Tammy's Recipes

That's a cool idea. I bet your hands also smell nice.

Tam,

Don't you smell like olive oil after several applications? Love the frugal idea, but just question the practicality of it.

Blesssings!

I started doing this when my first baby was newborn. I add lavendar oil to it and it smells delightful! :)

Sometimes I put warm (not hot - ouch!) olive oil in my hair, especially on the ends. Put on a shower cap and wait 30 - 60 minutes before washing out. Sometimes, I will put it on before bed and wash out in the morning. It works great for dry hair.

I have been using olive oil for quite a while now. I keep a bottle in the bathroom cabinet for after bath lotion. It really makes your skin soft!
I have really dry skin on my hands (from cleaning and washing dishes lol) the olive oil works great.

http://countrylifejourney.typepad.com/

I began using olive oil this year, and it works wonderfully, especially on my feet. I bought a vial of lavendar scented oil at Family dollar and added it to the oil. I might try some other scents as well. Great post!

We use olive oil frequently - I feel it is almost medicinal to use, so our son benefits from it rather than mineral oil "baby oil" concoctions. I use it on me when dh is away as he doesn't like the smell!

I'm not surprised that there are others of you who also use olive oil! :) Actually, I can't believe it took me so long to make the switch, but, as usual, running out of something and not replacing it was the key to finding a cheaper and easier solution! :)

Thanks for all of your comments!

Anonymous, no, I haven't noticed my hands smelling like olive oil. I have been wearing rubber gloves when I wash dishes, which means they don't get as dry and need as much moisturizing, but I also don't mind the scent of olive oil, so I could just not be noticing it. :) It only takes a few drops though -- much less than I would use of regular lotion. :)

Hmn... after reading these suggestions, I'm thinking about adding lavendar oil to my olive oil. :) I have tea tree oil, but Joshua can't stand the scent of that!! :) (I have had to use it on my hands in the past.) :)

If the olive oil smell bothers you, try coconut oil! You can buy a jar of coconut oil at most health food stores--it is solid at room temperature, so it actually feels more like the popular "body butters" out there. It doesn't take much for soft hands, and it has almost no scent, too.

I'll second the reccommendation for coconut oil! I use olive oil, too, but my favorite is coconut oil. I think it does have a scent but I like it (it smells like coconuts, surprise, surprise!). Coconut oil has been the nicest thing for any rash my babies have had. It has anti-fungal properties as well as antibacterial properties so I found it esp. effective for yeasty-diaper rashes.

Ruth

I used to always used olive oil but found that it was a little annoying when it would go on too thick and would take too long to dry... eventually threatening grease stains on clothing. (I used it as a body lotion -- not just my hands.)

I really like using coconut oil when I'm fresh out of the shower and still a little damp. It has a nice smell and really soaks in good. Plus, it's easier to manage because it's a solid substance until warmed.

But, olive oil is still high on my list; I just like to change between different kinds of lotion/oil every once in awhhile. I find they work better for me that way. Great post on alternative lotions Tammy!

--Court

Hi I had to chime in, although I am a bit late. I work in a kitchen and use olive oil too, but this just occured to me, when I worked in a nursing home, what they use is crisco. My hands were always dry because I washed them so often, and now as I recall my hands were in really good condition back then, but I know it sounds so much nicer to say one uses olive oil as opposed to crisco. LOL
Blessings,
Deana

I just stumbled onto this post, and I know it is late in the ball game to respond, but I live in Asia and they sell Olive Oil specifically for this purpose for both dry skin and hair. They actually use it instead of lotions for the most part and it is mostly used on the face. I was in a store looking for hand lotion and when the worker came over to me and realized what I was looking for she insisted on olive oil instead of any lotion I picked up. It really does work. I am told it has been used here for decades.

just my two cents.
Carol

I just read at a soap forum that coconut oil is being sold at Walmart in the baking/oil section.

When I was pregnant with my second child, my hormones went CRAZY! My face broke out and the skin on my feet actually cracked! The picture of your cheesecake looks familiarLOL! My feet would dry, peel and crack so bad that walking across our burber (sp) carpet was painful. The peel would catch and rip from my foot and then they would bleed horribly. The solution? Olive Oil. I was too big and fat to apply it myself. I would soak my feet sitting on the side of the tub in warm water and then my dear sweet husband would rub in olive oil after patting them dry. This was the ONLY thing that worked. Even baby oil was not useful.
Your post brought back many memories, some bad, but we they did end happily! :o)

Okay, you guys. I only had a little bit of olive oil in my bottle, so instead of buying more olive oil for my hands, I bought...

...coconut oil! I got it at Wal-mart. I'm sure that some from a health food store would be much nicer/higher quality. As it is, I got enough to last me about 10 years (used as lotion) for only $2.94. It doesn't have much of a smell, at all, but my nose isn't as sharp as some people's, I think.

I even had the cutest little jar saved (I think it holds about an ounce or two) from a free sample of lemon hand cream I got at Bath and Body Works a couple years back. I almost never save containers unless I have a specific use for them, but I saved this one and it looks so cute on my bathroom window sill, filled with coconut oil! :D

When #2 was born, he was CRACKLY, his skin looked like sheets of phylo and SO red. I don't know WHY I did it, but I pulled out the Olive Oil and rubbed it all over him from day ONE. Sam is now my brownest son, with the SOFTEST skin! NO one would guess that his skin was crackly as a newborn!
P~

I mix extra virgin olive oil and sugar together to a slushy consistency - this makes the best exfoliant ever! I use it at the end of my shower - scrub real good, get rid of all the dead skin cells, rub the knees and elbows real smooth - and rinse. No need for lotion afterwards. Blot dry and rub it in if need be. VOILA! (Sometimes I use brown sugar for the smell, or granulated brown sugar for a little more exfoliating power, but plain old white sugar is great!)

That's ingenious, I know olive oil is an base product in many natural body lotions but I never tried it in this bottle liquid state. I rather get a proper olive oil body wash and lotion, this would give be a better sensation for using the product as the oil liquid state doesn't work for me...