Beauty secrets of olive oil

Olive oil is a universal natural cosmetic product and when it comes to head-to-toe healthy skin, hair and nails, it is a superstar. What are the beauty secrets of olive oil? Why taken internally, olive oil stimulates metabolism, promotes digestion and lubricates mucous membranes? Why applied topically, olive oil has a long history of being used as a home remedy for beauty care?

Olive oil from antiquity to nowadays

Since pharaonic times, people truly believed in magic power of olive oil. Egyptians used it as a cleanser, moisturizer, and antibacterial agent.

Legends say Cleopatra’s “beauty maintenance” always had two components – “in” and “out”; her diet was rich in olive oil so was her beauty care:

• Cleopatra regularly took a milk-and-honey bath with olive oil
• She used warm olive oil masks for her hair
• Her routine face cream consisted of aloe juice, a few drops of rose oil, beeswax and olive oil
• Cleopatra’s refreshing facial mask was made of white clay, milk, honey and olive oil
• In her antiseptic and nourishing mask egg yolk and olive oil were included

In ancient Greece, olive oil was used during massage, to prevent sports injuries, relieve muscle fatigue, and eliminate lactic acid buildup.

Since creation, in the Mediterranean basin, olive oil has been a staple food, an essential part of a home first aid kit, and a major component in beauty treatments. This region gave many iconic beauties. The Roman goddess Venus is the embodiment of beauty, love, sexuality, fertility, prosperity, victory, and desire. And even though according to Homer’s poems, nectar was her drink and ambrosia her food, we think she secretly included olive oil in her diet and beauty care.

Today, Japan (the longest life expectancy in the world) is the top importer of olive oil in Asia because people there believe both the ingestion and topical application of olive oil to be good for health and beauty.

Health benefits of the Mediterranean diet

Nowadays, everyone knows about the health benefits of olive oil which is a staple of the Mediterranean diet. But if you start using it not only for salad dressings and dinners, but also as your routine skin and hair care product, in a short while you’ll be surprised how magical olive oil is for your beauty.

Olive oil content

Olive oil contains substances with a bitter taste, but with a sweet result: the latest scientific research in gerontology has shown that the regular olive oil use increases the lifespan of human cells by 20%!

This wonder oil contains a large amount of squalene (a powerful moisturizing component), monounsaturated fatty acids, iron, copper, as well as vitamins A, D and E.

• Fatty acids: Olive oil has over 80% of unsaturated fatty acids, which are among the must-have foods for healthy skin because they are responsible for the health of the cell membrane, which is not only a barrier to harmful things, but also the passageway for nutrients to cross in and waste products to get out. Thanks to membranes, the skin cells are able to hold water and maintain healthy metabolism resulting in softer, more subtle, and more wrinkle-free skin.
• Vitamin E is a membrane antioxidant that protects against oxidative damage: it stops the production of reactive oxygen species formed when fat undergoes oxidation. It also provides protection against harmful UV rays.
• Vitamin K can improve your skin and prevent wrinkles because it plays a key role in solving the calcification problems that harden arteries and affect the connective elastin that keeps your skin soft and subtle. Vitamin K is needed for the formation of certain proteins that maintain healthy skin cells. It also can help treat a variety of skin conditions such as spider veins, stretch marks, scars, skin irritations, and dark circles under the eyes. However, applying vitamin K to the surface of the skin won’t make spider veins disappear, you have to enrich your diet with vitamin K.
• Squalene has anti-inflammatory properties that can reduce skin redness and swelling. It doesn’t clog your pores, whereas natural skin oils, dead skin cells, and bacteria can. So before applying olive oil to your face, use a gentle cleanser to clean out your pores.

The head-to-toe olive oil beauty benefits

• Face: If you feel your skin is dry and tired, just give your face a light massage using a few drops of olive oil. The result will not slow down – literally immediately the skin of you face will look much younger; it’ll gain elasticity and freshness fast.
• Lips: Olive oil replaces liposan quite calmly and helps to eliminate cracks on chapped lips.
• Nails: There is no need to run to a beauty salon with the appearance of another hangnail. You can warm up a little bit of olive oil with lemon juice in a small bowl and dip your “injured” fingers there. The skin on your fingers will instantly soften, allowing you to remove excess skin from your finger easily.
• Hands: Forget about Vaseline and even hand creams, which, especially in winter, are practically ineffective. Simply smear your hands with a little olive oil at night, put on thin cotton gloves and go to bed peacefully. Your hands will always look nice and young: remember that it is the hands and neck that give out a woman’s age.
• Body: Despite being busy, you still need to find time to de-stress yourself from the daily hustle and bustle by taking a relaxing bath. Don’t forget to add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the water, which will help soften and moisturize your skin. For additional aroma, you can add some essential oils – lavender or jasmine.
• Feet: Many of us suffer from hard soles and corns, despite using pumice stone, which unfortunately does not soften the skin as much as we would like it to. To soften the most “rough” spots, lubricate them by gently rubbing with a few drops of olive oil and go to bed; you’ll see a good result in the morning. But don’t forget to use old beddings.

The very first beauty cream

Based on olive oil, the first cosmetic cream ever was made by the ancient Greek physician Claudius Galen (129-199 AD). Here is its recipe for your DIY beauty care:

• Melt 30 grams of beeswax in a saucepan with a thick bottom (you can use natural wax candles). Separately, lightly heat 100 ml of olive oil, then pour it in the wax and stir until smooth.
• Heat up 30 ml of distilled water and then add it drop by drop to the mixture of oil and wax. Remove from heat and stir until mixture is smooth and without lumps. Add 3 drops of geranium or aloe essential oil and let the mixture to cool off.

This cream can be used for all kinds of skin irritations, even for burns.