
The best kept beauty secrets of Morocco
Beauty and well-being has always been at the heart of Moroccan women's priorities, their secrets passed down from generation to generation. From floral water to rhassoul... here are some of those passed down from mothers to daughters to aid in nourishing their skin and hair.
By Jeanne Dréan , beauty journalist
Rose water and its soothing properties
Every Moroccan woman keeps a bottle of rose water at home. Its soothing and decongesting properties make it the best ally against puffy eyes. You simply dampen two cotton pads with rose water and place them on your eyes for a few minutes. Not only will the bags deflate but the dark circles will fade away too. No more tired-looking face in the morning! It's even better if you keep the rose water in a cool place for quicker effect.
Skin overheated by sun rays? Pour some rose water in a spray bottle, keep it in a cool place and spray it on sun-exposed body parts. In addition to being soothing, it releases a divine perfume.
Renowned for its delicate fragrance, Morocco’s pale rose is the most precious of all roses since it blooms only once a year. It is also called the “centifolia rose”, “rose de Mai”, or “rose de Grasse”, a species that grows in Grasse – France’s city of flowers.
- Fresh body water Jardin Mille Roses and nourishing body cream Roses de Sucre are packed full with Moroccan pale rose and wild rose extracts.
Orange blossom water and its relaxing virtues
Used in the kitchen as well as in the bathroom, orange blossom water is part of a thousand Moroccan delights. Renowned for its soothing, calming, invigorating and regenerative effects on the skin, it is also utilized for relaxing the mind and facilitating sleep.
It’s also known as Neroli water, from the name of the bitter orange tree that produces it. This very fragrant floral water is reputed to promote relaxation, but also has interesting cosmetic virtues since it can boost cell cohesion and strengthen the skin's cutaneous barrier.
- Orange blossom water is infused in the Caresse de Néroli make-up remover milk and in the Infusion d'Orange shower milk.
Cleansing and purifying rhassoul
This clay is harvested in the arid lands of the Moroccan Atlas. When mixed with water, its powder becomes an easy-to-apply liquid paste with cleansing and purifying properties. For added sensoriality, rhassoul is often mixed with floral water or argan oil.
Some women like to combine it with a decoction of homemade aromatic plants made of rose, lavender and clove, infusing these ingredients into boiling water. Then you simply add the clay powder to the filtered decoction to obtain a creamy paste, applied to the hair after washing to make it shiny, or to the body to soften the skin after scrubbing.
- Rhassoul can be found in the Fleur de Rhassoul shampoo or in the Terre du Désert face mask.