Castor oil is the beauty cupboard’s oldest multitasker, and Anaé’s is the version worth owning: organic castor seeds, cold-pressed, COSMOS ORGANIC certified, in a practical 100 ml bottle. One ingredient, thick and glossy, with more uses than most of the products it replaces.

What makes castor oil different

Pressed from the seeds of Ricinus communis, castor oil is unusually rich and viscous compared with everyday plant oils — dense, cushioning and slow to absorb, which is precisely why generations have reached for it in natural care. It softens and nourishes where lighter oils evaporate off the job, and a few drops go a remarkably long way. Anaé’s is cold-pressed from organic seeds, keeping the oil’s natural character intact, and certified under COSMOS ORGANIC — the strictest mainstream standard for organic cosmetics.

The classic uses

• Lashes and brows — the traditional nightly trace with a clean spoolie, castor oil’s most famous ritual
• Hair and scalp — as a pre-wash mask (alone or diluted with a lighter oil) for shine and softness
• Nails and cuticles — massaged in nightly for conditioned, cared-for hands
• Skin — a rich occlusive layer for very dry patches, elbows, heels
• DIY cosmetics — a base ingredient for homemade masks, cleansing-oil blends and balms

The Anaé philosophy

Anaé makes organic care products from vegan, natural ingredients, produced in France with the COSMOS quality mark — a range designed around low waste and honest formulas, from powder shampoos to single oils like this one you blend yourself. Buying the raw ingredient instead of a dozen finished products is both the ecological and the economical route, which is rather the point.

How to use it well

Apply pure, or blend with a lighter carrier (sweet almond, for instance) when you want easier spreading. Patch-test before first use as with any new cosmetic oil, keep it out of the eyes themselves when tending lashes, and store the bottle away from heat and light. External use.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it so thick? That’s castor oil’s nature — the richness is the feature; dilute it when you want a lighter feel.

Vegan? Entirely — the whole Anaé line is.

Bigger bottle? The same oil comes in a 300 ml size for households that have graduated from experimenting to depending on it.

One bottle, several products retired

Run the arithmetic on what a 100 ml bottle of good castor oil quietly replaces: the lash serum, the cuticle pen, the overnight hair mask, the heel balm — each a separate purchase with its own preservative system and its own plastic. A single-ingredient oil does those jobs from one shelf position, and because a few drops suffice, the bottle outlasts every product it retired. This is Anaé’s low-waste philosophy working exactly as designed: fewer, purer ingredients; more uses per purchase; and a bathroom cabinet that finally closes.

How long will 100 ml last? Used drop-wise on lashes and nails, months; as a regular hair-mask base, plan on the 300 ml next time.

Any cautions? External use, patch-test first, avoid direct contact with the eye itself — the lash line is the boundary.

Can it be used on children? Anaé positions the range for adult routines; for babies and small children, stick to products explicitly formulated for them.

Which lighter oil blends best? Sweet almond is the classic partner — two parts almond to one part castor spreads like a serum while keeping the castor payload.

Does COSMOS certification actually matter? It audits the whole chain — sourcing, processing, packaging — so “organic” on this label is a verified claim rather than a font choice.

Delivery in Malta & Gozo

€6 delivery, free over €40 across Malta and Gozo, or collection from St Paul’s Bay.