A year ago we had barely heard of argan oil, now we know it as an "It" ingredient, with many hair salons featuring rows of little brown glass bottles with distinctive turquoise labels reading Moroccan Oil. That's the name of the product that has helped popularise one of the world's rarer plant oils, long used by North Africa's Berber people for cooking and cosmetic purposes. It leaves hair shiny and feeling soft and silky and is suitable for all but the very finest hair types.
Now Moroccan Oil has competition from other products that contain argan oil, with hair companies climbing on the bandwagon and touting its antioxidant properties. Argania Hair Oil, distributed by a canny New Zealand company which imports the oil and formulates it in New Zealand adding almond oil, undercuts the price of the original, with 100ml costing $34.99. "A small amount goes a long way," says Via's creative director, Jerome Rusk, who says it can be used as a leave-in treatment or a styler. Joico also includes argan oil in its K-Pak Color Therapy Restorative Styling Oil ($31).
Kerastase's take on argan oil, is deal me one and raise you three. The salon specialist hair care company which has worked with oils for years, has just introduced what it calls a "new generation" product in Kerastase Elixir Ultime ($48), which uses argan oil, but adds in maize, camellia and pracaxi oils for extra shine and conditioning. (In case you're wondering, pracaxi is a tree from the Amazonian rainforest).
I've been impressed by how a little helps smooth flyaways without weighing hair down.
Different products come with different degrees of heaviness, but unless you up-end the bottle, none should leave hair oily. For women who don't blow dry, a light textured oil is a relatively natural product that offers a little control without a lot of messing about.
