What to Try First in Our Shop at SCC Sarajevo
Where to find the AZOURANE shop in Sarajevo, what to smell and try first, how much of each product you need, and what to buy first for your skin.
Few people in Bosnia know orange blossom by its smell. I can describe it: fresh, soft, floral and clean, and it stays on the skin.
That is four adjectives, and you still do not know what it smells like. To be fair, neither would I.
A screen is no help either. It shows you the colour and keeps the scent to itself. So the most useful answer is simple: somewhere you can smell everything first, pick it up and ask what is inside. Ours is in Sarajevo City Center.
Where to find us in Sarajevo
AZOURANE, Sarajevo City Center (SCC), Vrbanja 1, 3rd floor, 71000 Sarajevo, BiH.
We are open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 22:00, and closed on Sunday.
If you are coming for something specific, call or send a Viber message to +387 61 662 581 first, so you know it is waiting on the shelf. You can also order by message on the same number. For the map, see our shop at SCC.
You do not need to know what you are looking for. Tell us what you would like, and we will find the rest together. Every product has a tester, so you can smell and try anything before you decide. What I usually say here is: just try it, and you will see what I mean.
What to smell first
Start with the gentler scents and keep the strongest for last.
Argan. The oil is pale gold and smells nutty, as unrefined argan oil should. Rub a drop into the back of your hand: it disappears quickly and leaves a natural glow.
Orange blossom. Two products carry that scent. ALJIG is a gentle body wash that leaves the skin soft and hydrated, and the orange blossom is still on you after rinsing. ANU is a body milk thick enough that the bottle needs a light squeeze. It sinks in quickly and the scent lingers, so the people around you notice it too.
Coffee. TAFUKT is a body scrub with coffee and argan, and it smells of coffee. In Sarajevo, nobody needs coffee explained. After rinsing, a thin, pleasant layer of oil remains on the skin and absorbs quickly, and the skin stays soft for two to four days.
Black seed, last. SANOUJ is 100% black seed oil, dark amber, with a very sharp, peppery scent.
That strength is also why so little is needed: a few drops on a small area of skin. You can mix a drop or two into argan oil or ANU to soften the scent. Apply it in the evening; by morning the sharpness has settled.
What to try before you buy
Colour and quantity are easier to show than to describe.
AZGGAGH, a balm for lips and cheeks. Try the shade on the back of your hand. The red is softer than lipstick: lips look naturally redder, and on the cheeks it leaves a light flush. It also moisturises and softens, and gives the lips a little fullness.
At home, the hand tends to take more than the skin needs. The next two products ask for very little, and that is easiest to see in person.
AFOULKI, a face cream with argan oil and prickly pear seed oil. Press the pump lightly: a pea-sized amount covers the whole face for the whole day. Skin is hydrated and soft to the touch.
TIFAWT, a face mask with blue nila and prickly pear seed oil. At the shop I tell customers to take only enough for one light layer and paint it on over clean skin, away from the eyes. After ten to fifteen minutes and a rinse, the skin is very soft, and a 200 g jar lasts up to two years.
If you know nila only from TikTok, you are in good company. What nila is, and where the name comes from, is in what is blue nila.
Ask what is in the bottle
The full ingredient list of every product we make, first ingredient to last, is on the page ingredients and INCI. If a Latin name on it makes you curious, ask at the shop, where we can also tell you what each ingredient does while you hold the bottle.
My family is from the Souss, in south-western Morocco. We make our products with more than 160 women's collectives across Morocco and buy our ingredients from them. Which Moroccan ingredient goes into which product is summarised on Moroccan cosmetics in Sarajevo.
A first purchase, by what you want
Start with what matters most to you right now.
- Soft facial skin with a natural glow: 100% argan oil, one to three drops, depending on what your skin needs. How to apply them is in how to use argan oil on the face.
- Daily hydration for the face: AFOULKI.
- A face treatment once or twice a week: TIFAWT.
- Redder lips and cheeks: AZGGAGH. The tradition behind it is in what is aker fassi.
- Body: ALJIG in the shower, ANU afterwards on dry skin, and TAFUKT once or twice a week.
- Hair: LHRIR, a conditioner with argan and avocado. Fingers go straight through the hair, which feels soft and fresh, with a natural bounce.
If you are choosing a present for someone whose skin you do not know, choose by scent: orange blossom (ALJIG and ANU) or coffee (TAFUKT). For a small present that shows at once, AZGGAGH.
If you cannot get to SCC
Order on the website and, at checkout, choose pickup at the shop. During opening hours, the parcel is ready within the hour. To any other address in BiH we send by BH Post, usually in one to two working days. If you live abroad and are sending a present to someone here, order to their address in BiH.
And when you do come, rub a little ANU into the back of your hand on the way out. The orange blossom leaves SCC with you. After that, you will not need my four adjectives.