Beautifully frugal - Olive Oil

Another store cupboard beauty essential!!!

I have really dry skin, I'm pretty sure that this is as a result of too many cigarettes, too much dehydrating wine and living in a city atmosphere as well as a fiercely air conditioned office.

i was standing in my kitchen making my weekly batch of soup to take to work for lunch on a Sunday afternoon and my face felt tight and dry - I remembered reading this article:

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/me_oliveoil.html and proceeded to put a little olive oil on my finger tips and streak it across my cheeks.... it wasn't as greasy and horrible as I first thought!

In fact by the time I was using my hand blender to whizz up my soup my skin was fresh and glistening in a really healthy way. I'm sure that, just like the aqueous cream, this is an old fashioned and well known beauty phenomenon, but I thought - ohh yet another fantastic thing I must put on the Frugal Girl!!

I have since indulged in a body scrub of olive oil, sea salt and few drops of lavender - which was effective - if a little messy in my shower. A face pack of egg, honey and olive oil which healed all the dry spots, did not aggravate the black heads (combination skin is evil) and left my skin feeling fresh and healthy.

I'm now using olive oil as a body lotion - it's slightly more intense than the aqueous cream/aloe vera combo and seems best when used in the manner as described in the old baby oil adverts. I.E. massage onto wet skin when getting out of the shower then towel off! Lovely soft skin all over! YUM!

Have to say though - I'd avoid the extra virgin stuff, it's terribly fruity and the smell can really stay with you. i go for bog-standard Tesco Olive Oil (1 Litre is £3.41) and decant into a small travel bottle for use in the shower (the big bottle lives next to the cooker, just as it should).