Cosmetics' Hot Elixir: Argan Oil From Morocco

Sitting barefoot on blood orange pillows in a village near the seaside resort of Agadir, a dozen Moroccan women in caftans banter while hitting acorn-shaped nuts with stones in metronomic fashion—tap, tap, tap—until they crack, revealing a kernel or two inside. The Berber women earn 40 dirhams ($4) for a day’s work producing about a kilogram of the dime-size kernels, which are ground and pressed to release an oil so rare, so versatile, and so potent that it can sell for the equivalent of $400 a liter in beauty boutiques worldwide.

Dubbed “liquid gold,” amber-hued argan oil is the latest obsession of the $430 billion personal-care market. Fans say it strengthens hair, soothes skin, and even tastes good drizzled on a salad. It’s turning up everywhere, from Oscar week celebrity gift bags to the aisles of Wal-Mart Stores and Tesco. Last year saw the debut of 588 argan oil hair products, according to researcher Mintel, up from 29 in 2008. “It’s really going quite crazy right now,” says Dana Elemara, a former Goldman Sachs bond analyst who runs an argan oil import business in London.