Maya Chia Review: A Super-Powered Clean Skincare Brand
If you’re looking for skincare that combines botanical ingredients with more advanced, results-focused actives, Maya Chia is a brand worth getting to know. Long-time readers probably already know what a fan I am of this whole line. I’ve even visited their studio twice and was able to weigh in on the scent of their Refresh Mint Mask while it was being developed! I’ve seen firsthand how much research, testing, and development goes into each product.
What makes Maya Chia particularly special is its focus on supercritical chia, a specialized extraction method used to produce its signature chia seed oil. The brand also emphasizes ingredient research and clinical studies, making it an interesting option for anyone who wants to explore clean beauty without giving up more high-performance skincare ingredients. For those who want more advanced products, I always say this is the perfect line to check out.
In this Maya Chia review, we’ll get to know the brand, its approach to formulation, some of its most notable products, the ingredients behind them, and whether Maya Chia may be worth considering for your skincare routine. (Hint hint- the answer is yes, it is!)
Maya Chia Review
Maya Chia occupies an interesting space between natural skincare and modern active skincare. The brand is known for using nutrient-rich botanical oils and extracts alongside ingredients that have been studied for specific skin concerns, including vitamin C, retinol, niacinamide, tranexamic acid, peptides, and antioxidants.
When I was first introduced to them, the product line was smaller and mostly had its original chia-focused face oils. Today, Maya Chia offers SO MANY things! Everything from cleansers, serums, moisturizers, eye treatments, face oils, and haircare products, with formulas designed around concerns ranging from dryness and sensitivity to hyperpigmentation, dullness, fine lines, and loss of firmness.
One thing I love about Maya Chia is that they research ingredients and what works well together. Many products combine multiple complementary ingredients, creating what the brand calls multi-corrective formulas. That makes the line particularly appealing if you’re interested in skincare that takes a more comprehensive approach to common signs of aging and skin dehydration.
If you enjoy exploring other natural skincare brands, you may also want to read my OSEA skincare reviews and my guide to Laurel skincare.
Here I am at Maya Chia’s Studio sampling different scents and oil blends a few years ago!
What Is Maya Chia?
Maya Chia is a clean beauty skincare brand founded and formulated by Susanne Norwitz (who is lovely, by the way). The company launched in 2014 after Norwitz became interested in the nutritional properties of chia seeds and began exploring their potential in skincare. Her longstanding connection to the Maya people also helped inspire the brand’s name and story.
Chia is at the heart of the brand, of course. Chia seeds are naturally rich in omega fatty acids, antioxidants, and minerals, and chia seed oil is used throughout Maya Chia’s formulas as a nourishing, skin-conditioning ingredient. The company is particularly known for its patented supercritical extraction process, which it says produces a pure, stable oil while preserving the desirable components of the plant.
Maya Chia also goes well beyond chia. Its ingredient philosophy includes clinically studied actives and botanical ingredients such as astaxanthin, sweet lupine seed extract, hyaluronic acid, peptides, stabilized vitamin C, niacinamide, tranexamic acid, azelaic acid, amino acids, and botanical extracts. The brand says many of its ingredients have independent third-party clinical studies behind them. Talk about super-charged products!
Best Maya Chia Products:
Maya Chia now has a fairly extensive collection, so choosing where to start can be overwhelming. These are some of the products that stand out based on their formulas, ingredients, and the skin concerns they’re designed to address.
The Supercritical Omega-3 Chia Face Oil
If you want to experience the ingredient that helped put Maya Chia on the map, The Supercritical Face Oil is a natural place to start. It’s one of my original favorites!
This lightweight face oil includes supercritical chia seed extract and is designed to nourish and moisturize the skin while supporting the skin barrier. Maya Chia describes it as suitable for dry, oily, combination, normal, and sensitive skin types. Despite being an oil, the texture is designed to absorb quickly without leaving a particularly greasy finish. I think it absorbs in really nicely.
The Super Couple Ultra Luxe Face Oil Serum
Another OG favorite! The Super Couple takes the chia oil concept a step further by combining chia seed extract with astaxanthin, a potent antioxidant derived from microalgae.
This multi-correctional face oil is intended to provide hydration and nourishment while addressing the appearance of dullness and visible signs of aging. It contains omega fatty acids from chia along with astaxanthin and a blend of aromatic botanical oils.
The Super Blend Pressed Serum Multi-Correctional Moisture Concentrate
The Super Blend is one of Maya Chia’s signature products and a good example of how unique their products are. Instead of being a traditional liquid serum, The Super Blend is a pressed serum with a rich, balm-like texture. Its formula combines supercritical chia seed oil with astaxanthin, vitamin C ester, CoQ10, sweet lupine seed extract, botanical extracts, shea butter, and other nourishing ingredients. It has the most beautiful golden color!
Maya Chia describes it as a multi-correctional moisture concentrate designed for dry, normal, sensitive, and maturing skin. I like to use it at night when I need extra moisture, but its ok for daytime use too.
The Optimist Hydrating Brightening Essence
The Optimist is so much more than a face mist. I’ve raved about it for years here on the blog and on instagram. It some how is a hydrib of a mist and lightweight serum and it gives your skin a hydration boosts that actually lasts. I can always feel a difference when I use it.
I really love how this smells- it’s subtle and not overwhelming but you get a nice bright dose of sweet orange.
The Super Lift Vitamin C-More Treatment
The Super Lift is still one of my favorite launches from Maya Chia! It’s great for dullness, uneven skin tone, hyperpigmentation, and fine lines. Rather than relying on a single form of vitamin C, the formula contains three forms of vitamin C along with tranexamic acid, niacinamide, peptides, chia seed oil, astaxanthin, and other botanical ingredients.
