What is argan oil used for in spa treatments?

Argan oil is the golden thread running through Moroccan spa culture, and it is genuinely special because the argan tree grows almost nowhere else on earth but the southwest of this country, between Marrakech, Essaouira and Agadir. In the spa, its star turn is the massage: a slow, warm argan-oil body massage after your hammam scrub, when your skin is freshly exfoliated and drinking everything in. The oil is light and absorbs cleanly rather than sitting greasy, and it carries a faint warm scent that I find instantly calming.

Beyond massage, it turns up everywhere. Therapists use it in hydrating facials because it is rich in vitamin E and fatty acids and feels nourishing without clogging; in scalp and hair treatments, where it is massaged through to tame dryness and add shine; and as the final moisturising step after the steam-scrub-clay sequence, sealing all that softness in. Many spas also blend it with rose or orange-blossom for a layered, aromatic ritual, or pair it with rhassoul clay so you go from deep-cleansing mineral mask straight to deep-nourishing oil.

One distinction worth knowing, because it confuses visitors: cosmetic argan oil and culinary argan oil are not the same. The cosmetic oil used on your skin is cold-pressed from raw, unroasted kernels and is pale and almost odourless; the culinary oil you taste in amlou and drizzled on bread is pressed from roasted kernels and is deliberately nutty and toasty. They both come from the same tree, but you would not want the roasted food oil massaged into your face. A good spa uses the cosmetic grade.

My honest tip: if argan delights you — and it usually does — buy a bottle to take home from a genuine women’s cooperative rather than a hotel boutique, where it is both more authentic and far better value, and your money supports the rural Berber women who hand-crack the nuts. Tell your therapist if you have a nut allergy, since argan comes from a nut; reactions are rare but worth flagging. Confirm a treatment uses real, pure argan rather than a perfumed blend if that matters to you.