The reason why argan oils have different smells
Have you ever wondered why different argan oils have different smells? There are actually several factors that contribute to the unique fragrance of argan oil, and understanding them can help you get the most out of your purchase. In this blog post, we‘ll explore the reasons why different argan oils have different smells and how you can find the one that you should buy, and the one that you want to avoid at all costs.
To understand more about the argan oil smell, there are some nuances one need to know. We can say there are 4 categories of argan oils depending on the production process :
1 - Odorless-oil
This oil is obtained by 3 possibilities :
1 – The oil has been deodorized because a lab wants to use it in their cream formula that has its own fragrance. So they don’t want the argan smell to interfere with the fragrance they have planned for their cream. The producer or the lab uses then carbon filters to absorb the smell (and color) from the oil.
2 – The oil is from what we call “goat argan” , which are argan nuts that goats climbed into trees to eat, and then “pooped” later. Some people collect these nuts (not our cooperatives), and press them to extract the oil from. The extracted oil has a bad smell, as you could imagine, and the producer put this oil through a deodorization process and obtains an odorless oil.
3 – it is not an argan oil, or is a diluted cheap one, and the shady producer takes away the odor from it to sell it as deodorized argan oil. But this case is rarer.
2 - Slight nutty Smell in the oil
That’s the one that you want to have. This is the best quality thanks to the cold press process used to obtain it. The cold press process does not involve any heat; this maintains the high quality of the argan oil and preserves its natural properties. The oil is then filtered and bottled for sale.
3 - A more pronounced Smell
This oil is extracted using heat during the extraction. Because heat helps extract more oil from the same amount of argan nuts, some producers use this technique to make extra profit from the same amount of kernels. The problem with this technique is that it destroys many anti-aging and moisturizing vitamins from the oil that are heat-sensitive. That’s why you want to look for “cold-pressed” oil.
4 - A very pronounced smell
This oil is edible, and is called Culinary argan oil. It is roasted on purpose to obtain an oil with a stronger taste and smell as a seasoning oil for salads and cooked meals. It can be used for cosmetic purposes as well, but it is better to use the cosmetic cold pressed version for more anti aging benefits and a more discreet smell.