L’Oreal Argan , Liquid Gold for Hair

Liquid Gold for Hair Entices Ex-Goldman Analyst, L’Oreal


Moroccan women crush Argan tree nuts to make Argan oil in Smimmou, near Essaouira.
Sitting barefoot on blood-orange pillows in a village near the seaside resort of Agadir, a dozen Moroccan women in multi-colored 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-sized 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. It strengthens hair, soothes skin, and even tastes good drizzled on a salad. It’s everywhere, from Oscar-night celebrity gift bags to the aisles of Wal-Mart (WMT) Stores Inc. and Tesco (TSCO) Plc. Last year saw the debut of 588 new argan-oil hair products, according to researcher Mintel, up from 29 in 2008.
“It’s really going quite crazy right now,” said Dana Elemara, a former Goldman Sachs (GS) Group Inc. bond analyst who now runs an argan oil import business from her London home.
The argan craze calls to mind previous beauty fads, like that for jojoba, another gold-tinted oil from arid climates. Jojoba is now found in a wide array of everyday household items, like liquid hand soap. While argan oil risks similar overexposure, its ability to create livelihoods for rural Berber women will help preserve its cachet, analysts say.
Diluted Blends
And argan products can provide an additional lift to global sales of hair-care products, which will grow 30 percent to nearly $100 billion by 2017, data tracker Euromonitor International predicts.
Morocco’s exports of argan oil have more than doubled in the past five years, to over 700 tons, according to government data. Much of that has gone to hair- and skin-care makers like L’Oreal SA (OR) (OR) and Unilever (UNA). France’s L’Oreal, the world’s biggest cosmetics producer, this year will buy three times more argan oil than it did five years ago. U.S. department-store sales of products with argan oil rose 59 percent last year, following a 159 percent increase in 2011, according to researcher NPD Group.
Rising demand has boosted wholesale prices 50 percent since 2007, to $30 a liter, while retail prices can exceed 10 times that figure. Oil certified under Fairtrade production standards goes for even more. Those prices have led some to resort to less-than-savory tactics, passing off diluted “Moroccan oil” blends as 100 percent argan.
Goat Guts
“It’s like the Mafia,” said Afafe Daoud, a project manager who works with a cooperative near Agadir. The group of 60 Berber women produces Fairtrade argan oil under its own brand, Tounaroz, and sells it across Europe.
Records of argan oil extraction trace back to the 13th century, when locals would gather the oil-rich nuts excreted by goats that climb trees to eat the plum-sized fruit. Today, argan oil processors use nuts that haven’t passed through a goat’s intestines, instead hiring Berber women to extract the seeds from their shells.
Endangered by construction and farming, argan trees -- spiny evergreens with a lifespan of about 150 years -- have come under United Nations protection, and the oil seeks the same geographic certification enjoyed by Parma ham and French Champagne in Europe. The trees, which thrive in Morocco’s semi-arid soil, are difficult to cultivate elsewhere.
‘Magical Tree’
Not that some aren’t trying. Chaim Oren, an agronomist behind an Israeli company called Sivan, says he is growing what he calls the “magical tree” on 100 acres in the Negev Desert.
“There will be less oil available than demand,” Oren said by telephone. “We want to fill this gap.”
The arrival of L’Oreal and Unilever -- as well as smaller U.S.-based beauty specialists like Organix, Shea Moisture and Aura Cacia -- reflects the growing appeal of natural oils. For years, many women were reluctant to put oils directly on their scalp or skin, fearing a greasy residue. Brands reflected those concerns: Procter & Gamble’s (PG) Oil of Olay changed its name to Olay in 2000.
Yet in recent years, consumers have embraced all things natural, from baby foods to cleaning products. That’s helped argan, which migrated from an expensive treatment in salons to mass-market shampoos, conditioners and soaps. British beauty boutique Neal’s Yard Remedies today sells a 4-gram argan lipstick in six colors such as Persimmon, Blackberry and Lychee, for 15 pounds.
Waning Novelty


American drugstore chain Walgreens Co. (WAG) carries 160 argan-infused products, up from zero three years ago, said Shannon Curtin, a merchandise manager there. She expects the chain to cull some its argan offerings in coming years as the novelty wears off.
“There are so many products now that consumers are getting a little bit confused,” Curtin said.
That hasn’t happened yet for Vivian Bernstein, a 37-year-old lawyer in Amsterdam, whose hairdresser recommended the oil a year ago for her long, blonde locks. She liked that it made her hair soft without being greasy, and she now buys argan-infused shampoos and conditioners. “It’s got sticking power,” she says.
L’Oreal says it gets argan oil from the German chemical giant BASF (BAS) SE -- which buys from Berber cooperatives. The company says it’s able to find sufficient supplies, partly because the increasing value of argan has helped convince people living among the trees to stop cutting them for firewood.
Rutted Road
“Before this, the men made everything,” said Belfarah Fatima, a 70-year-old mother of six with more grandchildren than she can count, as she cracks argan nuts at a cooperative in Tagadirt N’Aabadou, a village of mud-brick houses at the end of a rutted gravel road outside Agadir.
Fatima’s cooperative is part of a network founded by Zoubida Charrouf, a Moroccan chemist who has studied the oil’s properties for nearly 30 years. In the mid-1990s, Charrouf began organizing Berber women to produce and sell argan over the protests of their husbands, who claimed Charrouf was only out for their money. Her initial 16 volunteers were all widows and divorcees, she said, seated in the lobby of a Casablanca hotel on a drizzly Friday morning. Today, there are over 150 cooperatives, the most successful of which generate sales of 500,000 euros ($650,000) a year.
Browsing through a market near the hotel, Charrouf notes the argan products on display, including oil from the Tighanimine cooperative that she helped establish. She’s not buying any, though. Proving the fickle nature of beauty trends, she’s moved on from argan and has started using cactus oil on her skin instead. “It’s more expensive,” she said, “but it’s better.”

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Dolls shelved Talitha Getty - Edie Sedgwick Morocco

Dolls shelved Talitha Getty - Edie Sedgwick Morocco


I started to describe a bit of style as Talitha-Gettyish before I had a real understanding of what the term really meant. I have described women with long hair hanging on a balcony in Morocco (or any other geography, with tiles) and wore robes flowing caftan kind. To be honest, I used Oona-Chaplinish the same way by referring to women who wore gloves and skirt combination. But I think I had something to do with that Talitha Getty wording. After all, Yves Saint Laurent said:

"I knew the '60s generation: Talitha and Paul Getty lying under a roof of stars Happy Marrakech and Damned, and a whole generation assembled as if for eternity where the curtain of the past seemed to get on a future extraordinary. "

See? See? Curtains? As billowing white robes?

So basically, I was quite correct in my description, and probably am Oona Chaplin, too.

I always thought that was something Talitha Getty heir to the fortune happened in bohemian, no, that was not the case. It did not start life as a major symbol of fashion has always been strolled around with Yves Saint Laurent. Talitha Pol was born in Java in 1940. She spent the first four years of his life in a Japanese prison camp. After the war, his father, who was a painter, and his mother are separated. Talitha moved with his mother to London in 1945. Her mother died three years later, friends say that has left him something of a wounded quality.

Then she immediately had sex with Mick Jagger.

No, this is not true, she had sex with the dancer Rudolf Nureyev first. And that's all I about his early years, fascinating but they must have been. Then, in the 1960s, everyone in London at the same time decided she was extraordinarily beautiful. They were right:



According to Woodrow Lyle Wyatt, Antony Lambton, 6th Earl of Durham, was totally in love with her. He recalls: "There was Talitha Pol was very pretty and had a bit of work starlet in Yugoslavia, and [Antoine] went and stayed at the hotel and sent huge bouquets of flowers all around two hours and shower gifts. "

Antony and Talitha did not end up together, but I'm sure she loved flowers.

Nureyev told friends that, after meeting her at a party in 1964, he had "never felt so erotically stirred by a woman." It was often said to be a homosexual, which was surprising. I guess it was this beautiful.


Oddly, it is thanks to his relationship with Nureyev she met her husband! Little known fact, but before OkCupid relations were how everyone responded to their husbands. Nureyev was invited to a presentation by Claus von Bulow party, which later may be tempted to murder his wife, Sunny von Bulow. But that is another story, called Reversal of Fortune.


