MAKE YOUR OWN SURF ZINC STICK IN TAMRAGHT: WHAT HAPPENS AT A WARDA WORKSHOP

If you've spent a morning watching surfers in Tamraght, you've seen them: bright stripes of pink, blue or white across noses and cheekbones. That's zinc, and it's one of our favourite things to make by hand. In a Warda zinc stick workshop you mix your own, choose your colour, pour it, and walk out with a stick nobody else has.

Here's what a zinc stick actually is, what happens around our workshop table, and what to expect if you'd like to join one.

What is a zinc stick?

A zinc stick is a solid, balm-like stick made with a mineral base, usually zinc oxide, that you swipe onto the spots that catch the most sun: the bridge of your nose, your cheekbones, your forehead. Surfers love the solid format because it sits where you put it instead of running into your eyes the moment you duck under a wave.

The colours come from pigments mixed into the base. That's where the fun starts, because it means every stick can look completely different.

A quick, honest note: handmade cosmetics aren't lab-tested for a sun protection factor, so we don't put an SPF number on the sticks made in our workshops. Think of yours as an extra layer for high-exposure spots, worn on top of a tested sunscreen, rather than a replacement for it.

What happens during a Warda zinc stick workshop

Our sessions last 1.5 to 2 hours and no experience is needed. You just show up and create.

Settle in around the table

We sit down together around one big table with everything already laid out: ingredients, tools and the containers your sticks will go into. It's relaxed and hands-on, more like making something with friends than sitting in a class.

Get to know your ingredients

Before anyone starts mixing, we talk through what goes into a zinc stick and why: nourishing plant oils, non-nano minerals and earth pigments. Knowing what each ingredient does makes the next steps make sense, and it's knowledge you take home with you.

Choose your colours

This is the part where everyone slows down and gets picky. Soft pink, ocean blue, earthy tones, something in between? You build your shade by adding pigment until it feels like yours.

Mix, pour and let it set

Once your colour is right, you mix your formula, pour it into its container and let it set. Then it's ready to go straight into your beach bag.

Take it home

You leave with your own personalised 20ml surf zinc stick, made by your own hands.

Why it's more than a product-making class

The stick is the souvenir. The experience is the point. A workshop is a couple of hours away from your phone, working with your hands, comparing colours with the people next to you and learning why simple ingredients do what they do. We wrote more about why that matters to us in why we need to get back to making things with our hands.

It's also an easy, low-pressure way to meet people if you're travelling. You're welcome to come on your own, with a friend or as a small group.

Practical details

• Duration: 1.5–2 hours

• Price: 250 MAD / €25 per person

• Included: all materials, tools and containers

• You take home: your personalised 20ml surf zinc stick

• Where: in Tamraght. Venues and dates change, so check our Instagram @warda_studios for upcoming sessions

• Spots: limited per session, so it's worth getting in touch early

Hosting a group, retreat or hostel?

We also bring the workshop to you. If you run a retreat, hostel, hotel or shop around Tamraght, Taghazout, Aourir or Agadir, we can set up a mobile workshop at your venue. All we need is a big table and an electrical plug. We can also make custom zinc sticks in colours that match your brand. Find out more on our workshops page.

Ready to make yours?

Have a look at the upcoming workshop details, or send us a message and we'll tell you when the next table is set. And if you'd rather make a natural deodorant, we run a workshop for that too.