In celebration of Organic Beauty Week
we were invited to Arganic HQ at Second Home (which we very quickly wanted to become our HQ, but right now it’s a bit on the pricey side – something to aspire to for sure!) If you’ve not heard of the brand, I’m sure you can hazard a guess at what they produce. Yep, you’ve guessed it: Argan Oil!
Organic Beauty Week is part of Organic September, the awareness campaign run by The Soil Association.
Arganic was founded by Dana Elemara
who left her job at investment bank Goldman Sachs to do something more meaningful and that would have a positive impact on the world. They launched in 2012 and are supplier to some of the best chefs in the world, including Ottolenghi, who says “We love their argan oil”. The oil is produced in partnership with Sidi Yassine in a beautiful village in the south west of Morocco and provide jobs for over 600 Berber women, who all get paid fairly.
At the event, we made a scrub with the Arganic beauty oil. It’s an absolute treat, super easy to make and smells good enough to eat (which it is too for the record!) This was a lovely way for our team to celebrate Organic Beauty Week and help raise awareness of Organic September!
The exfoliant part is a blend of sea salt and cacao nibs. Sea salt helps remove dead skin cells, which can cause skin to look dry, dull, tired and flaky, plus it helps to invigorate the skin boosting circulation and bringing blood and therefore nutrients to the area treated. This action also helps unclog pores and remove bacteria, dirt and debris from the skin’s surface. Cacao is rich in antioxidants and caffeine (another circulation booster) plus gives a beautiful depth to the aroma of the product.
I love argan oil for both my skin and hair, and as we got a sample to take home I look forward to trying this one out. From everything I’ve read and heard this is one of the best possible qualities of argan oil.
Argan oil does of course also contribute to the scent of the product, bringing a certain nuttiness that I love. The cacao brings an earthiness and then to compliment this I chose to utilise vanilla extract and rose water. The vanilla extract we used was Ndali Organic Vanilla Powder, which is one of the most fragrant vanillas I have had the pleasure of sniffing. Both rose and vanilla have benefits; rose water is a cleanser as well as a hydrater and helps to reduce pores, whilst vanilla possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Other fragrance ingredients available to us were rosemary and lemon, and in fact all four combined together work well (I just wanted to keep mine sweet!)
This recipe is super simple to make for all you DIY natural beauties; here’s how:
- Grind the sea salt and cacao nibs into finer particles.
- Mix 1.5 tbs of cacao nibs and 3 tbs of sea salt.
- Add the Argan Oil to make a paste.
- Add the scent you wish to use; e.g. 1tsp rose water, 1/2 tsp each of vanilla, rosemary and lemon.
- Transfer paste to glass pot and top with 0.5cm of Argan Oil.
- Use all over for super soft and sexily scented skin!
This was a super lovely Organic September event and as well as making a lovely scrub the team shared a little scrummy secret with us – take one piece of organic artisan bread, dip in the culinary Arganic Argan Oil then place a square of the Green & Black’s Sea Salted Milk Chocolate on the top and indulge. This is seriously tasty – just like a pain au chocolat!
Did you attend any events for Organic Beauty Week or Organic September? Let us know in the comments below. x