Olive Oil Beauty Tips

Olive oil beauty tips from Crete use plain olive oil, the same oil Cretans cook with, to condition hair, soften dry skin and care for nails. Each tip below needs only olive oil and a few things you already have at home.

Olive oil has a long history as a beauty aid on Crete. The island has been growing olives since Minoan times, and the palace of Knossos has a room known as the Room of the Olive Press. In ancient times, olive oil mixed with wild hillside herbs was used to anoint and soften the skin and hair, and some Cretans still blend oil and herbs at home in the same way.

Olive Oil for Hair

Olive oil works as a deep conditioning treatment for dry, damaged, coloured or over-processed hair. Many people also massage it into a dry scalp.

Follow these 4 steps for an olive oil hair treatment:

1. Massage olive oil into your scalp and through your hair. Use plain olive oil, rosemary-infused olive oil for dark hair or chamomile-infused olive oil for fair hair.
2. Cover your hair with a shower cap, cling film or a plastic bag.
3. Leave the oil on for around half an hour.
4. Shampoo and style as normal.

Olive Oil for the Face

Olive oil soothes a face that feels dry after too much sun, wind or cold. Massage a small amount into your face and neck with small circular motions.

Olive Oil Body Scrub

An olive oil body scrub is olive oil mixed with sugar and salt. It makes a simple natural exfoliator and leaves your skin feeling soft. Some Cretan-made scrubs use finely ground olive stones for grain, and many add chamomile.

An olive oil body scrub works most effectively on wet skin in the shower. Follow these 4 steps for an even exfoliation:

1. Apply the scrub to wet hands and rub them together.
2. Work the scrub over your wet body in small circular motions.
3. Concentrate on rough, dry areas such as elbows, knees and heels.
4. Rinse well with warm water.

Olive Oil for Cuticles and Nails

Warm olive oil softens cuticles before a manicure. Soak your fingertips in a small bowl of warmed olive oil for a few minutes.

Olive Oil for Hands and Feet

Olive oil softens very dry hands and feet overnight. Massage some olive oil into your hands before bed, put on white cotton gloves and sleep in them. Do the same with your feet, wearing cotton socks to bed.

Olive Oil for Lips

Olive oil soothes dry, chapped lips. Dab a little onto your lips with a fingertip.

Olive Oil as a Shaving Oil

Plain olive oil can replace shaving cream. Men can use it on facial hair, and women can use it on legs and underarms.

Olive Oil as a Make-up Remover

Olive oil removes make-up, including stubborn mascara.

How to Apply Olive Oil Creams and Lotions

Olive oil body lotion absorbs most easily into clean, slightly damp skin, straight after a bath or shower. For the face, massage a small amount of cream into cleansed skin with small upward circular strokes, keeping away from the delicate area around the eyes.

Olive Oil in Beauty Products

Olive oil is an ingredient in many soaps, hand creams, shampoos, body lotions and face creams. Cretan-made soaps and creams often combine olive oil with local herbs.

Extra virgin olive oil contains vitamin E and polyphenols, which are antioxidants. The EU has authorised no health claim that olive oil slows ageing, so treat it as a moisturiser rather than an anti-ageing treatment. Our page on olive oil and the health claims the EU allows explains what the evidence does support, and the Cretan olive oil guide covers how the oil is harvested and how to choose a bottle.