Minarra was born when a little girl made her first trip to the hammam with her mother. Although she didn’t know it then, Amina’s journey began when the mysteries of this woman’s haven were revealed to her as a young child—the scented steam, the ritualistic, care-filled process, and women of all ages giving love to their bodies through the exfoliation, bathing, and moisturizing of their skin. All of this a celebration of gratitude for what those bodies had done and would do serving their families.

Amina founded Minarra to share with you the joyful practices of self-care and renewal through pure, natural, Moroccan-sourced products.

Minarra is the passion of Amina—a mother and entrepreneur with an unmatched enthusiasm for her culture and for natural beauty.

Minarra is inspired by the beauty rituals of Amina’s past, of weekends spent at the hammam with her mother. There, women relaxed and practiced self-care away from the stresses of everyday life. Amina saw women lovingly care for their bodies, bathing and scrubbing, and massaging argan oil into their skin. She learned the importance and celebrating her natural beauty and caring for her body with love. She was enchanted and as a girl she played “spa day,” picking wild roses, fruits, and veggies from her mother’s garden experimenting to make face and hair masks for herself and her siblings. 

Amina’s drive to create a comforting and empowering beauty ritual for women stems from her most challenging life experiences. As a young woman, Amina married and emigrated to the US with her husband, an American. For Amina, hope and opportunity turned to difficulty and challenge, as she found herself in an abusive relationship and suffered years of discrimination from her husband’s family against her skin color, religion, and culture. 

In her pain, Amina recalled how the women at the hammam emerged refreshed, proud, and energized. Empowered by those childhood memories of the women at the baths, their stories and their strength, Amina found the courage to create a new life for herself and her children. She reconnected with her memories of that special space of safety and tranquility and began experimenting with ingredients from her home country. She recreated family recipes for those bathing traditions. She shared the products with friends, who loved them, and she began to wonder if it was something she could share with more people.

Soon after, on a quiet morning of meditation, looking out at a sunrise, Amina was visited by inspiration as the first rays of sun broke through the early morning sky. She was struck by the profound impact of a single spark of light on the world. She was enchanted by the idea of the light within each individual that guides us if we allow it to.

As she ruminated on a name, the childhood name her father had given her “Mina” came to mind. Soon the inspiration to call the project Minarra crystalized. Minarra which means lighthouse in Arabic—a guiding light, a beacon of hope.

Today, Amina taps into her roots as she seeks to empower other women through Minarra. She understands the impact of a helping hand, and has experienced first-hand the magic of friends offering unconditional emotional support as she created Minarra. Because of Amina’s past experiences with abuse, Minarra maintains a strong commitment to empowering women, donating a portion of sales to women in need. 

Minarra aims to be a guiding light—a lighthouse—in the life of our clients. We hope our traditions will be both a daily pleasure and a self empowerment ritual with our clean and conscious products.