know the wonders of Argan Oil properties and health benefits. As such, women's cooperatives were established and it is only from these cooperatives that can be purchased the Argan oil at source. 

The Argan Oil story is fascinating and of course we love Argan Oil.  However, we are very conscious of the dangers facing the Argan Tree and the actual risk to the traditional Berber way of life.  The Argan Tree is a tenacious species able to withstand extreme temperatures, drought and more.  However, it yields its fruit sparingly and does not like to be over-harvested.  Commercial interest (like us) needs to be very well managed or all will be lost forever.  Cloning the tree and trying to grow elsewhere has largely failed.  It is indigenous to the southwest of Morocco and likes to stay there!  That is why prices are high and rightly so.  We don't want to see this ancient and glorious tree be decimated  the way so many other commercialized industries have been from fishing, to de-forestation.