Not this story

At the last minute Nureyev was unable to attend the party, although Talitha was already on its way. While his Claus sitting next to his business partner, John Paul Getty. He was the heir of one of the richest oil in the world and, at the time of his life, described as "a swinging playboy who drove fast cars, drank a lot, experiment with drugs and starlets squired raunchy. " Romance with Talitha seemed to allow him entry into the wider society fashion.

Talitha Tatler describes as "It Girl 1965." Think of it as one, in English, earlier longer hair Edie Sedgwick. Shortly after his marriage in 1966, the Gettys have decided to divide their time between London, Rome and Marrakech. Their place in Marrakech became known for their pleasure palace and if you're a jet setter remotely cool, you went there. And remember those who were at the time when it was still rare to have mounted on a plane, let alone own one.

Or you can take a train!


The Rolling Stones came to visit the couple at their Moorish castle and remembered later in their memoirs: "We would like to climb on the roof where we could see the snowy mountains above and below the gardens, full of palm trees, to wandering birds and fish in the tanks. Lots of music was played, and musicians brought the Djemaah El-Fna, the great square up not full of sounds and stories. "

Meanwhile, Yves Saint Laurent said that when he met Talitha, his whole perspective on style has changed.

To be fair, his eyes on the style has changed. It was no longer a mod young Londoner who married in a white mini skirt trimmed with mink. After moving to Morocco, it adopted a wardrobe more fluid, with lots of dresses, kaftans, jellabiyas and wraps. He worked for it. Vogue editor Diana Vreeland said it was the style icon over the years, and his profile:

"A happy life welcoming, fantastic, sensitive and sybarite ... Mrs. Getty lurking on the market, bringing the delights of home and table. Best she brings artists dancers, acrobats, storytellers, magicians and geomancy. A day that began with a picnic on a large flat rock near a waterfall in the mountains of the Atlas may end with a dinner for a house full of young Moroccan and European friends by candlelight, among roses wrapped with mint. Salome While playing in the background, snake charmers charm and tea boys dancing, balancing on their feet trays freighted with mint tea and candles. "

God, I bet Paula Deen would have liked tea boys.

I think in addition to tea, it should be noted that they were a lot of drugs. Tons. Keith Richards said Talitha Getty was "the best and most beautiful opium."

Keith Richards. A man who probably knew his opium.

At least the Rolling Stones could kind of hold together when they were at Getty. John Hopkins wrote in 1968:

Last night, Paul and Talitha Getty threw the New Year's Eve at their palace in the medina. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were there, flat on his back. They could not get off the ground, much less speak. I've never seen so many people out of control.

Ok, everyone did a lot of drugs in the 1960s, at least everyone who was a jet setter cool, but if you called your house a "pleasure palace" then you're really setting up a ton of the drug. Apparently too much. It seems that in the view taken by Patrick Lichfield iconic Talitha lurking in a multicolored caftan and white harem pants, it actually could not stand, because it was on a lot of medication.

John Paul was, moreover, not better. Supposedly at one point he consumed a bottle of rum and a gram of heroin per day of high quality.

I do not know anything about heroin, but I guess that's a lot? At least there are plenty of rum.

Some members of the jet set started to overdose, and in 1968 the Gettys decided to abandon the pleasure palace of a life of spiritual enlightenment.


The couple went to Bali and Indonesia. They went diving with sharks - which does not really seem to me like spiritual enlightenment, both as something that would be announced on the Discovery Channel. (Jesus Christ, imagine if Paris Hilton or one of our high style icon of the moment went shark diving).

They also had a child in 1968, which Talitha named Tara Gabriel Galaxy Gramophone Getty. If you think, "Well, I know a girl named Tara" I want to emphasize that it was a male child and also that his name was Gramophone.

Talitha probably had not completely abandoned the drug. I do not know. I guess this is speculation. She would just like weird names. I mean, Heloise and Abelard named their child Astrolabe, and no judges, with all the world, ever, which reads a biography of Heloise and Abelard and said, "Astrolabe is a weird name."

