Norma Kamali, ageless at 75, called olive oil her “favorite beauty food”, and usually carries a mini-bottle with her wherever she goes. The shiny, golden Jennifer Lopez insisted that it should be an important ingredient in her new skincare range as she put it on her hair and body from an early age. Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyoncé consume it in a free way. Sophia Loren literally bathed in it and watched her. Can the fountain of youth hide in our kitchen cupboards?
It has been said that if you wait long enough, everything old is new again. In the case of olive oil – which, like coconut oil for it, is suddenly the beauty that Windex is called as a miracle worker for hair care, skin softening, rejuvenation and even toothbrushing – we are talking. really old. Like, 5000 years. Pharoahs rubbed it to soothe sun-drenched skin and moisturize, and beauty fanatic Cleopatra included it in her extensive self-care repertoire. Homer announced olive oil as ‘liquid gold’, and the very first cold cream, made by the Greek physician Galen in the 2ndCentury AD and becomes a hot commodity in ancient Athens, is made from it, mixed with beeswax and rose water.
Fast forward a few millennia and here we are, watching the increasing distribution of niche oils in prestigious packaging – Insta stars Brightland and Wonder Valley among them – which is as displayable as it is digestible. And now olive oil in itself is being marketed as a beauty product. The health brand Saint Supply recently introduced the Living Elixir, an organic spice olive oil intended to be taken on its own, as a supplement and not basted on salad (it is even taken with a glass). The founder, Vicky Vlachonis, an osteopath in LA, says her goal was to produce an olive oil with extraordinary levels of polyphenols, phytonutrients that have been scientifically proven to have strong anti-inflammatory properties. “The benefits of these natural compounds in Living Elixir olive oil are related to better cardiovascular health, immune function, digestion, mental clarity and skin care,” she says.
Extra virgin olive oil also boasts high levels of antioxidants, including vitamin E, which Vlachonis says can slow or prevent “damage to free radicals caused by free radicals” as well as squalene, which stimulates and supports a healthy collagen compound. high elasticity and slows the onset of wrinkles. To ensure that Living Elixir contains the highest levels of all this goodness, she extracts her olives from a rare high-phenolic variety grown only in the Olympia region in southern Greece, and really packs them – every bottle contains the juice of about 1,100 hand-picked organic olives.
But why drink it? While cooking with olive oil certainly has benefits – there is a reason why the Mediterranean Diet is consistently considered the healthiest in the world – but some of the plant activities are lost during the heating process. Basting it on a salad or adding it to a smoothie in its raw form is great (Kamali pours hair on popcorn), but Vlachonis believes it’s best to drink it – ideal in the morning, when the gut just wake up. “The Living Elixir is unique for its fine aroma and characteristic peppery kick – a sharp aftertaste on the back of the throat, which is an indication of its high phenolic content. When you feel the spicy kick, you know you are giving your body the health-enhancing essence it deserves. ”
The jury is not able to put it on your skin. The molecules in olive oil are large, causing them to be unable to penetrate deeply (although it is effective at retaining moisture, which makes Loren’s baths a gain). Note that the skin care based on olive oil based on J.Lo took 100 formulations to be perfect. The active mixture contains olive leaf extract and fermented oil – and she also takes olive oil supplements. Interestingly, studies have shown that patients with severe burns experience accelerated healing through the use of olive oil, suggesting that it works its best anyway. “I can add a few drops to my face at night,” says Vlachonis. “But I know the real glow starts from within.”
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