Ever run out of makeup wipes? Can’t get paint off your skin? Need to stop your roommate from snoring?? Right now you are probably trying to think of the common thread that can fix all three of these pressing problems. Surprise, its olive oil. Why go to the drug store to buy wipes, acetone, and earplugs, when instead you can wander into the pantry for a universal cure-all. It seems that many people often underestimate the true capabilities of this kitchen staple when they pick it up from the grocery store. Little did you know that olive oil can do much more than sauté your chicken. Here are 5 other ways to use olive oil so that you are really getting your fully money’s worth.
1. Makeup Remover
At one point or another, every girl—myself included—has felt the small panic of coming home from a long night out to find the makeup wipe container is empty. Not only are you probably exhausted, but now you desperately have to scrape makeup off your face using only water to avoid breaking out as punishment for not refilling the makeup wipes. However, this bind has a relatively easy fix just sitting in your kitchen. Just add a few drops of olive oil to a cotton ball and gently rub it over your face and get the added bonus of soft skin when you wash it off
2. Hair Conditioner
Looking for that silky shine in your hair that you see in all of those commercials? Just grab about a tablespoon of olive oil and massage it into your head. Wrap up your hair and let it sit for at least 30 minutes for full effect and then wash it out. As a bonus for those of us who way overdo the heat products in our hair, olive oil is also great for helping to fix split ends.
3. Snoring Preventer
Tired of cramming these styrofoam plugs into your ears every night because your roommate won’t go to a sleep clinic to fix that snoring habit? A few sips of olive oil before bed may be all you need for a good night’s sleep. Olive oil has been seen to help ease the tissues in your throat, which in turn can reduce that sound keeping you up at all hours of the night the day before an exam.
4. Acne Remedy
While many people simply apply the olive oil right on to their face, if you really want to maximize the benefits, adding a little bit of salt could do the trick. In a bowl, mix three tablespoons of olive oil with 4 tablespoons of salt to get a paste-like mixture and then really massage it into your face for a few minutes. The little bit of salt helps to exfoliate the skin, while the olive oil works to unclog skin pores and reduce acne scars.
5. Sunburn Treatment
There are probably few things worse than coming home expecting a nice golden tan, but instead finding an awful red hue radiating on your skin. Your poor skin is now retaliating against your lack of sunscreen use with that sharp stinging and you would do anything to make it stop. Enter, olive oil. Gently rub some over your sunburns and allow it to sit until your skin has soaked it all up. WARNING: Do not go back out in sun once you put the olive oil on.
To use olive oil oil in the kitchen would simply be a waste. Olive oil can be an easy fix in so many everyday problems, don’t knock it till you try it!