Walking through the narrow and crowded lanes of Empress Market, Karachi, my eyes spot a variety of bottles of different shapes and sizes; these contained oils ranging in colours from red to orange to dark green. Close by, a man named Javed is extracting oil manually on a two-tiered wooden hand press. On the lower lever of the structure are stored bottles and a container to collect the freshly extracted oil, while at the upper level a big bowl holds the nuts the oil is being extracting from.

It takes half an hour of hard labour to extract oil from a kilogram of almonds, and a great deal of strength too.

“I come here by 8:30am,” says Javed, “and stay till 10pm. I get an average of four to five customers daily and have been in this business since 15 years. There are usually more customers in winter but now it is very hot so business is comparatively low.”

While the market is flooded with various local and multinational brands of oils promising obvious results within a short span of time, many people still opt to ignore these promises and prefer to have the oil extracted in their presence.

Ahmed, a young college student, is waiting while Javed is extracting oil for him. “I don’t know much about oil but my mother sends me here to get almond oil. When it’s extracted in front of us, we are sure of the quality and know that it is free from all impurities, artificial colour, chemicals and perfumes,” he says.

####Oils that nourish your hair, body and skin extracted right in front of your eyes, what you see is what you get

I step into a shop where oil is being machine-extracted.

“People often come to me for freshly extracted almond, sesame, walnut, coconut and black caraway seed (Kalonji) oil and on an average approximately 40 litres of oil is extracted daily,” says Shaheen Iqbal, the shopkeeper, who not only knows his oils well but also their properties, uses, benefits and blending partners.

Almond oil is available in two varieties — bitter and sweet. It is extracted from the kandhari badam that is easily available in the neighbouring shops. While sweet almond oil is priced at Rs2,600 a litre, the bitter variety is priced at Rs1,600 a litre. This oil is not only applied on the skin or massaged into the scalp but being a rich source of calcium, women approaching menopause sometimes consume a teaspoon orally while many others use it for arthritis, lowering cholesterol and osteoporosis.

“Take the pressed cake of the sweet almond home after I have extracted the oil,” Iqbal advises a young girl, “and make a mask for your face. It will give you a glowing complexion. You can even ask your mother to put it in the food she cooks for enhancing flavour.”

The prices vary from Rs600-800 per litre for Sesame oil to Rs2,000 per litre for black caraway seed oil to Rs 2,600 per litre for walnut oil, as do their properties and the uses they are put to — from moisturising, nourishing, healing, smoothening, enhancing and soothing to medicinal.

If one oil is superb for stopping hair fall (black caraway seed) the other may provide relief from pain relief and eczema (sesame oil). Both these oils are also said to help in the management and prevention of diabetes. Apart from being an excellent source of protein, sesame oil is also said to reduce blood pressure. Coconut oil, which is generally considered good for applying to the hair, is also consumed orally; it is said that a teaspoon taken on a regular basis for a period of four to five months works wonders in tucking in the stomach post pregnancy. Topaz in colour with a rich nutty taste, walnut oil has a limited shelf-life, and is considered beneficial for blood circulation and also helps prevent eczema.

Also standing in elegant little bottles with little white caps are the imported and expensive essential oils. Essential oils are produced by specialised cells of a plant which can be in the flowers, peels, berries, leaves, roots, wood or petals. Used in spas, aromatic candles, expensive soaps, etc. these have also led to the mushrooming of aromatherapy salons. Maintaining their own class and status, they are far above their nutty and seedy counterparts in terms of price, concentration, characteristic fragrance and energising aromas.

Commonly available essential oils are teatree, jojoba, rosemary, lavender and aloe vera, and are available for Rs6,000-10,000 per litre. A very powerful and one of the most expensive amongst these is argan, but only the rich can afford it as a mere 10ml costs Rs600; perhaps this is why it is referred to as liquid gold. Argan oil is extracted from the kernels of the argan tree that are endemic to south-western Morocco.

The purest essential oils are far more powerful than the botanicals from which they are extracted and are sought mostly by the upper class as they help to maintain and promote emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual wellbeing. Known for their anti-aging, scar-removing, toning, tightening and skin healing properties as well as inducing relaxation, reducing stress and headaches, each oil has a different smell, use and property. On their own, these oils quickly dissipate into the air and when they have completely evaporated, they leave no visible stain or scent. When applied, these oils work under the skin to feed new developing skin cells.

People from all walks of life come to Empress Market to purchase oil. The poor seek artificial perfumed variety and do not care much about the unique benefits of the individual oils; the middle class come for coconut and mustard seed oil; the upper-middle class have the knowledge of different oils and their properties but cannot buy everything they would like, while the upper class purchase whatever they please, irrespective of the cost.

“Rich women often order large quantities of almond and sesame, oil over the telephone, for massage. They do not worry about the bill but focus on the result, which is to stand out in a crowd with their flawlessly toned and glowing complexion,” says Shaheen Iqbal.

Among their clientele are young college-going girls influenced by their friends, as well as doctors, chartered accountants and other professionals leading a stressful life who often purchase a special oil which contains pumpkin, almond, poppy and lactuca seed. This oil works wonders in inducing relaxation.

A woman asking for muli ka tel produced a crumpled paper from her bag on which she had scribbled a formula for stretch marks, she also asks for arq-i-gulab, gul-i-yasmeen and sandalwood powder.

All the while that I have been here, I have had a litre of almond oil extracted for myself. I make a mental note to try it tonight and take my leave.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 21st, 2015

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