Unfortunately, in 1971, largely due to their lifestyle choices, Getty's marriage began to deteriorate. In July Talitha went to his apartment in London to visit John Paul in Rome. There, she reportedly took a massive overdose of heroin. She was found on the "soil black and white marble" among the pieces of "Balinese furniture" which I think is the kind of detail a woman who lived to the style would remember about his death.

Her husband was terrified that he would be charged with the murder and fled Rome. Much later found not guilty of negligence, he never returned to Rome.

Jean-Paul fell into a reclusive depression after the death of Talitha. Despite being one of the richest men in the world, he installed a pay phone in his home and the customers had to pay every time they needed to make calls from his home. Maybe after seeing the result of his hospitality in the past, he was determined to be less accommodating for people in the future. Mick Jagger supposedly helped to return to the world from here. . . seriously. . . helping to develop a passion for cricket. However, when talking about the death of Talitha in 1985, he said: "The pain does not evaporate."

Talitha perhaps early death - she was only 30 years old - but she lived beautifully. Diane von Furstenberg, inspired perhaps a page of Yves Saint Laurent, said Talitha was "a very bright creature who wanted to dance under the stars and danced too fast."

If you may be wondering about Tara - I think he looks like the happiest bunch of Getty. He lived quietly, went to agricultural college and became a defender of the environment in Africa. He met a woman named Jessica, the daughter of someone who worked on one of the yachts of her family, and the two married. They have a son named Orlando Willem Pol, after the maiden name of Talitha, and a daughter, Talitha.

Which all sounds very nice.They will never dance in Marrakech with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but I guess you compromise. Either way, you can wear a large caftan. Kaftans are for everyone.

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Moroccan caftan

The beauty of Moroccan caftan

Rich Moroccan clothing
The beautiful country of Morocco is located in the extreme northwest African region. It is in the great Sahara desert and is an area where the climate is usually very hot. Moroccan climate is Mediterranean climate which is extreme to the inner region. The climate is very humid and a place also varies. In some places it is very dry especially where the region faces the Sahara Desert. Summer is here for very long.

Morocco has got a very rich culture and civilization. Morocco hosted many civilization of the past to help in the construction of their history Jews and Arabs Romans presents Morocco is a large ethnic mix of all these cultures. These cultures have influenced his way of living his life, his mannerisms, his clothes, food, in short almost everything. The population is dominated by the Arab heritage so that the garment is mainly based on their own personal style and ethnic groups.

Moroccan traditional clothing for men and women is called jilbab, a long-lasting loose long sleeves and hood. On special occasions, they also wear a red cap which is locally called fez. Women wear kaftans dazzled by ornaments. There is a difference between jilbab and caftans. Jilbab has a hood while caftans not.
Djellabas for women in general are very well decorated, sometimes with beads or ornaments and are always very bright in color. Men or jilbab caftans are always plain color. They look very simple. Women are very loyal to their own ethnic wear despite its high cost. Kaftans are always handcrafted because of their delicacy. Yet most women like to wear their national dress. Each year, they have to buy at least one, if not more, than it is for a wedding or religious holiday. Bearing in mind the warmer weather and the hot and dry climate caftans are made either of cotton or silk. Since these dresses are worn only at the ceremony or festival outfits are quite expensive. Clothing is a part of social status so that the lower groups of people try to wear neatly pressed suit to prevent their own miserable condition they can not afford to buy expensive caftans or Djellabas .

Morocco is a country grow strongly. Although Muslim culture still dominates with education most Western Western culture began to force its influence. Since the dress of women is a major issue in Islamic culture, it is always observed that nobody violates the unwritten expose any part of the body law. Modern Moroccan youth have combined well with the traditional western design method. Moroccan caftans were reduced in length and become tight in fittings with modern jeans.

In recent years, Moroccan sauce is much improved and in a way that made it more popular. Works on Djellabas rich are not only a favorite among all women, but they show the richness of Morocco and the countries of North Africa. Visiting these places, you can surely catch a glimpse of the great works of the hand.

