The Wonders of Olive Oil For Dry Skin

Commercial moisturizers are full of artificial ingredients, irritating additives, fragrances and dyes you don’t need. If you want to try something that’s more natural, gentler, and more effective, try extra virgin olive oil.

Olive oil is loaded with antioxidants, polyphenols, and vitamins E and K. Because of all this good stuff, it’s good at controlling free radicals, soothing inflammation and redness, and helping injured or dry skin heal quickly and cleanly. It’s a great way to nourish your skin without weighing it down with all those synthetic chemicals that make commercial skin creams so unhealthy. The Greeks have been using olive oil as a skin treatment since the first Olympic games.

Do moisturize with olive oil, keep a small container beside your shower. When you’re done showering, rub a small amount into your skin before drying off. The oil will seal in the moisture from your shower and lock it into your skin, while saturating it with all the nutrients and antioxidants that it has.

It’s important to use extra virgin olive oil for this, and keep it in a small, opaque container to maintain its effectiveness. The delicate polyphenols, antioxidants, and vitamins in olive oil break down when exposed to light, heat, and air, so it is best to decant it small amounts at a time, and keep most of your olive oil in an opaque, sealed jug that you store in a cool part of your pantry. You will know that your oil is losing its effectiveness when its fresh green color starts to fade and its delicate aroma disappears or starts to smell stale.

If you want to extend the shelf life of your olive oil, you can mix in the contents of one capsule of Vitamin E per quarter cup of oil. Vitamin E has antioxidant properties that will help keep the oil from aging. Essential oils of lavender, jasmine, and rosemary are also good additions that will not only help preserve your oil, but also give it a pleasant fragrance, and they have skin care benefits of their own.

You can also mix olive oil into your favorite natural skin care product to enrich it, instead of using the oil straight. Adding it to a cream or lotion makes it a little easier to apply. Just be sure that, if you dilute your oil, you use a base that’s natural and doesn’t have any artificial ingredients.

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