Dauget Huile Seche pour le Corps - My Favorite Olive Oil for the Skin

This is one of my secrets - secret because Dauget's Huile Seche pour le Corps is incredibly hard to find! Made by the French company, Dauget, the spray body oil is made with 100% organic extra virgin olive oil, sunflower oil, arnica oil (good for sore muscles!), marigold oil, vitamin E, and St. John's Wort oil. It has a heavenly scent and melts on the skin. I spritz with it almost every night before bed.

The use of olive oil in skin care dates back to ancient times. Cleopatra was known to take baths in olive oil. The Greeks and the Romans slathered their bodies with olive oil after a bath to hydrate their skin and protect against the acidity of water. Olive oil was also used for hair treatments.

Dauget points out olive oil's unique properties for skin care.

• It's a pure fruit extract, an elixir of youth, and a fruit juice! In fact, olive oil is the only oil made from a fruit. All other oils are made from grains or seeds of fruit, but not from the fruit itself.
• Olive oil is rich in vitamins A a E, antioxidants that neutralize free radicals in the body.
• It's rich in chlorophyll, a natural anti-aging substance, with notable nutritional and medicinal qualities known to stimulate wound healing and cell renewal.It's also rich in squalene, a natural organic compound and rich emollient that penetrates extremely well into the skin. Squalene is usually found in the liver of cartilaginous fishes, such as sharks. Since we don't approve of using squalene from animals, olive is the best source.
• Olive oil also helps regulate the secretion of sebum, which maintains and restores moisture in the skin and hair.

Do you know the olive oil basics?

• Olive is a fall/winter fruit.
• Out of twenty delicate flowers, only one olive will form.
• An olive contains 15 to 25% oil.
• The olive harvest in the south of France is called “Olivade,” and olives are harvested from October to February by “Oliveuses” (olive pickers).
• In Provence, the ritual of Olivade today is no different from that practiced at the beginning of the century due to the commitment of olive associations that demand excellence in their produce.
• The hand-picking of olives one by one is considered ideal because it respects the integrity and purity of the olive.
• Olive oil is the only oil that does not foam. Consequently, you can test the authenticity of olive oil by shaking it. If it foams it means that it has been mixed with another type of oil.

If you can find this luxurious Dauget Huile Seche pour le Corps, I highly recommend that you try it. There are a few spas and boutiques in the Washington, D.C. area that carry it. Their distributor even has two Virginia phone numbers: (703) 534-9021 and (703) 992-4072. I left messages at both trying to find you more sources. When I hear back, I'll post an update.

Photo courtesy of Dauget