Morocco’s Precious Argan Oil

It’s funny that despite the wonders of modern science, sometimes it’s good old Mother Nature that knows best. Though it was discovered as long ago as 1510, to this day the Argan tree holds a very special place in Moroccan beauty treatments. In fact, this rare and precious oil has recently taken the modern skin and hair care world by storm, with companies embracing this wonderful ingredient in their products.


The Moroccans knew they had a good thing going, and for centuries Argan oil has been used in cooking (it has a distinct nutty flavour) in much the same way as we have come to use Olive oil. Both oils have a similar ‘good fat’ content. Because it is difficult to product, Argan oil is pricy, but is highly valued for its internal nutrition benefits.

The oil has also been adored in Morocco for centuries as an external nourishing treatment. Argan oil is high in vitamin E, essential fatty acids and antioxidants, and is said to help with a range of skin conditions, such as dry skin, psoriasis, eczema as well as acne and wrinkles and the nourishing effect is as valued on the hair and nails as it is on the skin.

Argan oil production is laborious; traditionally, the seeds are collected by the local Berber women and then pressed to extract the oil. it takes about 32 kilograms of the kernels and about 12-20 hours of hand processing to produce just one litre of Argan oil. Oil produced by this method will keep for between three to six months because it has extremely high vitamin E levels and antioxidant levels.

The Argan Tree was under threat for some time due to overgrazing from the goat population. Goats are so in love with Argan nuts that they will actually climb the trees to nibble on the Argan kernels. Another threat to the Argan tree was deforestation for building materials. Fortunately, Argan Trees are now a protected species, with UNESCO establishing an Arganeraie Biosphere and the local Berber tribeswomen of Morocco are involved in the reforestation project, which not only protects international supply of these kernels, but ensures a source of income for the Berber community.

The hardy trees withstand extreme heat and survive for 125 - 450 years, so the protection of the species makes them a valuable inheritance for future generations.

Introducing Moreish

Welcome to the Moreish website and our very first blog post!

The Moreish skin care range has been four years in the making, so it’s been a long time coming and we’re so excited that this beautiful range will soon be hitting pharmacy shelves near you.

A lot of love went into producing this range and Moreish means so much to us for many reasons.
We wanted to develop a healthy skin care range that was formulated with the best ingredients nature has to offer. We sought precious Argan Oil from Morocco to form the basis of the products and blended it with other skin-loving ingredients such as Olive Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil as well as wonderful New Zealand ingredients such as Manuka Honey, Vinanza Extract – a powerful antioxidant extracted from New Zealand Grape seeds and Kiwifruit skins, and Pohutukawa extract.

But Moreish was about more than we put in the products, it was also about what we left out.
We wanted to keep our formulas untainted by any of the potentially unhealthy chemicals that have become so commonplace in skin care these days. So Moreish is formulated without: petrochemicals, synthetic colours or fragrances, mineral oils, triethanolamine, sodium lauryl sulphates or formaldehyde. We use a naturally approved preservative system and there are no parabens or phenoxyethanol in our products.

We wanted to do right by the environment, so where possible our ingredients are sustainably sourced, all our packaging is recyclable and we do not test on animals.

We wanted to give more back to the community. By making Argan Oil our star ingredient, we not only have produced an exceptional skin care range, but support the Berber tribeswomen of Morocco who produce the oil. And now that the product is selling in New Zealand, we are going to let our customers pick a local charity that we will support by donating 50cents from each Moreish product that you purchase.

So as you can see, the name Moreish was easy for us to come up with – because our philosophy was about creating products that do more for your skin, more for the environment and more for the people behind the ingredients. Not to mention, the products really are so delicious to use that they are quite literally, Moreish.

We’re so proud of Moreish and we hope that you enjoy it.

x Sarah and the Moreish team