Beauty news: Play it argan

Argania hair oil. Photo / Babiche Martens

A year ago we had barely heard of argan oil, now we know it as an "It" ingredient, with many hair salons featuring rows of little brown glass bottles with distinctive turquoise labels reading Moroccan Oil. That's the name of the product that has helped popularise one of the world's rarer plant oils, long used by North Africa's Berber people for cooking and cosmetic purposes. It leaves hair shiny and feeling soft and silky and is suitable for all but the very finest hair types.

Now Moroccan Oil has competition from other products that contain argan oil, with hair companies climbing on the bandwagon and touting its antioxidant properties. Argania Hair Oil, distributed by a canny New Zealand company which imports the oil and formulates it in New Zealand adding almond oil, undercuts the price of the original, with 100ml costing $34.99. "A small amount goes a long way," says Via's creative director, Jerome Rusk, who says it can be used as a leave-in treatment or a styler. Joico also includes argan oil in its K-Pak Color Therapy Restorative Styling Oil ($31).

Kerastase's take on argan oil, is deal me one and raise you three. The salon specialist hair care company which has worked with oils for years, has just introduced what it calls a "new generation" product in Kerastase Elixir Ultime ($48), which uses argan oil, but adds in maize, camellia and pracaxi oils for extra shine and conditioning. (In case you're wondering, pracaxi is a tree from the Amazonian rainforest).

I've been impressed by how a little helps smooth flyaways without weighing hair down.

Different products come with different degrees of heaviness, but unless you up-end the bottle, none should leave hair oily. For women who don't blow dry, a light textured oil is a relatively natural product that offers a little control without a lot of messing about.

Nigel Luty, Kerastase's education and development manager, says oil can nourish pre-shampooing, or work as an intensive leave-in conditioner when applied to lengths and ends before blow drying, just don't skip heat protection products, he warns, as this is a supplement to styling. Elixir Ultime also works as a finishing product - my preferred use - to control flyaway hair and frizz and can be used for touch-ups throughout the day.

As to the original Moroccan Oil, after its successful launch last year, a treatment mask ($55) and shampoo and conditioner have been added to the range.

Meanwhile, Moroccan women are benefiting from the argan oil bonanza, with co-operatives formed to harvest the fruit in semi-desert country. That's a step up from the when the Berbers used to collect undigested argan pits from the waste of the goats that climbed the trees to eat their fruit. The pits were pressed to make oil. Harvesting and machine processing (somewhat similar to that used for olive oil) is now the standard extraction method.

Nail it

Red nails are a classic look, but need to be worn the right way. Make them fun by dressing them up with ruby sparkle so it shows you are more cute kitty than scary cougar. Creative Nail Designs combines both in a boxed duo of polish and decorative top coat. The limited edition Red Hot Collection costs $49.95 and is available from selected salons, creativenails.co.nz.

O.P.I also has a double deal, with two popular shades in Big Apple Red and the black-red Lincoln Park After Dark boxed with a free bracelet for $44.95, or try its Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops which leave nails touch-dry in minutes. The drops come with a free top coat for $37.50. Ph 0800 144 562 to find your nearest stockist.

Trilogy is offering a free mini bottle of Trilogy Red, an Orly polish specially packed with its certified organic rosehip oil to condition skin for a limited time at $23.90 from selected pharmacies, department stores and health stores.

Making a splash

The Polynesian Spa in Rotorua has again been voted in the top 10 of the world's best thermal, medical and natural spas. A poll of European readers of the upmarket magazine Conde-Nast Traveller put the Polynesian Spa in seventh place. The winner was the Terme di Saturnia Spa & Golf Resort in Tuscany, ahead of Clinique La Prairie in Switzerland, with the Polynesian being the only non-European spa chosen. The overall winner of the 2011 Readers' Choice Spa Awards was the Spa at the famed La Mamounia hotel in Marrakech, Morocco.

Coming home

New Zealander made good in Australia Brad Ngata will be a guest judge at the L'Oreal Colour Trophy Awards in April. Sydney-based Ngata is a favourite of the city's celebrity set, tending to the likes of Miranda Kerr and Russell Crowe. He will be joined by Caterina Di Biase, a much awarded Melbourne colouring expert, in deciding who gets to be New Zealand's next top hairdresser. The event at Auckland's Civic Theatre will be co-hosted by NZNTM presenter Sara Tetro with Jay Reeve on April 2.

Paid faces

Gwen Stefani is the latest in the long list of celebrities signed to front for L'Oreal Paris. We bet the French beauty giant is pleased it picked her rather than fellow platinum blonde singer Christina Aguilera who fluffed her lines at the recent Super Bowl. Stefani, who has her own fashion label L.A.M.B. and developed Harajuku Lovers perfume as well as singing with No Doubt and solo, says she loves dressing up and striking a pose, so she should be a natural for L'Oreal as a global brand ambassador.