Moroccan Hammam Treatment Helps Relieve Stress from Economic Problems

August 9th, 2011

Don't let economic stress weigh you down, treat yourself to spa treatments in your home

Economic stress weighing you down? Relieve stress with the Amal Oils Moroccan Hammam Collection

While the world tries to figure out its problems and economies are being turned upside down, you can relax in the comfort of your very own bath relaxing with the ultimate stress relieving products from Morocco that won’t put a dent in your bank account. For the same price as one treatment at a spa, you can give yourself 8 treatments in your home for the same price with Amal Oils Moroccan Hammam Collection. The full Moroccan Hammam Collection retails for $119 on the Amal Oils website (www.amaloils.com).
Buy the Deluxe Moroccan Hammam Collection from Amal Oils

Amal Oils Deluxe Moroccan Hammam Collection


The ultra-relaxing in-home spa treatment starts with warm water and steam from your bath. Allow the skin to become moist, pores to open and for your muscles to relax. Apply Moroccan Savon Noir with Eucalyptus to moist skin and allow to penetrate the skin for 5 minutes before using the Moroccan Exfoliating Glove to scrub dead skin cells. The Moroccan Savon Noir will plump dead skin cells allowing them to be easily removed and the olive and vitamin-rich formula will moisturize and protect skin during exfoliating. The Moroccan Exfoliating Glove will help the skin shed old dead cells and prevent cellulite by massaging the skin.

The next step is detoxifying the skin from excess oils and impurities that cause the skin to look and feel dull. For this you will need Moroccan Rhassoul Clay with Plant Extracts. Simply mix the clay with warm water to paste consistency and apply all over the body. The clay has the amazing ability to absorb more than its weight in impurities and replace them with important minerals, such as silica, magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium, and iron.

After your rhassoul treatment your skin will be tight and clean, so now is the time to tone and protect skin with a new level of moisture. Spritz the skin with Amal Oils 100% Organic Moroccan Neroli Water Toning Mist and follow with Amal Oils 100% Organic Argan Oil.

Don’t let your stress levels indirectly correlate with market movements, allow your body and mind to relax using this Moroccan Hammam treatment.

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Psoriasis, it’s not only you… top Celebs share their stories

August 6th, 2011

Kim Kardashian reveals her psoriasis on "Keeping up with the Kardashians"

Kim Kardashian reveals her psoriasis on "Keeping up with the Kardashians"

The auto-immune deficiency disorder that affects 2-4% of the world’s population has finally made it into mainstream media thanks to celebs like Leann Rimes and Kim Kardashian. Most recently Kim Kardashian announced her diagnosis on the hit-reality tv show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” Kim’s case is believed to be genetically passed down from her mother, Kris Jenner, who was also diagnosed with the disease at around the same age during her life. Kim’s doctor believed that her condition was most probably triggered by elevated stress levels. While psoriasis is part of many people’s lives and is treatable, it is uncurable.

Essentially psoriasis is a disease in which the body produces skin cells too quickly and pile up on the surface of the skin before they are adequately mature. Psoriasis typically looks like red patches on the skin, similar to a rash, that can be itchy and irritating. The areas that are typically affected are the elbows, scalp, knees and torso, but can appear anywhere on the body.

There are several different treatment options for psoriasis from heavy drugs that can affect other organs, phytotherapy, and topical treatments, such as creams, ointments and even argan oil from Morocco. Many milder conditions of psoriasis are able to be calmed by simply using a natural solution that has the ability to calm the irritated area and keep it moisturized, which is why argan oil for psoriasis has been a natural go-to solution for many. Everyone’s skin reacts differently to different treatments, so it is best to consult a physician about what is right for your individual case of psoriasis.

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Ramadan and Keeping Skin & Hair Glowing

August 5th, 2011

Argan oil helps keep skin hydrated during Ramadan

Argan Oil and Moroccan Rose Water Toning Mist as well as vitamin-rich foods can keep skin looking and feeling its best during Ramadan

It is the end of the first week of the holy month of Ramadan in Morocco. Last year I wrote an extensive post about the religious meaning of Ramadan and how it personally affects the women cooperatives and our partners in Morocco, but this year I’m taking a little different approach.

When fasting it is difficult to keep your skin looking and feeling amazing because of the drastic changes in diet that occur. So here are some tips on keeping your skin healthy during Ramadan…and many of the tips are useful throughout the year as well.

