We love olive oil for so many uses: Salad dressing, homemade mayonnaise, cooking oil. It's luscious, delicious, and good for you. It's rich in oleic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. But that's just the beginning of why olive oil is so wonderful. There's tons of uses for the golden Mediterranean oil outside the kitchen. For starters, have you seen what it can do for the outside of your body? We mean your skin, of course. Here's 10 surprising uses for olive oil -- besides eating or cooking with it.
1. Moisturizer: Using olive oil as a moisturizer can be as simple as smoothing a little over your knuckles while you're cooking to actually mixing up your own lip and body balm.
2. Body scrub: Making your own olive oil and sugar body scrub is pretty easy as well. Even if you don't want to make a whole batch, you can bring just a few tablespoons into the shower with you for a quick scrub.
3. Shave: Instead of soap or what-the-hell's-in-it shaving lotion you can just drizzle on a little olive oil for an extra-moisturizing way to shave your legs.
4. Stuck ring: Got a ring stuck on your finger? Before you reach for the pliers, try a little olive oil to help make that ring a little more slippery.
5. Gum in hair: Kid got gum in her hair again? Work some olive oil into the mess. The gum may not come out all in one piece (you weren't going to re-chew it anyway), but it should all come out.
6. Cradle cap: Rub a little olive oil into your baby's scalp and come that scaly thing out.
7. Cat supplement: Supposedly a bit of olive oil in your cat's food will help reduce hairballs and give it a softer, shinier coat.
8. Protect wood and leather: You can polish leather by rubbing a small amount of olive oil in and letting it dry. And you can also use olive oil to protect wooden cutting boards and utensils.
9. Manicure: Rub a tiny amount of olive oil into your fingernails and cuticles for a quick manicure.
10. Anti-frizz: I'm not saying this is ideal. BUT, in a pinch, if you've run out of hair product and can't get to the store, work a small amount of olive oil into your hair to control frizz.
What else have you used olive oil for?
Image via Monica Arellano-Ongpin/Flickr