Opuntia ficus-indica Mill., popularly known as "forage cactus" is a symbol of the Brazilian Northeast, spread across all its vast arid territory. Phytochemical studies of this species report several secondary metabolites, mainly phenolic compounds. They are important for the pharmaceutical industry given its widespread use, especially in cosmetics. This research reviews studies and technological use of the forage cactus and its metabolites in the field of cosmetology. Literature review was based on scientific publications and patents. The search of articles was carried out exploring databases, such as ScienceDirect, Scopus and Scifinder, employing the terms "Opuntia ficus-indica and secondary metabolites” and “Opuntia ficus-indica and cosmetics". The patents were collected in the European Patent Offices (EPO), the North American USPTO and Brazilian INPI, using the terms “Opuntia" and “Opuntia ficus" in section 61K, in different languages of English, French and German for foreign bases and Portuguese for Brazilian. The data from EPO and USPTO were classified as the number of patents or region and uses. The search for scientific publications resulted in 25 articles accepted according to the inclusion criteria. Selected articles report the occurrence of volatile compounds, flavonoids and other phenolics, in addition to the bioeconomic potential of seed oil, which is applied in development of moisturizing and antioxidant formulations. Analysis of patent documents corroborates the potential of forage cactus for cosmetic sector. South Korea appears as the largest holder of patent registrations in this area, and participation of partnerships between companies and universities is notorious. Nevertheless, European companies have the largest portfolio, especially for skin and hair products. While INPI has only one patent application identified. Therefore, this work stresses the importance of more research using forage cactus for development of products, especially cosmetics, in Brazil.