Arghand produces a line of fine soaps and skin-nourishing oils, featuring the fragrant and emollient fruits of Kandahar's legendary earth. In particular, Kandahar has long been famous for its ruby-like pomegranates. Recent research on the pomegranate fruit's anti-oxidant properties has confirmed local lore, which envies the pomegranate-growers of Arghandab their soft, wrinkle-free skin. The unique ingredient in Arghand products is their cold-pressed pomegranate seed oil, produced in the Arghand atelier.

Unfortunately, Arghand is not yet equipped to fill individual retail orders.
For a list of shops carrying Arghand products, please see Retailers.

Each bar of Arghand soap is hand-molded to resemble a river-polished lump of local marble. Each weighs 4 1/2 oz., or 125 g. For wholesale prices, orders, and other information, please contact info@arghand.org

Amandine (with palm and coconut oils, apricot kernel oils, sweet almond, cold pressed wild almond and almond extract). The oil of the tiny wild almonds, which grow in the highlands above Kandahar, gives this soap its character. A flat white oval, lightly colored with a swirl of wild almond butter.

Anisette (with palm and coconut oils, cold-pressed sweet almond, anise seed and pomegranate seed oils, steeped licorice root). Licorice and alkanet roots, both wild vegetable dyes gathered locally, give this soap its distinctive coloring. Round and flat, yellow and lapis lazuli.

Desert Fields (with palm and coconut oils, cold pressed wild pistachio, pomegranate and castor, steeped Artemisia persica leaves and walnut hulls). Irregular, tawny-green. Perhaps Arghand's best cleanser.

Elixir of Artemis (with palm and coconut oils, cold pressed wild almond, hemp, pomegranate seed and castor oils, and Artemisia cina essential oil). The heady aroma of this autumn-flowering herb gives this soap a festive note. A touch of ground turmeric root adds a joyous yellow hue. Flat, irregular, golden.

Kandahar Rose (with palm and coconut oils, cold pressed sweet almond and pomegranate seed oils, and essential oil of Rosa damascena). So ancient is the tradition of distilling the essence of the "Kandahar Rose" (Rosa damascena) in Kandahar, that the very word for rose is "flower-water flower." Egg-shaped, white with a swirl of pink.

Mountain Herb (with palm and coconut oils, cold pressed hemp, black cumin, pomegranate seed and castor oils and essential oil of wild mint). The pistachio green color of this soap comes directly from its hemp and vivid green cumin seed oils.

Pomegranate (with palm and coconut oils, cold pressed sweet almond and pomegranate oils, pomegranate concentrate). This soap, fragrance-free and rich in pomegranate seed oil, is especially suited to sensitive skin. Round, deep red.

Thornblossom (with palm and coconut oils, cold-pressed sweet almond and pomegranate seed oils, and essential oil of Salvia spinosa). This rare flower, which grows wild in the hills above Kandahar, posesses an intoxicating, fruity odor, and is known for its medicinal qualities. Triangular, marble-white.

(with oils of sweet and wild almond, apricot kernel and pomegranate seed, and pure almond extract). A relaxing oil that brings a sense of comfort and well-being.

(with oils of sweet almond, apricot kernel, anise and pomegranate seeds). Uplifting.

Our labels were painted by Austin, TX artist Betty Jameson, and designed by Eve Lyman of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Arghand soaps are wrapped in strips of silk from turbans woven in the western Afghan town of Herat. We commission pomegranate-wood display and gift baskets -- scale models of pomegranate harvesting baskets -- from a pair of elderly brothers in Arghandab.