The formula has a lightweight texture that absorbs quickly and can also function as a makeup primer. Maya Chia lists it as suitable for dry, normal, combination, oily, and maturing skin types.
Power Fol Eye Eyelash and Brow Serum
This works! Power Fol Eye has wands on each end- one for your brows and a tiny brush for your lashes! It helps with new growth and helping existing hairs stay strong. My lashes are always so much longer when I’m using this. Also, it has helped fill in my overplucked 00’s brows like nothing else I’ve tried.
The Straight A Advanced Gentle Retinol Treatment
If you’re specifically looking for a retinol treatment, The Straight A is a great option. It goes on as a lightweight oil. The formula combines encapsulated retinol with chia seed oil, rosehip seed oil, bakuchiol, raspberry seed oil, buriti oil, vitamin C ester, and vitamin E.
It’s a gentle retinol formula for a range of skin types, including sensitive, maturing, dry, normal, combination, and oily skin. Be sure to use it at night and follow with moisturizer as needed.
Water | Color Tinted Serum & Gradual Sunless Tanner
I’ve turned to Water Color to look alive more times than I can count. Espeically in spring when I’m still feeling pale or in fall as my color shifts again and I want to maintain that summer glow.
In addition to giving that glow, it treats skin with ingredients designed to hydrate and address aging and inflammation. It’s quite the multi-tasker!
The Meringue Melt Skin Softening Cleanser
As the name suggests, The Meringue Melt smells good enough to eat! It also does wonders to quickly smooth and soften skin. The formula pairs Mandelic Acid and a Five-Fruit AHA Complex with Fermented Sake Extract and ultra-fine rice powder microspheres to visibly smooth, brighten, and resurface the skin without disrupting the skin barrier.
The Great Cleanse Nourishing Supercritical Cleansing Oil
The Great Cleanse is a nourishing cleansing oil designed to dissolve makeup, sunscreen, and impurities without leaving the skin feeling stripped. You can use it to double cleanse or use it on its own. It emulsifies with water and rinses away rather than leaving a heavy layer of oil behind.
The Refresh Mint Mask
The Refresh Mint Mask is the mask I mentioned before that I and a couple other bloggers had the chance to weigh in on during development. Even without any of my weighing in, this mask was a winner from the get go! It gently exfoliates and leaves skin baby smooth while adding in hydration and moisture.
The best part is that this is a relatively quick mask and its really easy to wash off. Not that I mind more involved masks, but this is so easy to use that it’s become a go-to before events or a night out.
Power Fol Shampoo and Conditioner
You really can’t go wrong with any of their haircare, but the Power Fol Shampoo and Conditioner Duo is the best if you’re looking for fuller, thicker hair. They use kombucha, amino acids, peptides, polysaccharides, aniseed myrtle extract, amaranth, chia seed extract, and more to keep your hair strong and healthy. I also love how moisturizing the conditioner is. It’s not too heavy to weigh hair done but it conditions enough to give my hair lasting moisture and softness.
Is Maya Chia Worth It?
As it’s priced closer to the high-end range, this is a great question. If you want to add a few (or many!) natural products that have some all-star actives, I absolutely think it’s worth it. But whether Maya Chia is worth the investment for you really comes down to what you’re looking for in skincare.
One of the biggest upsides is the formulation and research. Maya Chia combines botanical ingredients such as chia seed oil, seed extract, plant oils, and herbal extracts with more advanced ingredients such as retinol, vitamin C, peptides, niacinamide, tranexamic acid, and antioxidants. The company also emphasizes ingredient research and clinical studies rather than relying exclusively on the “natural” label.
The product selection is also a plus. There are options for many different skin types and concerns, including sensitive skin, dryness, combination skin, oily skin, hyperpigmentation, dullness, and visible signs of aging.
Just keep in mind, many of Maya Chia’s treatment products fall into the $65–$125 range, with products such as The Super Blend priced at $110 and The Straight A at $125. That makes the line more of an investment than an everyday drugstore skincare routine.
Overall, I think Maya Chia is an perfect for someone who wants a natural-leaning skincare brand but doesn’t want to limit themselves to basic oils and plant extracts. Not that the fully botanical lines don’t have a place too, but having some powerful actives to address specific concerns is appealing to many people. As I’m aging, I find myself in the category of wanting products that will make a difference but are still clean.
Where To Buy Maya Chia
Maya Chia products are available directly from the brand and through select clean beauty retailers. Because inventory can change, it’s worth checking the retailer’s current product page before purchasing.
- Maya Chia: Shop Maya Chia directly– The full collection, including skincare, haircare, bundles, and discovery sets.
- Beauty Heroes: Shop Maya Chia at Beauty Heroes– They carry much of their line, including haircare.
- Credo Beauty: Shop Maya Chia at Credo Beauty– Carries a selection of Maya Chia skincare, including The Super Blend, Super Couple, Super Naked, The Super Lift, The Straight A, and other products.
- Integrity Botanicals: Shop Maya Chia at Integrity Botanicals– Offers a selection of Maya Chia skincare and haircare products.
The Best Bet For Your Skin
Maya Chia has grown from a brand built around one unusual botanical ingredient to formulas that now incorporate everything from astaxanthin and botanical seed extract to vitamin C, retinol, peptides, and other active ingredients. It’s a good option to explore if you want plant-based ingredients but also appreciate more targeted, multi correctional formulas designed around specific skincare concerns.
As always, the best products will depend on your skin type, concerns, ingredient preferences, and budget. But if you’re curious about Maya Chia or want to explore a more sophisticated natural skincare line, I highly recommend giving them a try!
*Post contains affiliate links. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
