The Difference Between Argan Oil and Rosehip Oil: degrees of preciousness

This question is the most hotly searched for beauty topic on Google this year. So many people want to know what argan oil and rosehip oil is for, how the two are used differently and how to make the most of both.

Both are at the top of the precious oil spectrum, highly valued for their anti-aging antioxidant moisturising properties. Both give you a feeling of luxury and are natural beauty products with real skin nourishing benefits. 


Here I will introduce the extraction, origin and best uses for each, then explain how to buy the best quality oil. Argan oil is from Morocco and is both nourishing and healing for hair, skin and scars. Like coconut oil in India and olive oil in Greece, argan oil in Morocco has been used for centuries as a beauty treatment, massaged into skin for youthfulness and hair for strength. This is why some products are named Moroccan oil or Marrakesh oil; it's all simply argan oil. The fruit from the argan tree is processed into Argania spinosa oil. 

Similarly, Rosehip oil is from the seeds of the rose hip bush and naturally contains provitamin A, long recognised as a top shelf skin treatment for wrinkles and scars. It has nothing to do with rose and does not smell of roses. Rose hip is cultivated throughout the world. A few brands have released new skin oils, such as Thursday Plantation and Palmer's, with very little rosehip oil and a lot of lavender oil which is heavy, greasy and not recommended for skin.

Rosehip is best for skin and argan is best for hair but can be used on both hair and skin.It's worth mentioning that other oils like coconut, marula, apricot, nut, mango and jojoba are also very good for both skin and hair but rosehip is probably the best oil for skin due to its provitamin A content. It is lighter and less greasy than other oils. It just smells quite a bit, quite fishy, whereas argan oil is odorless. Heavy oils are good for hair, especially in the harsh Australian summer where hair is overexposed to sun and salt.

The good news is you don't have to choose one or the other. Each has their merits and uses. Very broadly, rosehip is best suited to facial use and argan is for hair but you can use either on hair, face and body.I just want to note a warning on purity and price. Most women want the best value for money and argan and rosehip oil are premium products that are expensive to both produce and purchase. 

It is almost impossible from labels to discover the purest oil with the highest percentage of the actual oil (not watered down by cheaper carrier oils like olive, castor, linseed, almond, coconut and sunflower). You could choose to buy your oil wholesale; it is easy and cheaper to do this online and you can get very cheap organic oil this way.

If buying a brand, go for the product with argan or rosehip right at the top of the list of ingredients. The fewer ingredients listed, the better. Avoid products with a huge list of ingredients as the amount of this precious oil will be lower. For example, Swisse have a rosehip oil but if you look closer at the label it says it is a blend of oils, and you will find the actual rosehip content to be lower than a pure oil. 


You will pay more, a lot more, for purer products but it's worth it and you can always water it down yourself with cheap oil or moisturising cream. This is a better approach than buying a $20 bottle of argan oil that is only one per cent actual argan oil. This stuff is like gold, the truffle of the beauty world, and you need to buy pure.