Need to scrub up fast? Instant beauty in a bottle? Choose a bottle of olive oil. Yes – extra virgin, cold-pressed, high quality olive oil. That will be the one in a very dark bottle, with ‘extra virgin’ and ‘cold-pressed’ on the label. This is the olive oil with all the good stuff in it – the ingredients that make it great for skin and hair and…instant beauty hacks!
Olive Oil Skin hacks:
- Olive oil scrub: Skin looking dull and pasty? Make an olive oil scrub! There are any number of great scrubs you can make, with all sorts of ingredients. Use olive oil as your base, and you will be rewarded with instant soft, glowing complexion.
A basic scrub: Olive oil and rough salt crystals. Or substitute salt with sugar. Warm the olive oil. Test the temperature against your wrist, so it’s not too hot when you apply it. Add the salt or sugar (not too heavy on the salt) and apply, rubbing gently, to warm, freshly washed skin. The warmth will bring bloom to your cheeks and allow the oil to penetrate, while the crystals slough off dead skin cells. - Olive oil mask: Mix olive oil and nature’s other magic skin treatment: honey. The trick is to mix it correctly. You want it to tighten the skin, without being sticky. Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil to a third of a cup of honey. Apply to face and let it set for 10 mins. You can add yoghurt if your skin is tender from sunburn. If you do: 2 teaspoons olive oil with 3rd cup honey and yoghurt in equal quantities.
Olive Oil Hair hacks:
- Olive oil hair mask: Mix 2 egg whites with a half cup of olive oil and apply to clean, damp or nearly dry hair. Work through and leave for 20 minutes. Shampoo and condition as normal.
- Olive oil head-wrap: Easy! HOT OIL. Again – test temperature on your wrist then work it in! Apply liberally. Wrap your hair in a towel. Watch a movie. Shampoo and condition. Style. Go out and look like a model from a shampoo advert!
The ancient civilisations started using olive oil for all sorts of purposes including health and beauty, they can’t be wrong!
