Facial oils is not a new concept in skincare. We’ve long discovered the benefits of argan, coconut and rosehip oils.The latest to join the fame is prickly pear, a highly moisturising and softening oil.
Prickly pear seed oil is an oil that’s derived from the prickly pear, a member of the cactus family. You might know it by its other names: barbary fig oil, or Indian fig oil, but the benefits are all the same. It’s been used for centuries to treat burns and illnesses, the Chinese used it to dress abscesses and in traditional Mexican medicine, it was even used to treat diabetes and high cholesterol.
Native to Morocco, like argan oil, prickly pear oil takes three to four days to extract the fruit from the seeds. Because the process is so laborious and requires so much patience and manual work, it makes for one of the most expensive beauty oils in the industry.
How does prickly pear seed oil benefit the skin?
Prickly pear seed oil has the highest amount of vitamin E in any beauty oil, in fact, it has 150 per cent more than argan oil. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that helps reduce free radical damage and slow down the ageing process of cells. What this means is that it targets signs like damaged collagen, dryness, or appearance of fine lines.
There is also a high content of linoleic acid, an anti-inflammatory, and moisture-retentive fatty acid that helps plump and firm the skin. This even has helpful effects on blackheads and acne. Then, there’s Vitamin K, a vitamin that can help decrease dark eye circles and promote healing when it comes to skincare.
If you want to start adding this super-ingredient into your skincare routine, here’s a list of products that use it in their ingredients.
Formulated with prickly pear seed oil and cactus-induced ceramides, this gel eye cream glides on luxuriously to repair and plump the delicate areas of the eyes. Its lightweight formula helps to strengthen the skin and can even be used over the entire face. Just gently pat it into the skin until it’s fully absorbed.
For a hair mask that helps with coloured hair dealing with flat or frizzy issues, reach for this regenerating mask. Enriched with prickly pear seed oil and prickly pear oily extract, the two work together to repair and smoothen the hair for a luxurious and silky finish. The mask’s creamy formula absorbs perfectly into the hair and has a deep and lasting action that reinforces the hair from the inside.
This silicone-free and pore-treating serum helps to reduce the appearance of pores and prevent new blackheads from forming. Using farnesol, adipic acid, agarikon mushroom, and prickly pear, the combination of ingredients help to detox impurities from the skin and support natural cell turnover.
Certified vegan and cruelty-free, this potent serum helps to rejuvenate dull skin to brighten the complexion. Using a lightweight blend of eighteen oils, one of which is prickly pear cactus, this serum helps to plump and moisturise the skin.
Lucious and silky-soft, this moisturiser has a pudding-like texture that nourishes the skin with the highly nutritive prickly pear seed oil. With the added ingredient of hyaluronic acid, this moisturiser locks in hydration to give a long-lasting glow.
For a foaming cleanser that does more than clean the face, this clarifying cleanser helps to balance the oil levels in the skin with natural salicylic acid and AHAs. The cleanser also helps to slough off dead skin cells, clean pores, soothe redness, and irritation with its prickly pear flower enzymes. Non-artificial, synthetic-free, and GMO-free, this gel cleanser is suitable for all types of skin but especially those with oily skin who are prone to blemishes or acne.
This article was first published in The Singapore Women’s Weekly.