Moroccan tradition · Fez

Aker fassi

Aker fassi is the Moroccan red for lips and cheeks, traditionally sold as a small clay dish. You wet a fingertip, rub the inside of the dish, and the color comes away with you. The name carries the city: fassi means from Fez.

What aker fassi is

It is neither a lipstick nor a powder. It is a vessel. A small unglazed terracotta dish, lined on the inside with a dried red layer that only wakes up when a damp finger touches it.

The recipes differ from family to family and from one part of Morocco to another. The red usually comes from dried plant matter, poppy petals or pomegranate rind, sometimes alongside other traditional pigments. Which is why two dishes bought on the same street in Fez rarely give exactly the same shade.

You still find it in Moroccan herb shops and souks, often shelved beside nila, henna and black soap. It is worn on ordinary days, and it also appears in wedding customs, where the red goes on alongside the henna.

How it is used

  1. Wet your fingertip with water or rose water.
  2. Rub the inside of the dish in small circles until the color lifts onto your finger.
  3. Press it onto your lips, or onto the apples of your cheeks.
  4. Repeat for a deeper shade. The first layer is always sheer.

The color builds rather than covers. That is why aker fassi reads as skin that ran a little warmer, not as something laid over the top of it.

The traditional dish has one practical limit: without water it does not work. It wants a sink, it leaves your finger red, and clay on its own does nothing for dry lips. Lovely at home, awkward in a bag.

AZGGAGH: the same gesture, with a balm underneath

AZGGAGH is our answer to that limit. The same gesture, one finger and one layer at a time, on lips or cheeks, but in a balm you apply dry and can carry with you.

Where the color actually comes from

The warm red in AZGGAGH comes from the mineral pigment CI 77491, iron oxides. Poppy flower extract is its own plant ingredient in the formula and is not the colorant. Aker fassi is the tradition the balm continues, not an ingredient inside the tube.

Under the color there is a balm: castor oil for slip and shine, sweet almond oil and shea butter for softness, beeswax to hold the shape, and vitamin E. Which means you can reach for it on the days your lips only want the balm, with no mirror and no water.

Ingredients: castor oil, sweet almond oil, beeswax, poppy flower extract, shea butter, CI 77491 (iron oxides), tocopherol. Seven ingredients, 20 g, made in Morocco.

See AZGGAGH, 35 KM Shipped from Sarajevo in 1 to 2 working days. Cash on delivery, 7 KM, free from 59 KM. Delivery within Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Questions

Does AZGGAGH contain aker fassi pigment?

No. AZGGAGH carries the aker fassi tradition, and the color comes from the mineral pigment CI 77491, iron oxides. Poppy flower extract sits in the formula as a plant ingredient, not as the colorant. So you know exactly what you are putting on.

What is the difference between the clay dish and the balm?

The dish needs water and gives you color alone. The balm goes on dry, builds the same sheer shade, and conditions your lips with oils and shea butter at the same time. The tone is warm red either way, but lips stay softer with the balm.

Can aker fassi be worn on the cheeks?

Yes. In Morocco it is traditionally used on both lips and cheeks. The same is true of AZGGAGH: a small amount pressed onto the apple of the cheek gives the same warm tone it gives on the lips.

Is AZGGAGH vegan?

It is not. It contains beeswax, which holds the balm in its solid form. If you avoid bee products, this is one to skip.

How long does one balm last?

20 g is a lot for a balm applied in a thin layer. You lift a small amount with a clean fingertip, so one pot covers months of everyday wear.

How should it be stored?

At room temperature, away from direct sun and radiators. The balm is semi-solid and softens on contact, so real heat makes it softer than it should be.

If the other Moroccan color in the same tradition interests you, read about blue nila. More on the balm itself is on the tinted lip balm page, and the full range is in the product collection.