We often tend to forget that what we buy at the grocery store each week are ingredients that are in many of our beauty products that we have tucked away in our washroom. We also tend to forget that these food items are often more natural and perhaps even better than the chemical-based beauty products that we use every day. Extra virgin olive oil is one of these products that can be found in almost every single kitchen across the country, yet we fail to use it as a beauty treatment.
Olive oil contains a host of important vitamins and minerals that help promote healthy skin, such as vitamin E which helps hydrate the skin and antioxidants that help keep our skin youthful and dewy. Extra virgin olive oil has a number of uses, such as:
A Makeup Remover
Hard to believe that olive oil can remove your makeup, isn’t it? Well, it can! Take out a cotton swab and hold it over the mouth of the bottle. Tip the bottle just to get enough olive oil on the surface of the cotton swab, and then sweep the swab over your face. You will need to work a bit at the mascara and eye liner, but it will come off eventually. The olive oil is a great conditioner for eyelashes, so you will actually be moisturizing and improving the health of your eyelashes by using this as an eye makeup remover.
TIP: You can choose to keep the oil on your face after you have wiped off your makeup, but you can follow up with your every-day cleansing foam. You will notice that your skin will feel softer and more hydrated than ever.
A Hair Conditioner
Our hair loves olive oil! There are a couple of different ways in which you can use olive oil on your hair. The first way is to use the oil as a hot oil treatment. Simple put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a plastic baggy and then seal the baggy shut. Place the baggy in a pot of water and bring the water to a boil. The oil should be sufficiently heated at that point. Put on some gloves, and then apply the hot oil to your hair and scalp. Tuck your hair up under a shower cap and leave the olive oil on for 5-10 minutes. Once finished, rinse it out and follow up with a quick shampoo. Do this weekly and you will certainly notice a difference in your hair.
TIP: Women who color their hair report that their hair color isn’t stripped away by hot olive oil treatments, unlike some of the commercial hot oil treatments.
After you shampoo your hair in the shower every day, you can also rub a tablespoon or two of olive oil into your hair. You will need to rinse your hair out well after this treatment and remember that in the case of olive oil, less is more. Use a small amount at a time until you have covered your entire head and do not add any more, otherwise you risk having very greasy looking hair.
