Prickly pear seed oil for hair: what it is, what it does, how we blend it
Prickly pear seed oil is the most expensive oil in the library by weight: a light, linoleic-rich active pressed from the tiny seeds of a cactus fruit, used at 10% in Fine Print for shine on fine hair.
| Role | Active oil |
|---|---|
| Weight | 2 of 4, medium-light |
| Chosen for | Shine, softness |
| On the label | Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil |
| In our blends | Fine Print 10% |
| Builder limit | Up to 10% of a hair blend |
What it is
Pressed from the seeds of Opuntia ficus-indica, the oil is about 60% linoleic acid with 20% oleic and a high tocopherol content. The seeds are small and hold little oil, which is why a litre takes a vast number of them and why the price is what it is. It is pale yellow-green with a faint, slightly green scent.
How it feels on hair
Weight 2 of 4, medium-light. It spreads thin, settles in quickly and leaves a soft shine with no weight, which is the job it does in Fine Print.
Who reaches for it
Fine, thin or straight hair that wants shine on mid-lengths and ends and nothing on the roots. It leads the actives in Fine Print at 10% beside pomegranate seed.
Where it sits in our blends
Fine Print carries prickly pear seed at 10% (with Squalane 52.3%, Jojoba 26.2%, Pomegranate Seed 10%, and more). The blends with a product page can be bought as they are; every one of them can be opened in the builder and changed oil by oil.
How to compose with it
The builder allows prickly pear seed up to 10% of a hair blend. Keep it with light bases (squalane, jojoba, grapeseed) and light partners (pomegranate seed, rosehip); a rich base would bury it. A citrus essential oil suits it.
Compose with prickly pear seed Find your formula
Weighed to the gram and blended to order in New Jersey, with the recipe printed on the label. For external use only; patch test before first use. Every oil, with its INCI name, is in the oil library.