BEAUTY
selves. Did I mention this
cooperative was EcoCert
certified? Each detail
made me giddy.
At the cooperative, Ben
and I were led through
the argan-making process in both English and
French, and at the end
we got to taste the toasted argan oil (for cooking)
as well as try the different
argan oil products they
make on-site for skincare. The process is really
interesting, especially
because it is done with
zero waste, making it very
sustainable. Below are
the steps used to create
this amazing argan oil.
The process starts by
cracking open the freshly-picked argan. Its outermost shell is used to feed
animals for no wastage.
After this, a second layer
must be removed in order
to get at the prized nut.
This layer is also not discarded; instead, it is used
for fire or fed to animals.
The lovely inner argan
is then ground up into a
paste. The argan oil used
in cooking and food is
roasted before this stage,
but the argan oil used for
cosmetics is ground up
raw. This paste can also
be used as argan butter – a delicious almond
butter-esque treat. The
paste is then hand mixed
with water and rolled into
little cake-like patties. As
they dry, the oil separates
from them and is collected. What is left are
dry, black argan cakes
that are fed to animals
(the guide called them
“chocolates for animals”)
or ground up and made
into black soap. Again,
super efficient!
After seeing the argan oil
being made, I headed
into the cooperative
store to taste what had
just been produced and
browsed through all the
wonderful items they
sold. I ran up quite a
tab and could see that
the staff were surprised
that I bought so much.
I explained in my terrible french that I was an
esthetician and loved
natural beauty products.
The girls got really excited
and asked me to analyze
their skin and make some
recommendations. At first
I was so surprised that I
thought I was misunderstanding something via
my high school French
capabilities, but no – the
guide confirmed in English that they wanted a
beauty consultation.
Somehow I ended up not
only doing a skin analysis
but also explaining the
difference between dryness and dehydration,
the importance of sun
protection, and the connection between poor
digestion and acne… all
while hoping that I was
communicating this effectively in French. They
seemed pretty intrigued,
proving that everywhere
in the world women share
the same interest in selfcare and beauty! It was
such a pleasure to see
exactly where and how
the argan oil is made for
our Holistic Vanity Restorative Raw Argan Oil and
to meet the wonderful
women that have been
empowered because of
this industry.
Kristen Ma is the co-owner of Pure + Simple Inc., a group of Holistic Spas with
its own line of Natural Skincare and Mineral Make-up. She is an Ayurvedic
Practitioner who has studied in Canada, the United States and India. She
is also a Certified Esthetician with eight years of practical experience,
having worked in Canada as well as Australia. Most recently, Kristen has
authored “Beauty: Pure + Simple” which was published by Mc Arthur
and Company. Kristen has written on the subject of Holistic Beauty for
Vitality Magazine, Blink and Jasmine. She is also a regular contributor to B
Magazine, Tonic and Sweat Equity Magazine.
For more information on Kristen, please visit www.holisticvanity.ca.