Globally Aware Beauty Shopping – Buying For Women, By Women, and Friendly to Mother Earth

Beauty products have often been harsh on those that produce it, harsh on those that tested it, harsh on the environment, or harsh on your skin. But it is refreshing to know that now with the focus on organic and fair trade practices there are many products that allow one to exist in better harmony with the environment, fellow humans and animals, and yourself.

One such social, environmental, and health promoting product is Argan Oil, from Morocco. There are many who will tout how beneficial this Moroccan Oil, used regularly, can be wonderful for the beauty and health of your skin, hair, and even diet. The hair stylists who extoll the wonders of this so called “miracle oil” are legion. For instance, hair stylist for the stars Enzo Angileri, who used Argan Oil based products to make Charlize Theron’s iconic blond hair smooth and lustrous in many movie roles, raves about Moroccanoil (r). Super model turned New York hair stylist Nadia Vassell, who is known amongst other things as a weave specialist, recommends these products as well for her clients. She calls it one of the “top 5 hair products that you cannot live without.”

While it does make you look beautiful, controlling frizz and adding to luster, Moroccan Oil products are also very healthy for your hair. They protect it from heat and split ends, even rejuvenating already damaged hair. Clearly a good deal for you.

More than just beauty – a better life for many

But it is a very beneficial product for more than just you. Argan Oil comes only from the nuts of the endangered Argan tree, native to southwest Morocco. It is a very rare and has been sought after for generations for its many healthful properties. Local Moroccans use the oil on their skin, hair, even in cooking.

Since the west has learned about this oil demand has increased. But rather than lead to exploitation and over harvesting the Moroccan government and the United Nations have put safeguards in place to ensure both the tree, and the local populations who have been harvesting it for millennia are protected. The tree itself has many regulations put in place by UNESCO, that ensures it is harvested sustainable as it always has been. It directs a portion of funds raised from production back into environmental sustaining projects to ensure the Argan Tree’s native habitat is not destroyed.

What is really empowering for women is that the Morrocan government has established rules that state all legitimate harvesting and production of Argan Oil must be done by a Moroccan women’s cooperative. This means that the local Berber tribe’s women who have used the oil as part of their tradition for ages are ensured jobs. Good paying jobs. By law the wages for these women must be living wages so that they can harvest and produce oil part time while still having time to look after their family and maintain their traditional roles in the community.

From the Earth, to the Earth

Not only is Argan production sustainable and fair, but the product itself is all natural. Some brands add other compounds to their beauty products, but you can get 100% natural, unadulterated Argan oil, both for cooking as well as for application to hair and skin. This means that your body is not being assaulted by harsh chemicals that speed up the aging of your hair and skin. It also means that there are no hazardous chemical byproducts of production that assault the earth.

Being aware of how you connect with this network of people that harvest and create the product you use also allows you to have a better global awareness. Knowing that you are doing well by doing good can be satisfying.

So think about your beauty, get something that works, but also get something that helps with a long term vision of harmony. Your beauty is not the only thing that you can improve.