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Shopping in Morocco is a unique and exciting experience

Shopping in Morocco is a unique and exciting experience. No visit to Morocco would be complete without exploring the medinas (walled cities with maze-like streets) of Marrakech, Fès and Ouarzazate. Unlike shopping in the West, where people tend to visit local retailers, in Morocco a shopping trip involves visiting the old medina, and various souks (markets) within them that sell specific goods ranging from clothing, to fabrics, shoes, food and carpets. Since most foreign currencies are strong in comparison to the Moroccan dirham, you can go on an extensive shopping spree and purchase various local Moroccan handicrafts such as Moroccan leather work, carpets, jewelry of silver, gold and copper along with ancient embroideries and basketwork.

Souks and markets are a major feature in Moroccan life, and among the country’s greatest attractions. Each major city and town in Morocco has a special souk quarter. Villages in the country side also have local souks which are usually held one day each week in an open field or outside the towns kasbah walls. Large cities like Marrakesh and Fès have labyrinths of individual souks (each filling a street or square that is devoted tone particular craft). The city of Marrakesh, Fès and Ouarzazate are famous for their beautiful souks- which are Morocco’s posh and huge shopping centers. Some of the best buys in Morocco are dates, leather ware, handicrafts, carpets, pottery, wood carvings, traditional dress (djellabas) and various food products.

Souks and markets are also a daily destination where locals shop for fresh meat, vegetables, household goods and other items that Americans for example, purchase at Wal-Mart or Target. In the country side, you can find large numbers of weekly souks (markets). A new alternative to souks in Morocco is Marjane, a Moroccan hypermarket chain, found in large cities like Marrakech, Casablanca, Agadir, Fès, Tétouan and Tangier. Marjane is the “Moroccan Target” and sells a wide variety of items such as food, clothing, liquor, electronics and other household goods.



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Souks is Markets in Morocco

Markets in Morocco.. Souks in morocco

Souks and markets are a major feature in Moroccan life, and among the country’s greatest attractions for Moroccan traverls. Each town has its special souk quarter, large cities like Fes and Marrakech have labyrinths of individual souks (each filling a street or square and devoted tone particular craft), and in the countryside there are hundreds of weekly souks, on a different day in each village of the region.

Whether or not you are a big shopper, going to a Souk is a cultural experience that should not be missed on a trip to Morocco. Find the medina, the central and oldest part of the city, and your journey has almost begun. If you feel slightly overwhelmed when you enter a lively area filled with artisan shops, aromatic bakeries, and excited shopkeepers eager meet you, you have found the souk.

Travel to Morocco and shop the souks of Marrakech, Fes & Ouarzazate (Book a Tour or call (800) 787-8806. Let us be your guide to Morocco Travel.
 
When the first souks appeared within Morocco, they were nothing more than small areas outside the city for merchants to display and sell their goods. Yet, as city populations grew, so did the souks. Today souks have become an important part of the culture socially and act as the heart of any large Moroccan city. Some souks are seasonal or annual while others like the Djemaa El Fna market in Marrakech are famous for snake charmers, storytellers, musicians, dynamic acrobatic events.

Some of the villages or areas between villages are in fact named after their market days therefore it’s easy to see when they are held. The souk days are:

Souk el Had – Sunday (first market)
Souk el Tnine – Monday market
Souk el Tieta – Tuesday market
Souk el Arba – Wednesday market
Souk el Khamees – Thursday market
Souk el Sebt – Saturday market

There are few village markets on Friday (el Djemma – the “assembly”, when the main prayers are held in the mosques), and even in the cities, souks are largely closed on Friday mornings and very subdued for the rest of the day. Village souks begin on the afternoon preceding souk day, as people travel from all over the region; those who live nearer set out early in the morning of the souk day.

It can be helpful to be accompanied by a guide if it is your first trip. A souk can feel a little bit like a labyrinth, and it is easy to get disoriented. One suggestion is to find a map and get familiar with the layout of the souk to minimize chances of getting too lost. There are various sections within a souk specializing in a unique skill or craft. Examples include the textile souk, rug souk, jewelry souk, the fabric souk, the spice souk, and the leather souk.
 