A drastic and sudden change in diet, such as the month of Ramadan can have detrimental affects on the health of one’s skin if the proper care is not given to the skin to compensate. When fasting, the most noticeable difference in our skin is the level of hydration which expresses itself as dry-patches, gray- or dull-toned skin and breakouts. It is important that one adequately rehydrates during the hours between sunset and sunrise, several glasses of water are recommended. While it may be tempting to drink fruit juices or soda, they should be avoided at all cost because they aren’t as well absorbed by the body as pure water. While all of our lost hydration is difficult to gain back just by drinking water, you can help your skin look its best by:
-limiting cleansing to twice a day as over washing can lead to dryness
-continually apply a moisturizer, such as 100% Organic Argan Oil
-Avoid excessively toning skin, a light toner like Amal Oils 100% Organic Moroccan Rose Water Toning Mist is a great way to naturally tone and hydrate skin.
-Apply sunscreen to prevent further drying from the sun.
-Keep hair washing to a minimum and use an intense conditioner more often than normal
-When you do eat, make sure your diet is balance, that means fruits, vegetables, protein, natural sugars…you know the drill!
-Continue to excercise, maybe not at vigorously as when you are not fasting, but something that will relax the mind like yoga would be a great option.

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Amal Oils is now available at The Nature of Beauty!

May 28th, 2011

Nature of Beauty Boutique now has Amal Oils

Amal Oils is now available at Nature of Beauty Boutique in Minnesota

Amal Oils is now at your favorite Minnesota boutique and spa, The Nature of Beauty! The Nature of beauty is a boutique and spa founded by Dr. Terri Bly. It focuses on organic and natural beauty products, makeovers, and consultations. Carrying brands like Max green Alchemy, Dr. Alkaitis, Zum!, Amal Oils is happy to be the newcomer to the list. Founder, Dr. Terri Bly, was inspired to start The Nature of Beauty out of her desire to educate you, the consumer, about the realities of the beauty and personal care products industry, and to provide you with healthy, beautiful, high-performing alternatives. Based in St. Paul, MN, The Nature of Beauty is the first business in the country to have a comprehensive online and in-store boutique as well as an organic spa. With 3 estheticians, founder Terri Bly, and full-time store manager, Sarah Klette, The Nature of Beauty staff has an unsurpassed depth of knowledge and experience with natural and organic beauty products.

The Nature of Beauty founder and former clinical psychologist, Dr. Terri Bly, has searched the globe to bring you the cleanest, most effective products on the market, created by companies that have figured out how to give you what you want – shiny locks, voluptuous lips, a smooth complexion, a clean shave – without using the ingredients you don’t need. She has read every label, researched every ingredient, and maintains regular contact with the manufacturers (that I can attest to!) to ensure their business practices and values are fully aligned with the objectives of her company. Greenwashing is not tolerated, and helping customers differentiate between truth and fiction when it comes to their beauty products is a key mission at The Nature of Beauty. What is not to love?!

The Nature of Beauty Spa is staffed by 3 experience estheticians who are passionate about delivering visible results using safe and effective skin care, tools, and procedures. By offering classes, one-on-one education, and top-notch services, these women can help you achieve and maintain gorgeous, healthy skin. The Nature of beauty spa offers all sorts of services from facials, body treatments, make-up application, waxing and the list goes on… but what is really cool is that they are now offering these services with Amal Oils 100% Organic Argan Oil. So, if you are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area stopping by is a definite must, and if not, check out their online store: www.natureofbeauty.com.

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Moroccan Art Influences Paloma Picasso’s Designs for Tiffany

April 17th, 2011

Tiffany's Paloma Picasso's Marrakesh Collection - Zellige Inspire Pendant

A Pendant from Paloma Picasso's Marrakesh Collection for Tiffany

Paloma Picasso, one of Tiffany’s acclaimed designers, has recently added new pieces to the Tiffany’s Marrakesh Collection. All of the pieces in the collection appear to be heavely influence by Zellige, a style of tilework predominately found in Morocco. It is said that Picasso was inspired by the zellige fountain in her home in Marrakech.

The Marrakesh Collection has color and basic silver and gold pieces, but all are very influenced by Moroccan zellige. A frequently used shape in her designs is one seen just about everywhere in Morocco and that is the 8 point star.

