Have you ever heard of the beauty benefits of prickly pear oil? This exotic oil is actually a gem when it comes to natural beauty purposes! Let’s talk about some of its lush properties & uses below:
Prickly Pear Oil – A Precious Possession for Natural Beauty
Prickly pear oil is also known as prickly pear seed oil, barbary fig oil or cactus oil. Judging from the name and appearance of the plant, you can guess that it comes from the cactus family! Prickly pear is native to South America and Mexico, though it can also be found in Africa, Australia, the Mediterranean, Southern Europe and Southwestern United States.
This extraordinary fruit has actually been used for centuries for culinary and healing purposes. In the medical field, the Aztecs used it to heal burned skin and the Chinese used it to treat abscesses. In Mexico, it was used as a traditional medicine for diabetes and high cholesterol.
The Native Americans consumed prickly pear fruit, and I must say it makes a refreshing juice as well! Be careful of the thorns when you’re handling/juicing prickly pears, though!
In recent times, prickly pear has gained its reputation in the skin care world because of the nutrient-rich oil extracted from it: prickly pear oil. Prickly pear oil is extracted from the seeds found in the fruit pods of the prickly pear cactus. Some of the nutrients found in prickly pear oil include:
- Vitamins such as Vitamin A, B, E and K
- Both essential and non-essential Fatty acids such as linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid
- Minerals such as copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, potassium and phosphorous
- Phytosterols
- Polyphenols
Quick Prickly Pear Oil Profile
- Scientific Name: Opuntia ficus-indica
- Color: Ranges from colorless to light green to yellow
- Scent: Light nutty scent
- Texture: Light-weight oil with a thin texture
- Shelf Life: 1-2 years
14 Beauty Benefits of Prickly Pear Oil for Skin, Hair & More
Now let’s delve into the beauty benefits of prickly pear oil:
1. Nourish your Skin
The first and foremost benefit of prickly pear oil is its rich nutritional content. It has a unique nutrient profile including powerful antioxidants such as betalains, amino acids, phytosterols and tocopherols.
Betalains help skin maintain a youthful look, amino acids boost cell turnover and help reduce scarring, phytosterols help the skin retain moisture and tocopherols (Vitamin E) are great for skin repair, moisturization and anti-aging.
2. Locks Moisture into Skin
Prickly pear oil is an awesome moisturizing oil for all skin types, even oily skin! It contains the moisturizing goodness that your thirsty skin craves.
The phytosterols in prickly pear oil bind to water and when applied on your skin, help ‘lock in’ that water into your skin. This makes your skin supple, soft and moisturized.
3. Absorbs Easily & Beautifully into Your Skin!
Another property that makes prickly pear oil an absolute gem to add to your skin care is its absorption rate! It sinks beautifully into your skin, leaving a clean, non-greasy finish. It has powerful transdermal properties that enable it to penetrate into skin easily and quickly.
4. Reduce Under-Eye Wrinkles & Circles
You actually don’t need an eye cream when you have prickly pear oil. Smooth a drop of the oil on your under-eye area as an all-natural eye treatment product.
It contains a lot of Vitamin E and also Vitamin K, both necessary for keeping your eye area free from dark circles and premature crow’s feet. Vitamin K is necessary for dealing with brightening skin which means it reduce dark circles.
Prickly pear oil also contains amino acids that boost collagen and keep the thin paper under-eye area supple and youthful.
5. No More Puffiness!
Prickly pear oil seems to have de-puffing properties. It also has a light consistency that is good for massaging puffy skin back to its original state. Gently massage a few drops on your skin for reducing under-eye bags as well as facial puffiness.
6. Reduce Broken Capillaries
Broken capillaries on the face are common especially for those of us with thin papery and sensitive skin. Those tiny purple swiggles can be gradually rubbed away using prickly pear oil. Because prickly pear oil is a light-weight oil, it is good for gently massaging to get rid of skin issues such as puffiness and broken capillaries.
7. Even Out Skin Tone
Vitamin K in prickly pear oil actually helps brighten skin and even out your skin tone, eliminating dark spots and hyperpigmentation. Not to mention, the anti-inflammatory properties of prickly pear oil that help minimize skin redness.
8. Anti-Aging Treatment
You may as well say NO to premature wrinkles with prickly pear oil at your disposal. It contains 150% more Vitamin E than argan oil, and you know what Vitamin E does – it’s a powerful anti-aging ingredient!
Vitamin E protects the skin from oxidative stress caused by free radicals stealing oxygen molecules from healthy skin cells. Oxidative stress leads to premature fine lines and wrinkles.
The essential and non-essential fatty acids in prickly pear oil also play a part in keeping skin smooth, supple and youthful.
9. Oily Skin Savior
Oily skin also needs moisturization, did you know? If you wash your face and don’t moisturize it thinking it’s oily anyway, it’ll become even oilier.
Why? That’s because when you wash your face, especially with a typical face cleanser, your skin becomes stripped of its natural oils and feels stiff and dry.
Then your skin will think there’s a drought going on and to compensate for the dryness, it starts producing more oils. This leads to a never-ending cycle of oily skin.
Instead, rub in 2-4 drops of prickly pear oil after patting your face dry as a light moisturizer for oily skin.
10. Anti-Acne Action
Guess what? Prickly pear oil is also good for acne-prone skin. There are several reasons for this:
First of all, it is a light weight non-greasy oil which makes it okay to use as a light moisturizer.
Secondly, it is immensely good for making acne scars disappear because of its Vitamin E and K content.
The last but most important reason to use prickly pear oil for acne is that this amazing oil has a comedogenic rating of ZERO. Comedogenic rating is a scale from 0-5 that shows the ability of a product to clog your skin pores and cause breakouts. 0 means it won’t clog pores while 5 means it definitely will clog pores.
11. Tighten Large Pores
Since it’s an oil with a thin consistency, prickly pear oil gives a tightened effect on large pores. Oils with a thin consistency are good for keeping your skin moisturized while minimizing the appearance of large pores.
What’s more is that it has a comedogenic rating of zero which means it absolutely won’t enter your pores to clog them up.
12. Repair Damaged & Mature Skin
Ancient Aztecs used prickly pear oil to heal burns and with good reason too – it contains a significant amount of unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid, that promote healthy cell turn- over, which means new skin can grow at a fast rate, replacing sun damaged skin.
Prickly pear oil also contains Vitamin E, which protects the skin and shield it from oxidative stress and UV ray damage.
13. For Shiny Hair
Prickly pear oil can also be used for your hair too! It acts as a non-greasy oil for healthy locks with a beautiful sheen.
14. Keep Your Nails & Cuticles Healthy
All of us love clean and well kempt nails and cuticles, don’t we? If your cuticles are peeling and nails breaking easily, you might try using pure prickly pear oil to keep them healthy.
Remember prickly pear oil is rich in linoleic acid, an omega 6 EFA (Essential Fatty Acid). Linoleic acid is sometimes even called Vitamin F. It helps retain skin moisture and also helps strengthen the skin’s barrier.
Just rub 1-2 drops of prickly pear oil onto your nails and cuticles before bed to keep them looking beautiful.
Where to Get Prickly Pear Oil
Ensure to purchase 100% pure high quality prickly pear oil. Please, avoid the ones with additives and synthetic ingredients.
A good brand that I like is Prickly Pear Cactus Seed Oil (Barbary Fig) by Leven Rose 100% Pure Organic, Extra Virgin, Cold Pressed, All Natural Face, Dry Skin & Body Moisturizer and Damaged Hair Treatment 1 oz
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