Carpets in Morocco
If you are in the market for a carpet that will not only adorn your home but contribute to its character, Morocco is a carpet heaven. An unforgettable part of any souk experience is a visit to the rug merchant. Expect to drink three or four glasses of sweet mint tea and spend at least half a day in during negotiations for one of Morocco's top products.

To step into the store of a rug merchant is to walk into a den of designs, no two of them alike. Fifteen types of Moroccan rugs and carpets are found in shops throughout the area from the High Atlas rugs, made with 100% wool and dyed with vegetable colors to the woven and embroidered kellim rugs. Prices vary with the degree of work, from US$6,000-$12,000 for a High Atlas carpet to US$5,500 for a reversible carpet (with a summer and winter side) to as little as US$150 for a kellim rug. Prices are generally one-half to one-third of those found in the US. Arrangements can be made with merchants for shipping and delivery to be included in the negotiated price.

A majority of the carpets in Morocco are from Berber villages and woven rather then knotted on old broad loams. Some of the finer rugs with Arab designs can be found in Fes and Rabat. Moroccan rugs or kellims are particularly famous for their rich yarns and lustrous colors created from henna, indigo, saffron, and other organic elements.

Although expensive, Moroccan carpet’s high prices are justified in that they can last up to several hundred years. Depending on the quality of the carpet, the hues of the carpet may stay nearly as vibrant as the day you purchased it on your Moroccan adventure.

Moroccan carpets come in many designs. The woven kilims or Berber rugs are characterized by their geometric patterns and are the most expensive because they are made with vegetable dyes. Each tribe has its own unique design and pattern. The chain of Maison Berbere shops in Ouarzazate, Tinerhir and Risssani are good hunting grounds for a beautiful kellim.

As some Berber rugs can start at a more than a thousand dollar per square meter, you may want a cheaper alternative. Outside Rabat, there are many tribal rugs like the famous Zanafia and Glaoua rugs which are flat and fluffy. Other options include flat woven carpets, or pile rugs. Also available are Berber blankets (foutahs or couvertures) which are quite striking with bands of red and black color spread across them; for these visit Tetouan and Chefchaouen, on the edge of the Rif.

Jewelry in Morocco
Most jewelry in Morocco comes in high quality gold and silver. Silver jewelry went into decline with the loss to Israel of Morocco’s Jewish population, the country’s traditional workers in precious metals and crafts in general; in the south, however you can find some fabulous Berber necklaces and bracelets, very chunky and characterized by bold combinations of semiprecious (and sometimes plastic) stones and beads. Marrakech, Fes, Essaouira and Ouarzazate have particularly good jewelry souks. For gold jewelry, Fes is the best option.
 
Most famous is the silver hand of Fatima (Fatima was the Prophet Mohammad’s daughter in law) which is believed to protect it’s wearers from misfortune and illness.

Silver jewelry is said to be the characteristically Moroccan as it is often made by Morocco’s indigenous Berbers. While traditional Berber women continue to wear silver jewelry especially family heirlooms for marriage ceremonies gold has become the preference among them and also modern Moroccan woman as it is a sign of wealth.  

Metals in Morocco
Brass, copper, and silverware are the most popular metals to buy. As Moroccans are talented in this area, rest assured that almost any purchase made in the metal souk is of high quality. Various cities in Morocco specialize in a certain metal work.

For silver, take a trip to Tiznit or Taroudannt. There you can find silver daggers, encrusted items, and muskets; the most popular purchase is the pot-bellied teapot. Silver trays and candlesticks, brass frames, and lamps are also found in Marrakesh, Fes, and Tetouan. In Fes, you can watch the artisans in their element as they hammer and mold metals.

Wood and Pottery in Morocco
Marquetry is one of the few crafts where you will see genuinely old pieces- inlaid tables and shelves- though the most easily exportable objects are boxes and chess sets made of beautifully inlaid thuya and cedar woods in Essouaria.

Pottery is colorful and often crudely made however the blue-and-white designs of Fes and the multicolored pots of Chefchaouen are very attractive. Morocco’s major pottery center is located in Safi and boasts several shops filled with colorful plates, tajines and garden pots. Safi tajines are generally more decorative. The best for cooking are produced by the Oulja pottery at Sale, near Rabat, in plain red-brown earthenware. These earthenware tajines can also be found any major city souks in Marrakech, Fes, Casablanca, Meknes, Ouarzazate or Tangier.

