76 asiaSpa India January-February 2018
hardening. Once the seeds mature in
May and June, they’re handpicked,
cleaned manually and then transferred
to three German screw press machines
at the processing unit. While the oil
falls through the sieve, the seed cakes
come out the front. The oil is then
passed through a filtration process to
obtain the finest quality.
As the afternoon sun begins to
get stronger, we settle down for lunch
under the shade of a large tree. Shiv tells
us that jojoba oil is known the world
over to soften skin, lighten scars, acne
marks and wrinkles, and protect skin
from harsh sunlight. Hence, it can be
used as a facial cleanser, moisturiser,
lip, body and scalp conditioner, and a
hair smoothener. The best part about
it is that it is closest to the oil our skin
produces and gets absorbed completely.
Today, Desert Splendour retails
jojoba oil in a pure as well as a
lavender-infused form in 50ml and
200ml bottles, on Amazon, Flipkart
and desertsplendour.in. The products
will also be available on Snapdeal and
Paytm, as well as offline in stores and
spas later this year. The brand will be
diversifying into face and body creams
and lotions too this year.yyyyyyyyyBy Meghna MenonT
ightening our shoe laces, we
hop onto the SUV and drive for
about 1.5 hours on dusty roads
towards Kolayat, a village roughly 60
kilometres from Bikaner. I was travelling
with the team from Desert Splendour –
the only beauty brand in the country
to produce pure jojoba oil – to take a
tour of their plantations, and see first-
hand how the oil, less explored until
now in India, comes into being. The
vehicle turns into narrower lanes and
we eventually reach our destination – a
plantation spread over 60 acres.
Shiv Singh Mann, the co-founder
of the brand, takes us around the area
as rows and rows of woody and dense
jojoba shrubs greet us, about eight
feet in height and with thick waxy
leaves that grow vertically. Pointing
towards the shrubs, Shiv explains
OIL IN
A DAY’S
TOUR
how the pollen from the male flowers
fertilises the female flowers, which
then bear hard, dark brown and oval
seeds rich in oil. While we see that
the plantations are equipped with
solar-powered drip irrigation systems,
Shiv adds that plant nutrients are
administered to obtain optimal harvests.
We then head towards Kilchoo
village, a two-hour drive away, which
houses the nurseries and centralised
production unit where the seeds are
processed. The nurseries at Kilchoo are
equipped with fully-automated mist
chambers and fitted with temperature
and humidity sensors and controllers.
The cuttings spend 25 days here
before being shifted to shed nets forP
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