4 Major Benefits of Maracuja Oil

You’ve heard of using coconut oil and argan oil for your hair and skin – but where’s the love for maracuja? We’ve discussed how oil is necessary for moisturizing skin of all types, even oily skin. So we thought it was time to shine the spotlight on mighty maracuja oil: the star ingredient of our Maracuja Mascara.

The name isn’t just for show; we include real maracuja oil in our mascara for the benefits it has for both lashes and skin. Read on for the scoop on maracuja oil and its top benefits for health, hair, skin, and beauty.

Maracuja oil is extracted from the seeds of the maracuja plant, found in the lush South American rainforests (just like our other friend, the acai berry). The name “maracuja” might not sound familiar to you at first, but it goes by a more common name that you may know: passion fruit. The Passiflora edulis fruit and its passion flower are native to Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, and bear a gorgeous purple bloom that’s the true source of the maracuja seed oil.

The passion fruit juice you enjoy drinking so much comes from the fat, seedy fruit of the maracuja plant that’s also dark purple in color. The fruit has become a small celebrity in the culinary world, and is widely used in salads, cocktails, and desserts. Maracuja isn’t just a decadent sweet treat; it also boasts a host of health perks. Maracuja oil is extracted from these juicy seeds through cold pressing, and bears a variety of health benefits for the whole body.

Long before we knew about the tropical taste of passion fruit juice, the natives of South America had been using maracuja for its therapeutic and nutritional benefits for hundreds of years. Thanks to their beneficial alkaloid content, maracuja leaves have long been used as a sedative to treat a variety of health conditions like anxiety, insomnia, and high blood pressure. Maracuja fruit is packed with a long list of vitamins and antioxidants, including vitamin C and beta carotene that can help fend off damaging free radicals.

Maracuja oil itself is rich in essential fatty acids and nutrients, which are vital to skin health. Linoleic acid in maracuja oil keeps skin moisturized and is ideal for soothing dry, flaky skin and also acne prone skin.

Maracuja oil is rich in protective antioxidants like lycopene, to battle the effects of sun damage, pollution, and other environmental stressors. Lycopene works with maracuja’s natural vitamin C content to even skin tone and promote collagen production for firmer, brighter, smoother skin and less visible wrinkles.

To nourish dry skin with maracuja oil, first make sure you’re buying the right kind. We prefer to use 100% pure, cold pressed maracuja oil, to receive the highest amount of nutrients. To use as a face oil, start by applying a few drops of your cold pressed maracuja oil into hands. Massage into cleansed skin of face and neck, after your natural toner and serum. You may want to finish with a natural moisturizer to seal in moisture and create a healthy, protective barrier between your skin and the elements.

Since hair and skin share many similar nutrient needs, maracuja oil benefits can also extend to your scalp. Collagen keeps your skin plump and firm, and can also strengthen your hair to prevent it from splitting and breaking. The high antioxidant content in maracuja protects against hair loss, and moisturizing properties of this oil are effective for conditioning hair to enhance smoothness and volume. That sounds like something we’d all love for our eyelashes, too!

Applying maracuja oil for hair is easy! Warm a dime sized amount of maracuja oil in your hands, by rubbing palms together. To smooth dry hair, start with clean, towel dried hair. Start at your ends, then work up to your ear area, stopping before you get to the scalp. For thicker, kinky, or coarse hair, add additional oil to the scalp and roots until hair is smooth.

Maracuja oil-infused mascara takes you one (giant) step closer to clump-free, feathery volume and healthier lashes, all powered by the goodness of Mother Nature. If you haven’t noticed, Mother Nature is our biggest inspiration; just check out our enormous collection of fruit pigmented® cosmetics for a reminder!

The fruit pigments in our makeup products offer gorgeous color, but are also infinitely more gentle on eyes and skin than your average cosmetic colorants. Black Tea (midnight black mascara), Dark Chocolate (deep brown mascara), and Blackberry (deep eggplant purple mascara) are all colored with *only* fruit and tea pigments. The absence of harmful synthetic dyes in our Maracuja Mascaras means that you can enjoy bold, beautiful lashes without the threat of burning, irritation, or watery eyes.

Protecting your lash, eye, and skin health wasn’t enough – the best volumizing mascara needed to be friendly for long wear, resistant to clumping, and easy to apply. When brainstorming these innovative formulas, our founder and expert formulator Susie Wang wanted beautiful, volumizing and lengthening mascaras that would never compromise your health.

Like our Fruit Pigmented® Ultra Lengthening Mascara, this formula is free of conventional mascara chemicals and toxins (check out the list), meaning you can enjoy lush lashes without any irritation. Stay savvy when it comes to what you put on your skin, in your hair, and near your eyes – toxic petrochemicals are lurking more places than you think! Keep up with us here for more beauty ingredient guides and exposés!