Olive Oil
Nowadays we’re used to adverts and beauty bloggers
telling us we should be using more and more products on our skin and hair, all
of which seem to do the same thing, and most of which are expensive. The
ancient Greeks, however, had a different idea: olive oil. Applied to hair and
left for a few hours it can act as a conditioner, and massaged into skin it can have many benefits too.
Why does it work?
Olive oil can be beneficial for skin for several
reasons, the first of which is that it contains important vitamins, such as
Vitamin K and Vitamin E. Vitamin E has antioxidant functions, and is soluble
in fat, meaning that it can be absorbed into skin cells and prevent them from
oxidative damage. Vitamin K, when ingested in foods such as kale and spinach,
can help to prevent wrinkles, but it has been shown that applications of Vitamin
K to skin areas can prevent acne, and reduce acne scarring.
Another reason why olive oil can be good for the skin
is that is has antibacterial properties. Researchers have found that certain chemical
groups (called phenolic compounds) are in abundance in olive oil, and these
compounds can have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. These effects
could be useful in preventing or treating spots.
Third, olive oil has emollient properties. Emollients
are a chemical group (for example, oleic acid, which can be used as an
emollient, is found in olive oil) which help to treat skin damage, and also
promote moisture retention. These properties make it a good conditioning
treatment for hair as well, as emollients are absorbed into the hair fibres,
making it smoother and softer. According to some sources, it can even promote
hair growth by reducing the sebum that builds up around hair follicles.
How to use it:
There are lots of different ways to apply olive oil as
a beauty treatment, so here is my method:
1 Put about a tablespoon (or more/less
depending on how long/thick your hair is) of extra virgin olive oil into a
small container (I used a plastic shot glass, so something similar to that will
do).
2 Boil some water, then pour about a
centimetre depth into a larger container (e.g. a standard mug).
3 Stand the oil container in the hot
water, and leave for a couple of minutes. It will heat up quickly.
4 Take the oil out carefully, and massage
it into your hair (it will be warm, but not hot enough to burn or be
uncomfortable).
5 Leave the oil on your hair for at
least half an hour. The Greeks did this for several hours, but if you’re too
busy for that, an hour is fine.
6 (This is where sources start to
differ on what to do) At this point, you can either wash out the oil with
shampoo and conditioner as you normally would, or just use water. I tried it just
with water, and my hair was very greasy afterwards, but a lot of sources
recommend not using shampoo, so I found a middle ground. I use shampoo on my
roots, but not the lengths of my hair, as the lengths are where my hair tends
to become dry. Then, I condition all of it, and rinse as usual.
You can decide whether to blow-dry or let your hair
dry naturally, but either way, doing this makes my hair much softer (especially
at the ends) than the usual shampoo/conditioner routine.
Skin-wise, I was a little nervous about using olive
oil as my skin tends to be oily rather than dry, especially on my nose and
chin, so I decided to add another ingredient: tea tree oil. This is a natural
antiseptic, and is useful in treating spots and acne, but it can dry skin out,
so I assumed that the olive oil would counteract this. Using another plastic
shot glass, I mix about half a teaspoon of olive oil with 2-4 drops of tea tree
oil – this doesn’t sound like a lot, but you really don’t need much to cover
your face. Massage this into your face (and neck, if you like), and leave for
about half an hour, then wash/moisturise as normal. Without wishing to sound
like a clickbait article, this really will make your skin feel much softer and
cleaner (Dermatologists are mystified by this student’s secret to perfect skin –
you’ll never guess what!).
This all goes to show that, even though historical
beauticians didn’t always get it right (I mean, lead makeup was never going to
end well, was it?), sometimes they hit on really good ideas which we can still
use today.
Some more reading about olive oil:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/87040-benefits-olive-oil-hair/
http://blog.perriconemd.com/what-are-emollients/
https://www.healthambition.com/vitamin-k-benefits-best-sources/
http://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/beauty-and-olive-oil
http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-health-news/olive-oil-and-infection/51057
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