The use of Cactus ingredients, like prickly pear seed oil, in personal care products is a trend that has been gaining momentum for several years. A recent article from Cosmetics Design discusses the main regional suppliers of cactus oil – Mexico, Brazil and China – and focuses on efforts under way in Mexico to gain more of a market share in the personal care space, since most of its prickly pear production has been for the food industry thus far.
Cosmetics consumers already enjoy a spectrum of products formulated with cactus oil and specifically prickly pear oil. On labels it’s listed by one of those names or as Barbary fig seed oil, Indian fig seed oil, or prickly cactus seed oil.
– Cosmetics Design USA
What kinds of benefits does prickly pear seed oil offer in personal care products? This natural oil has high anti-oxidative activity, is an excellent moisturizer, and improves the lipid barrier. Ideal applications for oil from the seeds of the Opuntia Ficus Indica, the botanical name of the prickly pear, are in anti-aging, hair care, sun care and moisturizing products.
Prospector Search Trends
While the overall volume of searches is greater for argan oil, prickly pear seed oil is trending upwards in comparison. Want more information on industry behavior and trends?
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With so many benefits, it’s easy to see why prickly cactus seed oil is a worthy competitor to argan oil, a natural oil with similar benefits and applications. In fact, data taken from UL’s Industry Analytics illustrating global search trends in Prospector (shown above) indicates that prickly pear seed oil has beaten argan oil in terms of formulator interest since Q3 of 2013. For more data points on cactus ingredients and other materials, formulators may sign up for a free trial of Industry analytics.
It’s not surprising then that Mexico is looking to increase their share of the global cactus oil market. As the Cosmetics Design article notes, “Mexico has a diverse array of cacti that could be beneficial as cosmetic ingredients…and has 410 varieties of cactus from 23 unique species.”
Do you formulate products with cactus seed oil? Tell us about your experiences with this trending ingredient in the comments below.
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