Olive oil is as good as expensive skincare products when it comes to moisturising

A German consumer group test suggests that olive oil is comparable to an expensive skincare product for its moisturising abilities. — 123rf.com

Kitchens can be challenging places – not least for their ability to dry out the skin on your hands. Washing, cleaning, and food preparation can all leave your hands requiring some tender loving care.

If you want to care for your hands, there are plenty of good hand creams on the market. But there's one readily available alternative that does the job just as well – olive oil.

Rather than moisturising with an expensive hand cream, you can can just as effective results with some olive oil, skincare experts say.

Ditch you hand cream for some olive oil. — dpa

In a test of 50 hand creams available in Europe, product testers from Germany's consumer group Oeko Test found that while 25 were classed "very good", and a further 11 were found to be "good", nine of the products were found to be "inadequate" or "insufficient". These, the experts say, contain "problematic substances".

They suggest that organic olive or coconut oil perform just as well as expensive skin care products when massaged into the hands.

For those wishing to intensively care for their hands, Oeko Test recommends generously rubbing oily hand cream before going to bed. To make sure it stays on and can work into your skin deeply overnight, you can also put on a pair of cotton gloves. – dpa

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