Sophie Dahl’s a fan of WILDWOOD GROVES…and so are we

Sophie Dahl loves Wildwood Groves’ Lavender Facial Oil – and so did we when we first tried it two years ago.  A finalist in The 2013 Beauty Shortlist Awards (Best Argan Beauty Product) it’s one of the loveliest and most delicate Argan Oil blends we’ve come across.

Sadly, not all commercial/beauty Argan Oils are created equal. Morocco’s Argan forests are precious and producing the oil is unbelievably time-consuming so the temptation to mix Argan with “fillers”, chemicals and cheaper oils is huge in an industry where every percentage of profit on every bottle matters.  Luckily there are companies like Ruth Hajioff’s Wildwood Groves which is as ethical as they get and the clincher is, her oils are absolutely divine.

Goodbye lacklustre or colour-damaged hair! 

 Argan Hair Repair, a potent natural argan-based cocktail of Moroccan herbs with avocado, jojoba and nigella oils 

“My passion for argan began in 2000 when I visited Morocco to study Moroccan herbal medicine having heard of a renowned herbalist who had practised his art for 45 years. He looked like a medieval wizard with his flowing white robes topped by a fez. We struck up a rapport immediately.”

             – Ruth Hajioff, founder of Wildwood Groves

New: Wildwood Groves’ skin-quenchingly super-hydrating Ultimate Rescue Cream, a skin saviour for winter days

NEW: THE RESCUE RANGE

New at Wildwood Groves is The Rescue Range and the three products in this interesting capsule collection are: The Ultimate Rescue Cream, Argan Rescue Serum and Rescue Eye Serum (which comes in a small handbag-friendly rollerball, which we really liked).

Beauty pioneers will like the sound of all of them because their base is one of the rarer ingredients in skincare, Omega 3 and 6-rich Cactus Seed Oil from Morocco’s famous Barbary Fig/Prickly Pear. Despite the name, it looks nothing like a fig or a pear, it’s a sort of potato-shaped fruit with a thick, pale green spiky skin.

I ate two of them for the first time last week in the name of research (still prefer raspberries – the seeds could trigger an emergency dental appointment). Right now, prickly pear season is just about ending in Morocco, where the fruit is piled high in big wooden carts and sold in the medina and down at the beach.

Cactus Seed Oil helps stimulate intracellular oxygenation as well as correcting EFA (essential fatty acid) deficiencies, is great for dehydrated skin and can improve the hydrolipid layer, boosting firmness and elasticity.

Ruth’s new Ultimate Rescue Cream contains pure cold-pressed Cactus Seed Oil combined with Shea Butter, Geranium Essential Oil (known for its balancing properties) and Geranium Flower Water.

Astoundingly, you need 1,000kg of prickly pear seeds (not the flesh – the tiny seeds!) to make one litre of oil (gulp, just when we were thinking how labour intensive argan is?!) so cactus seed-based skincare is very precious. Think of this cream as your harsh weather protector when the temperatures really start to dip and those chilly winds set in.

THE ARGAN COLLECTION

In her inimitable, beautiful “Argan alchemist” way, Ruth Hajioff blends her Argan Oil Collection with pure plant, herb and flower oils.  The Rose and Lavender Argan Oils are as you’d expect strong sellers, and one of the prettiest, post-summer scented oils has to be her Mimosa Argan Oil which “lightens and lifts the spirit” and is “reminiscent of sunny days in the South of France”. If you’re missing those drives through Provence and that little hillside café where you ate lunch to the backdrop of chirping crickets in the French midday heat,  this oil will transport you back there…

Tres “summer in the south of France” and tres bon for nails too! We LOVE the handbag friendly mini bottle

One Argan blend we have our eye on (we haven’t tried it yet) is Ruth’s new Limited Edition Geranium, Blue Yarrow and Frankincense Blend, a potent de-stresser.  As precious as gold in ancient times, Frankincense was used an an incense (clue’s in the name!) to enhance meditation and banish evil spirits and it’s a fabulous skin cell regenerator.

50% OFF! LIMITED EDITION “SUMMER EVENINGS BLEND”

Wildwood Groves currently has a 50% OFF offer on their Limited Edition Summer Evenings Blend, which is pure Argan with Lavender and Citronella (to help ward off bugs – one to decant into a mini bottle and pop in the luggage if you’re going somewhere hot this autumn/winter).

New: Argan Rescue Serum,  infused with Cactus Seed Oil  for extra potency 

If you and your skin had a bit too much sun this summer OR if your skin consistently acts (annoyingly) dry, we think you might want to give Wildwood Groves’ Argan Rescue Serum a go! This effective Argan skin quencher is infused with Cactus Fruit and Seeds creating an ‘enriched Argan’ perfect for replenishing your sun baked skin or re-hydrating after a long flight.

THE WINTER WORKOUT SOOTHER: SOOTHE ACHING MUSCLES OIL

And as we swear we really will (we will!) start exercising properly in the lead up to (dare we mention the word) Christmas, we’ll be ordering Ruth’s “winter workout soother”.  Her bespoke Soothe Aching Muscles Oil is made from Argan, cold-pressed Nigella Seed (another ingredient to watch for in future skincare formulations) and Rosemary essential oil.

You might also like…..?

Yeah baby! The Baby Blend, pure Argan Oil with Lavender and Blue Chamomile essential oils, a calming, comforting blend for little ones, or you, if you have sensitive skin

For sensitive skins, there’s Wildwood Groves Baby Blend, pure argan oil with essential oils of Lavender and Blue Chamomile which works a treat on babies’ dry sore patches  while the Men’s Blend makes the ideal shaving oil applied to damp skin or after shave moisturiser, a great grooming addition especially at this time of year.

Step into the  beautiful world of Wildwood Groves Argan Oils HERE

WILDWOODGROVES.COM

About Wildwood Groves

Wildwood Groves produce their own ethically -traded Argan Oil under strict quality control at their purpose made workshop in the heart of the Argan forest region, in the Souss region halfway between Agadir and Taroudant. Ruth equipped the business herself and uses a state of the art cold press to product optimal, high end quality oil for her skincare collection.  Ruth’s company only buys whole Argan fruit so there’s never a risk of ‘goat contamination’.

Simply Argan & Nigella Cleansing Bar £4.95 each, a fragrance-free facial cleansing bar with all natural ingredients including 30% pure Argan Oil and handmade for WWG in a beautiful old casbah in the countryside of Morocco