Clothing and leather goods in Morocco  
Moroccan clothing is easy to purchase. The traditional dress of the country is called the djellaba (a kind of cloak). Djellabas come in three styles: Arab (large, flowing garments), Berber (with straighter lines) and Pasha (a two-piece garment worn for special events). The djellaba is a long, loosely fitting hooded outer robe with full sleeves. They are made in many different shapes and colors; generally men wear light colors which are important as this helps reflect the strong Moroccan sun, men also traditionally wear a red fez hat and soft yellow pointed slippers (baboosh) with a djellaba. Light colors are also available for women to wear but despite this, women choose to wear brighter colors such as pinks, blues and even black. The hood is of vital importance for both sexes as it protects the wearer from the sun and in earlier times was used as a defense against sand being blown into the wearers face by strong desert winds. It is not uncommon for the hood to be used as an informal pocket during times of nice weather. Djellabas are made of a wide variety of materials, from cotton for summer-time djellabas to coarse wool for winter djellabas. The wool is typically harvested from sheep living in the surrounding mountains and then a long process of turning the wool into yarn is carried out and it is then woven in the fabric to create the garment.

Djellabas are worn by both men and women; the men's style is generally baggier, of darker colors, and plain. Women's djellabas are tighter and can sport elaborate decorative stitching in a variety of colors. Women sometimes add a scarf. Modern djellabas are quite fashionable and currently being designed to appeal to foreigners and young Moroccan women in cities. These fashionable djellabas are often made of cotton, rayon or silk, are woven with sequins or made of damask with wonderful large patterned designs.
Almost all djellabas of both styles include a baggy hood called a 'cob' that comes to a point at the back. Traditionally Djellabas reach right down to the ground but nowadays they are becoming slimmer and shorter.
The Islamic religion of Morocco is also a key factor in the way that Moroccan people dress. The djellaba covers the whole body and is therefore an acceptable modest outfit.
Caftans, traditional women's dress that often has tiny buttons on the front with a V shape are available in a variety of styles and materials ranging from cotton to polyester to silk. For djellabas and caftans Prices start at about US $25 and go as high as $600 for a special occasion garment.
Leather goods are of excellent quality in Morocco as they are hand dyed, most of natural vegetable dyes, sold in souks across the country and come in various shades of brown as well as hot pink, lime green, turquoise, ravishing reds, canary yellow and magenta. The classic item to purchase of leather in Morocco is babooshes (shoes) that are open at the heel, immensely comfortable, and produced in traditional yellow, white, red (for women) grey and black.

The best selection of leather goods can be found in Fes and Marrakesh. The city of Fes is home to an expansive tannery, one of North Africa’s most photographed sites. Purses (US$10 and up), sequin-dotted leather camel toys (US$3-5), and babooshes or soft slippers (US$3-$25) are some of the most popular items in the tannery. Outside, street vendors sell colorful billfolds embossed with Moroccan designs for as little as US$2.50.

Food Products in Morocco
There are a unique variety of food products in Morocco that are difficult to find at home which make excellent gifts and souvenirs. Locally produced olive oil has an incredible, distinctive strong flavor and in the Souss Valley you can find delicious sweet Argan oil. Argan oil is oil produced from the kernels of the endemic argan tree that is valued for its nutritive, cosmetic and numerous medicinal properties. The tree, a relict species from the Tertiary age, is extremely well adapted to drought and other environmentally difficult conditions of southwestern Morocco. The species Argania once covered North Africa and is now endangered and under protection of UNESCO. The Argan tree grows wild in semi-desert soil, its deep root system helping to protect against soil erosion and the northern advance of the Sahara. Argan oil remains one of the rarest oils in the world due the small and very specific growing area.

Olives in Morocco come in numerous varieties as do almonds, walnuts and spices. Morocco is notable for Saffron which is grown in the area east of Taliouine.

Cakes, sweets and biscuits are also famous in Morocco. Some of the best ones can be found in souks and also home made during religious holidays such as Ramadan or on the Moroccan New Year, Aïd el Kebir.

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