The Benefits Of Olive Oil In Skin Care

You may think of olive oil as a staple for your pantry, but it could become a staple in your makeup bag as well. This vitamin E-rich beauty powerhouse can help you look younger, keep your skin feeling supple and even calm irritation. Keep a bottle in your bathroom cabinet to explore the benefits of olive oil in skin care as part of your daily beauty routine.

Moisturizing

Olive oil makes for a gentle moisturizer for dry skin, notes The Daily Green, a website for organic life solutions. You can apply it directly to the skin with a cotton ball or add a few drops to your favorite moisturizer to amp up its effectiveness. Olive oil has the same healthy fats as avocado, which plumps and moisturizes the skin with a combination of vitamin E and vitamin A.

Makeup Removal

Store-bought makeup removers can be harsh, especially when used around the delicate eye area. A bottle of olive oil makes for one of the most effective and gentle eye makeup removers possible. The olive oil dissolves the makeup, even waterproof mascara, so it slides easily off of your eyes without the need for rubbing or scrubbing. Just apply olive oil to a cotton ball, hold it on the eye area for 30 seconds and slide it downward to get a makeup-free face at bedtime.

Irritation

Dry, itchy and inflamed skin is usually the sign of skin irritations such as eczema and psoriasis. People with these conditions learn to live with their itchy and uncomfortable skin or they turn to prescription creams and home remedies. Olive oil can relieve some of the discomfort and irritation associated with these skin conditions.

Add a quarter cup of olive oil to a warm bath to find relieve all of your body or apply the olive oil directly to the irritation to find relief, suggests Harish Johari in his book "Ayurvedic Massage: Traditional Indian Techniques for Balancing Body and Mind."

Anti-aging

Free radicals, sun and pollution can all take a toll on your skin. A study performed by dermatologist Leslie Baumann that was published in a 2007 issue of "The Journal of Pathology" found that vitamin E was successful in fighting free radicals, photo aging and damage to maintain younger looking skin. Olive oil can be applied directly to aging and damaged skin to help maintain a youthful appearance and reduce the toll free radicals takes on your skin.

Smooth Shave

Shaving, especially with only soap and water, can cause razor rash, bumps and nicks. By applying a lubricant such as moisture-rich olive oil, you can avoid some of the pitfalls of shaving your body.

Apply enough olive oil on the area on your body that you're shaving to coat the skin and draw your razor over the areas doused in olive oil for a smoother, more moisturized shave.