Herve Stamfelj placed the argan fruit—smooth, pale brown, slightly larger than a pistachio—between the folds of his table napkin. With as much wrist control as he could muster, the French cosmetics executive began to pound on the napkin with the small hammer. The nut underneath cracked, and he unfolded the napkin to reveal that the kernel inside the fruit had unfortunately been crushed, rendering it useless.

There are reasons only Berber women are tasked to extract kernels from the argan fruit to this day: one, because attempts at mechanizing the process have proved unsuccessful; and two, only these women have the right wrist control and training passed down through generations that ensure the nuts are properly cracked and extracted from their shells.

The byproduct, cold-pressed pale-gold argan oil, which requires 100 kg of raw nut to produce a liter, and still extracted the traditional, manual way, is therefore rightfully priced like gold.

Stamfelj and his colleague Julie Cosneau of the Lea Nature Group in La Rochelle, France, was in the country last week to unveil the Lift’Argan line, a cosmetics range based on organic argan oil that’s sold exclusively at Rustan’s The Beauty Source.

Argan oil, used traditionally as food in Morocco where the argan tree is endemic, has been gaining global renown for its supposed cosmetic and anti-aging benefits. The claims include moisturizing, wrinkle-zapping, and antioxidant benefits, especially intended for aging skin.

Hydrating qualities

Lift’Argan has several products in the range: 100% Organic Pure Argan Oil intended to prevent all-over dryness, for the hair, body, face and nails; Divine Dry Oil Global Anti-aging, a

lighter version formulated for the face, neck and décolletage; limited-edition Perfumed Argan Oil, an all-over treatment that’s slightly scented; and Global Anti-aging Divine BB Cream that comes in two shades.

In recent years, the market has been more accepting of applying oil on the face as improvements in cosmetics technology has proven that several oils, including argan, don’t clog pores, and have potent hydrating qualities.

In her presentation, Cosneau said argan oil is rich in omega 9 vital for skin hydration, omega 6 for skin elasticity, and tocopherols or natural vitamin E, an antioxidant.

In Lift’Argan’s Divine Dry Oil, the Lea Nature combined other ingredients, like the date fruit as a repairing and antioxidant agent; the Damascene Rose for its softening and soothing properties; and the Prickly Pear for skin firming.

Stamfelj said La Rochelle partners with women’s cooperatives in the province of Essaouira in Morocco to preserve the argan trees, the number of which has decreased by two-thirds in the last 50 years.

Harsh conditions

The argan trees survive in the harshest desert conditions and many of the trees are as old as 200 years old. But drought, urbanization and land clearance for intensive farming are threatening their survival. The commercial demand for its byproduct has encouraged protection of the trees.

Many argan oil brands are now available in the marketplace. Even then, Stamfelj said one brand of argan oil might not be the same as another, quality-wise.

“Some oils are extracted from nuts that have been passed through goats’ movement since they feed on the fruits,” he said. “We demand from our suppliers that our oils only come from those that are directly harvested from the tree.”