The legacy of legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most famous fashion designers, his talent has helped change the lives of women all over the world. Throughout his life, he has created many excellent designs. At the peak of his success, there were times when he fell into alcohol and drugs, with the result that when the drugs stopped working, he fell into chronic depression.
It was during these difficult days that he found the "promised land" of Morocco, a place that brought him peace and tranquility. It was a turning point in his aesthetic vision: he fell in love with this country filled with light, vibrant colors and a way of life very different from the hustle and bustle of Paris. In 1966, at the age of 33, after his first trip to Morocco, Yves Saint Laurent immediately bought a house in the heart of Medina. For him, Morocco was not just a tourist destination, but also a sedative for his soul and for his life.
Yves Saint Laurent loved nature so much that he designed and created the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech. The Majorelle Garden is full of rare and colorful plants. He considered the Majorelle Garden as his second home.
Yves Saint Laurent passed away in June 2008. According to the designer's wishes, his ashes were scattered throughout the Majorelle Garden so that he could live forever among the plants.
The love story between Yves Saint Laurent and Morocco goes further than that, when going to the Ourika valley at the gate of the Atlas Mountains, about 30 km from the city of Marrakech. The once-wildland has now been transformed into a botanical garden to show Yves Saint Laurent's love for Mediterranean culture - an element that has always been associated with the brand's creative inspiration. Ourika is Morocco's first organic garden, which is considered the inspiration for YSL Beauty's makeup and skincare products, and is also an interesting destination for tourists when coming to Morocco.
Ourika: An oasis in the arid land of Morocco
Taking note of his fond memories of the Ourika garden, YSL Beauty has now entrusted the responsibility of designing the garden to Ossart and Maurières – a talented landscape designer and botanist, and expert in renovating arid gardens, to transform desolate plots of land into flourishing botanical gardens, used in YSL Beauty makeup, fragrance and skincare products.
The innovative beauty of YSL Ourika Gardens lies in the experimental aspect of research combined with tradition and expertise that goes hand in hand with beauty. The design ensures that every step of the garden’s care is done by hand, such as the terraced plantings that rely on gravity irrigation. Eco-friendly and sustainable, this traditional gardening method believes in the scientific purpose behind botany: YSL Beauty has created the first garden dedicated to growing some of the featured ingredients in its products, including a research area to test the most effective plants.
Colorful gardens with more than 40 species of plants living in harsh conditions, when there is a clear difference between summer and winter climate, when the desert-like heat is immediately replaced by cold, dry winds blowing from the snow-capped mountains, including plants that Yves Saint Laurent loved so much: roses, jasmine, lemon, Bourbon geranium, verbena, mint, hibiscus, walnuts, marigolds and lilies... and especially saffron, a rare herb in Morocco (to produce 1 gram of saffron, Moroccan women have to pick 115 saffron flowers).
Another notable name is the moonlight cactus, which can withstand the dry, mountainous climate of the Ourika Valley. “We have cultivated a collection of moonlight cacti that can withstand the dry, mountainous climate of the Ourika Valley. This experimental work can serve as a basis for research into creating skin care products,” said Mr. Maurières.
Wonderful products from Ourika garden
As a pioneer in the field of skin care, YSL Beauty not only pioneered the creation of an organic garden dedicated to growing and researching plants to create the world's best organic beauty products, mastering the supply and exploitation of precious ingredients, but also applied a bold new approach, creating more and more breakthrough products. Among the famous products of YSL Beauty is the Moroccan Moonlight Cactus Crystallized Skin Oil.
Tended entirely by hand at the colorful Ourika Gardens, the Moonlight Cactus bears beautiful, fragrant flowers that bloom for only six hours at night, once a year. Before blooming, the cactus fills itself with lipids to produce a special oil that attracts pollinators and promotes a complex of sugar components in the flower, triggering the cactus to bloom.
This rare Moroccan flower, known as the Queen of the Night, is harvested by hand for only one night between July and August.
By long-term cold extraction technology, Moonlight Cactus Flower Extract Skin Care Oil has medicinal properties that protect all skin cells through its unique properties, leaving skin smoother and more radiant.
Growing in harsh conditions, the Moroccan moon cactus possesses exceptional elasticity properties that benefit the skin. YSL Beauty has carefully selected the right powerful active ingredients through efficacy testing, packaging all the goodness and power of Ourika's garden into the brand's Pure Shots products.
Ourika Garden and Responsibility to the Community
YSL Beauty has been awarded the title for the environment, committed to reducing water consumption, reducing waste, not using microplastics and PVC, and sourcing organic ingredients to ensure safety.
Beyond botanical research, YSL Beauty also runs social programs that improve the lives of Moroccan women. YSL Beauty has partnered with farmers who have experience in caring for local plants to work at the Ourika garden. They create farming cooperatives and grow together. The revenue generated from harvesting marigolds and olives helps mothers send their children to school.
