Olive Oil

No, you didn't click on a cooking blog. Olive oil is actually a very long established moisturizer for hair and skin. It's an essential oil and contains antioxidants, which are great for consumption AND absorption. It's a great moisturizer because it really coats the hair and skin, being absorbed rather than just sitting on top like a lot of creams. It restores skin elasticity, removes harmful free radicals, and leaves your hair and skin noticeably softer and smooth.

Olive oil works WAY better than a lot of deep conditioners or intensive skin therapies and we all have it in our kitchens right now. So grab a bottle of olive oil (Extra Virgin works too) and get ready for some easy, effective skin and hair treatment that will help keep you fancy no matter the weather!

Hair 

We all want to keep our hair healthy and strong. Good quality shampoo and conditioner, good quality styling products, and quality tools are a start. But you also need to take care of your hair just like you do your skin. Hair suffers the effects of aging like skin, too. Hair also tends to take a greater beating. Chemical treatments, heat styling, and the lack of sun protection all contribute to the condition of our hair. Frizzy, dry hair? Lackluster shine? Distressed or thinning hair? Olive oil can help! 

There are a bunch of recipes out there for olive oil masks. Plain olive oil works well, though. So if you're not comfortable mixing up a mask, fret not. You're good to go with regular, ol' olive oil. If you want to make a great mask, though, grab these ingredients:

- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp lavender oil or a small handful of lavender buds
- 1 tbsp organic raw honey
- 1 wedge of lemon
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 egg

Take the clove of garlic and mash into a paste in a bowl. Add the juice from one wedge of lemon and stir to combine. Set aside. Take the 3 tbsp olive oil and add the lavender oil or buds. Heat the oil and lavender on the stove JUST long enough to warm it. DON'T let it get too hot or the oil will lose its beneficial qualities. Remove from heat as soon as it gets warm and add the honey. Stir to combine, mashing the lavender buds as best you can, if you used those instead of oil. Combine the oil/honey/lavender mixture with the lemon and garlic mash, cracking one raw egg in and giving everything a good stir (with a fork) to combine everything as much as possible. Once fully combined, apply to hair exactly as described below. Start at the roots, coat hair down to the tip, layer by layer, working the oil mask in on the areas most in need of treatment.

More often than the mask, I use straight up California extra virgin olive oil. I pour some in a bowl and spread it from root to tip, layer by layer, on dry hair at the end of the night. Then, I use a plastic shopping bag to cover my hair and tie it off so it stays within the bag on my head and I sleep on it overnight. In the morning, get up and get in the shower, rinse well and then shampoo/condition as normal. Do this three - five times weekly for strong, healthy, shiny, soft, frizz-free hair. 

It can't get any easier than that!

Skin

 I have super sensitive skin. I also have eczema and psoriasis. My face is combination skin -- oily and dry. (A cruel joke, I tell you!) In general, moving to the northwest has wreaked HAVOC on my skin and hair. I mean they HATE me. When I go home to California, my skin and hair is INSTANTLY better than it has ever been in the three years I've lived up here. It's enough to make you rethink living up here!

Desperate to find a way to maintain my healthy skin, I turned to olive oil as one of my go-to solutions. take a small amount, less than a dime, and rub it into your foot, focusing on the heel and other dry areas. After you've allowed your skin to absorb most of it, apply a quality lotion over it. I prefer The Body Shop's peppermint foot cream. But a regular lotion would work, as well. Do this nightly and you will have the softest feet ever! Seriously. 

Employ the same method for your hands, focusing on the knuckles, and following up with either a great hand cream or a regular moisturizing lotion. 

For your face, start with a freshly washed, toned face. Apply oil in very small amounts, allowing your skin to absorb most of it while you rub it in. Follow up with your favorite nighttime moisturizer. Your skin can't drink up all that moisture at once, so let your face remain a little oily. Definitely a nighttime treatment. 

In the morning, any residual oil on your face, hands, or feet will rinse off easily in the shower, but your skin will thank you for such a great dose of free-radical-busting, antioxidant providing, moisturizing oil. 

If you have other dry or sad areas of skin on your body, follow the same routine. Oil first, then lotion. Olive oil is natural and safe. You can use it around your peekaboo bits, around your ears, eyes, and mouth, on sensitive skin, in your hair, on your scalp, anywhere that needs some moisturizing attention!

I keep a bottle of olive oil in my bathroom cabinet, separate from my kitchen supply. I also use a higher grade oil for cooking than I do for my skin/hair care. Eating is different than moisturizing. Haha


You can find all sorts of recipes for olive oil concoctions for your hair and skin online. Just search for "olive oil hair treatment" and you'll get a slew of choices. And most of them use ingredients you already have in your kitchen, giving you a super easy and cheap way to keep that hair and skin soft, silky, smooth, and well moisturized. 

Let me know if you try this and what you think!!

Stay fancy!