Over the past year, I have become more and more interested in skin care. When I was younger, my skin care mostly consisted of washing my face each morning and night, and finding ways to fight acne. But now, I have begun to look for ways to keep my skin hydrated, smooth, unblemished and protected. The best skin care lotions and creams usually cost a lot, so I began to look for more natural methods. Over and over again, I would hear about olive oil.
All over the Internet, there are articles about the benefits of olive oil on your skin. Global Healing Center says olive oil is a great exfoliator and can protect against aging. How Stuff Works says it can hydrate dry skin, while Allure says it can remove eye makeup. With all these supposed benefits, and the fact that olive oil is cheaper than the other face creams and lotions, I just had to give it a try.
I decided to wear it to bed every night and put it on after I got out of the shower. I would wash my face in the shower, dry off and then apply the olive oil. I would do this by dripping some of the oil on to a cotton ball and then rubbing it over my face. Then, I would head to bed and leave it on until morning.
One of the first things I noticed was how greasy I felt. The oil does not absorb quickly into the skin like lotion does, so I ended up feeling pretty greasy and oily for a while. It was a little weird going to bed with my skin feeling so wet and sticky, but I was still able to sleep just fine. When I got up in the morning, my skin felt normal again.
One concern I did have about using the olive oil was acne; I already have very oily skin, and I was worried that the olive oil would make my skin so oily that I would break out in acne. Luckily, this did not happen, but I still had a bit of acne on my face. All in all, the olive oil did not make my acne worse, but it certainly did not improve it.
In terms of benefits, I did notice that my skin was more hydrated and a lot smoother, which was probably due to the oil’s exfoliating benefits. I had a dry patch of skin on my foot, so I applied some olive oil and left it on overnight and in the morning, there was a huge difference. My skin was a lot smoother than it had been.
Other than the hydration difference, I did not notice any more benefits of the oil. I did try to use it to remove my eye makeup, and it did a decent job.The makeup came off very easily without having to rub, but I still had to use water to get the rest of it off.
Overall, the main benefit I saw from the olive oil was that it was great at hydrating my skin. However, I still believe that there could be other benefits. Truthfully, I do not think a week was enough time to gauge the benefits of the oil, so I will continue to use it in the future. In addition, I would encourage other women to try it for themselves. We all have different skin types, so it may work better for other people.
Photo Credit: