I ran into the house and quickly opened the box. I just skimmed the enclosed card with instructions on how to apply to oil to skin, hair, and nails before squeezing a bit into my hand. I gave it the sniff test.

When I was pregnant with my daughter I became sensitive to artificial smells. As a teenager I worked in Bath and Body Works, happily slathering myself and my customers with crazy fake smells like sun ripened raspberry. But when I was pregnant I couldn’t stand artificial fragrances. Then I read an EPA report about personal care products as pollutants. I was sold on the idea that the best skin care products for me and the environment would come from things I could eat. I began using argan soap I had left over from a trip in Morocco (wouldn’t eat soap, but you get the idea) and pure olive oil as my skin lotion. I didn’t smell fruity for sure, but I made it through pregnancy with no stretch-marks. I used rose water spray, a natural astringent, to get my good-smell fix.

I sniffed the argan oil from the Argan Oil Company. I had never bought argan oil in the United States before. I was skeptical. But one sniff and I knew it was pure. Just a slightly nutty smell. I rubbed it into my finger nail cuticles. Ah, skin food.

In Morocco I noticed a new sales energy behind bath and beauty products that have always been on the shelves here. In Oulja, the artisan cooperative in Sale, a jewelry shop was converted to a bath shop promoting natural Moroccan beauty products, including henna, oils, clays, honeys, and scented waters. Many of these products are organic and are literally good enough to eat.

US-based publications have recently begun reporting on argan oil to audiences unfamiliar with its long history as the “new miracle oil.” The miracle is that argan is rich in Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty-acids. Fatty-acids are essential to the body’s functioning. They help regulate hormones levels instead of tampering with them as some synthetic ingredients are prone to do.

With the rising popularity of Moroccan beauty products comes the opportunity to preserve Moroccan cultural traditions, encourage environmentally-friendly beauty care routines, empower women, and strengthen efforts preserve the argan tree. Companies like Argan Oils, whose motto is “Empower, Preserve, Protect” are working from an awareness that preserving beauty involves more than looking good.

You can buy products from Argan Oils through my website, which allows you to support the content of this site as well as the mission of the Argan Oils company.