Zellige is present throughout Morocco in everything from the floors, wall decorations, ceilings, fountains, tables, etc. Zellige is essentially very small pieces of geometric tiles that are placed in specific patterns. Below is an example of a zellige fountain.

Moroccan Zellige Fountain

Moroccan Zellige Fountain

What do you think of Palama Picasso’s beautiful creations?

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Amal Oils 100% Organic Argan Oil is now in Philadephia, PA!

March 16th, 2011
Béke Beau, Make-up Artist

Philadelphia's finest make-up artist, Béke Beau

Amal Oils is so excited to announce that Amal Oils 100% Organic Argan Oil is now in Philadelphia, PA, at Béke Beau’s Studio in Ardmore, PA. Béke specializes in make-up for brides on their special day and for women of all ages who want one-on-one lessons whether it be for everyday or for a special event. Now, in addition to making women look beautiful and feel confident, Béke is going to bring moisture and vibrance back to Philadelphian’s skin, hair and nails one woman at a time!

Béke loves products that contain only safe ingredients and are cruelty free. She seeks out eco-conscious and body-friendly make-up alternatives to use in her work, and offers a 100% “green” (safe, eco-friendly and cruelty-free) make-up kit upon request. Aside from being a make-up artist, her other passion is doing her part to help preserve the environment through exploring the use of safe, natural and cruelty-free products. She insists that “women can look every bit as glamorous without the chemical preservatives and other ingredients that raise health concerns.” A little more about Béke Beau
Make-up artist Béke Beau comes to the Philadelphia area from New York City, where she worked with the rich and sometimes famous. Her mission is to help women think critically about the beauty industry and make wise choices when purchasing cosmetics. Béke’s work has been seen most recently in magazines like Philadelphia Wedding, Main Line Today, Southern Wedding, Brides Philadelphia and on national blogs, including Style Me Pretty and Ruffled. She is an adjunct faculty member at Immaculata University and teaches for Temple University and Main Line School Night. Béke’s studio is in Ardmore, PA and is open by appointment. To contact Béke, visit www.bekebeau.com, call 610-220-0042 or send an e-mail to beke@bekebeau.com.

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Day 8: The Artisans of Essaouira

March 13th, 2011

I’ve been to Essaouira quite a few times now, but I had the most fun this time. Essaouira is notably a very windy town on the water (great for any surfers out there) and has awesome, pristene beaches not far south. I had the chance to see all of the artisanal work that was being done in this town, enjoy the old medina and since the weather was a little chilly, but not too cold or warm I really enjoyed being out and about. I especially enjoyed watching the wood workers, some of the most famous in Morocco do their magic on thuya, or cedar wood. They make tables, chests, boxes, chairs, anything you can think of they can make. They add little intricate details to wood as well that make it decorative and even more beautiful. Many hours of polishing with natural oils and lemon juice bring the magnificent appearance of the Thuya wood to life.

Moroccan Artisan detailing thuya wood

Moroccan Artisan in Essaouira working on thuya wood

Essaouira has lots of history and has passed through the hands of many different countries. One insteresting fact is that Essaouira, during the Roman Empire, was where the purple pigment was made for all of the royal textiles. In the 60′s and 70′s Essaouira was often a chosen destination for Jimmy Hendrix and Cat Stevens. Essaouira is home of the Gnawa Music festival every summer.

Elizir Restaurant in Essaouira where they used traditional ingredients like argan oil in non-traditional way

Elizir Restaurant in Essaouira


While I was there this time I ate at a restaurant called Elizir that appears to be an old aparment turned restaurant. It was awesome and I recommend it to anyone who visits Essaouira. It is a tiny restaurant that is decorated in 60s style, but veeeery ecletic. The food was very modern/fusion, nothing traditionally Moroccan, but the chef used Moroccan ingredients such as argan oil.

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Day 7: Agadir, Visit the Women Cooperatives and Dar Talib/Dar Taliba

March 9th, 2011

Moroccan Berber Woman Cracking Argan Nut for Amal Oils

Moroccan Berber Woman Cracking Argan Nuts to make Amal Oils 100% Organic Argan Oil

Today I spent the day in the hilly mountains close to Agadir visiting the women cooperatives that Amal Oils works with. Everytime that I get a chance to visit the women I can, and I try to spend as much time with them as possible to celebrate their accomplishments and to discuss their needs for the future. The cooperative, between Amal Oils support and other investments, was able to build a brand new facility for the women to work in to crack the argan nuts and new machines that will allow them to press their own argan oil. While I was there I was able to help them with packaging concerns, paperwork, organizing their facility and was able to see their current school work that they and their children were working on and was able to discuss their healthcare needs.

