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Rabat – Ten Moroccan engineering students developed biodegradable cosmetic products from recycled argan residues that can be useful for acne-prone skin. They called it ArgaCare.
Born out of a youthful passion for helping others through social entrepreneurship, the students’ idea has become an award-winning product that is being increasingly celebrated in Morocco — and beyond.
ArgaCare provides cosmetics products “cosmetic products that are more concentrated in elements that actually are more useful for acne prone skin,” Wissal Akki, ArgaCare’s project manager told Morocco World News.
Besides providing customers with an enriching skincare line, the first-year engineering students from Mohammedia School of Engineering (EMI) and Enactus EMI integrated women working in the argan production in the Souss-Massa region into their business model.
ArgaCare, Akki stressed, provides new markets for these women. It places them in selling points and tries to tell their stories through the products they produce and sell.
The story behind ArgaCare has attracted the support of many in Morocco and abroad. The young engineering team notably won the first prize at the EU-African Summit in December in the vulnerable population category, placing them ahead of more than 200 participants from around the globe.
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ArgaCare was also celebrated in the TotalEnergies Startupper of the Year Challenge, where the innovative product was selected for the semifinals in April 2022. The same month, the team was nominated as a finalist for L’Oreal Brainstorm Innovation Competition.
But such growing endorsement of ArgaCare is only one side of a coin, noted Aya ElHachimi, the growth associate at ArgaCare, adding that sponsors “don’t really believe in us” because of their young age.
“One of the biggest challenges we faced as young entrepreneurs is the fact that we are young,” she said.
The team, for instance, struggled to find resources to implement the technical aspects of the project. They had a “hard time” finding a laboratory where they can develop their biodegradable cosmetic products.
Still, their youthful passion for innovation and helping others continues to inspire them to excel in this domain.
Ayman Belmouden, a project associate at ArgaCare, shared with MWN his team’s ambitious future goals for the project. He spoke in particular of expanding and customizing the skincare line – hair oil, scrubs, etc – to generate the “maximum of health benefits, cosmetic benefits from our products.”
Belmouden further noted that the ArgaCare team seeks to “test the waters with a luxury brand” as well as create an e-commerce selling point on Instagram.
Developed from a simple idea to an award-winning prototype, ArgaCare is a concrete example of how, Akki said, “the idea that comes to you in your room or just with your friends can be an idea that saves a lot of people.”
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