While I was visiting the area I learned about a new organization that is involved with education for underpriveledged children that live in rural areas far away from the closest school called Dar Talib (males) and Dar Taliba for girls.

His Majesty King Mohammed VI inaugurates Dar Taliba in Marrakesh - 2009

His Majesty King Mohammed VI inaugurates Dar Taliba in Marrakech - 2009

The program started in 2005 by the Entraide Nationale, the National Federation of Charity Associations (FNAB) and the ALEF project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) created the boarding schools to enable girls from the most isolated areas in the Kingdom to achieve educational success. The program builds housing facilities for students who need a place to stay closer to school during the school week. The children return home on the weekends. Dar Talib/Taliba has been extremely succesful in Morocco and has increase student attendance and retention rates in middle school and high school tremedously in rural areas. While staying at Dar Talib/Taliba students perform minimal chores, compared to what they would be expected to do at home, and have the chance to get extra help if needed with homework and are able to participate in extra curricular activities that are all student organized. The students at Dar Talib/Taliba learn to take care of themselves and carry themselves with unwavering confidence, a character trait that is uncommon to rural students. Overall, I was very impressed by the program. To date, there are almost 1000 Dar Talib/Talibas built in Morocco and the program is continuing to grow and support more children.
Dar Talib Bedrooms for rural Moroccan boys

Bedroom at Dar Talib


Photographed here are some school boys at Dar Talib

School boys at Dar Talib doing homework after school

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Day 6 & 7: Agadir, Visiting women cooperatives and the argan forest

March 7th, 2011

Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve

Argan Forest - Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve - Argania Spinosa

Today we drove down to Agadir from Casablanca. It was a little over 4 hours, but it was a wonderful drive compared to what it used to take before the highway existed. Just a year ago there wasn’t a highway that went all the way to Agadir and the only way to get there from Casablanca was to take the highway to Marrakech and then a 2-lane road that in total took around 7 hours to drive from Casablanca to Agadir. The new highway does a great job of pointing out the Argan Forest (Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve) and it actually takes you right through it!

As you probably already know from visitng the website, the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve is a 2 million acre area in the Agadir region of Morocco that is home to the endangered argan tree that gives us the miracle oil known as argan oil. The entire area is protected by UNESCO and is under constant surveillance because of the precious tree that it is home too. The argan forest is completely and 100% natural and organic. There are no pesticides or any added chemicals allowed in the reserve in order to preserve the natural argania spinosa species. This is why so many companies that produce and distributre argan oil are able to call themselves, “organic.” Essentially all argan oil has the potential to be organic, so long as it is processed, transported and bottled in the correct way.

Amal Oils shares UNESCO’s concern about the diminishing argan tree and do everything that we can to help protect it. Amal Oils donates a portion of profits to help in the replantation and research of argan trees. The women cooperatives that Amal Oils works with aid us in replanting the trees on our behalf.

More to come about our visit to the women cooperatives in tomorrow’s post…stay tuned!

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Tuesday, Day 5: Casablanca, Packaging and Rick’s Cafe

March 2nd, 2011

Rick's Cafe - Casablanca the MovieToday I was in Morocco’s largest city, Casablanca. This is primarily where most businesses are located and it happens to be where most of the manufacturing, bottling, import, export, and anything logistical happens in Morocco so I spent the day fighting the awful, but unavoidable traffic to visit packaging specialists and arrange for logistics for the new products. I was able to finalize the packaging for the products that will be added to the Amal Oils Moroccan Hammam Collection this coming Spring and I dined at Rick’s Cafe… yes, the one from the famous movie Casablanca!

Rick's Cafe in Casablanca in 2011

Rick's Cafe, 2011

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Amal Oils offers the highest quality argan oil products on the market. This pure argan oil, derived from the highest quality argan nuts in southwestern Morocco, is sought after for its anti-aging and protective qualities that are unlike any other cosmetic product. Argan Oil has been used for centuries by Moroccan women to reduce signs of aging and improve skin conditions like acne, eczema and psoriasis.