Filed Under: BOTANICALS

Olive Obsessed: Centuries Later, Olive Is Still The 'It' Beauty Ingredient

GOLDEN ORIGINS

Long before olive oil crowned salads, it crowned royalty, cured ailments and conditioned skin. Roman kings were anointed with it, ancient Greek Olympians and warriors bathed in it, Egyptian beauties purified their skin with it and queen Cleopatra made her skin glow with it.

Throughout the history of the Mediterranean, olive oil was a symbol of beauty, strength, peace and prosperity. To the Greeks, it was a sacred fruit and to the Romans, it was the secret to longevity. Olive oil inspired legends, myths and epic fantasies. In Homer's Iliad, the goddess Hera softened and scented her skin with olive oil in preparation for seducing her husband, Zeus.

No wonder Homer called this elixir of enticement “liquid gold”.

VITAMINS, VITALITY + EVOO

We use the finest extra virgin organic olive oil, abbreviated as EVOO, for our natural skincare formulas because it’s such a high performance, skin-rejuvenating ingredient. Packed with a beauty arsenal of phenols, Vitamin E, squalene and omega-rich fatty acids, EVOO revitalizes fatigued skin, moisturizes without clogging pores and defends against age-accelerating oxidation. An array of powerful antioxidant phenols in olive oil help prevent free radical damage, soothe inflammation, boost elasticity and purify skin. Vitamin E is a powerful free radical warrior that protects skin against environmental pollution and oxidation. E also has moisturizing benefits, improves the skin barrier function and is used to treat a variety of conditions. Vitamin K is known to be a potent anti-inflammatory that helps the body heal wounds and reduces swelling. Squalene is a highly effective emollient and natural antioxidant. A fatty molecule found naturally in the body, it helps to plump and hydrate skin as it helps promote cell regeneration and protect. Omega-rich essential fatty acids, known for their moisturizing and softening benefits, help enhance skin’s suppleness and radiance.

OUR EXCLUSIVE OLIVE OIL

We make our own exclusive single origin olive oil with the harvests from the mighty olive trees on our La Furtuna Farm in Sicily. Our organic extra virgin olive oil is artisan-made in small batches using cold-pressing techniques. Because NO high heat or harsh chemicals are used during extraction, the fatty acids, nutrients, antioxidants of the oil remain intact and retain their purity and potency. Our olive oil has won many prestigious awards around the world and organic qualification from USDA and Bioagricert certification so you know it’s the highest quality you can find.

We use extra virgin olive oil as a stand-alone ingredient as as the delivery system for our oil-based formulas. It is the ideal carrier for Vitamins A, D, E and K which are oil soluble and can only be delivered in oil.

OUR EXCLUSIVE OLIVE LEAF WATER

There’s another highly nutritious part of the olive that has been used medicinally for centuries to heal ailments and skin conditions. The olive leaf. Modern science has recently discovered the many benefits of its active compounds, driving this ancient botanical to become the buzziest new ingredient in wellness and clean beauty. Olive leaf herbal tea is fast replacing green tea as a natural pick-me-up because it provides double the antioxidant power plus a detoxifying boost. Infused into innovative natural skincare formulas such as Furtuna Skin, olive leaf is a powerful skin guardian that purifies, soothes and replenishes the complexion as it protects.

Olive leaves contain protective antioxidants like hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein that provide a multitude of skincare benefits. The exclusive olive water we make from the leaves contain these nutrients as well. Hydroxytyrosol is a black belt free radical fighter with some of the highest antioxidant properties ever discovered. And Oleuropein is a powerful preventative against impurities, free radicals and irritation thanks to its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

To make our exclusive plant water for our organic skincare formulas, we prune the olive leaves from our Farm olive trees and submerge them in hydroglycerin for a quick Soundbath™ extraction. We use the olive leaf infusion that we extracted instead of plain water for our water-based formulas because it amplifies the nutrients available for skin. It makes a great carrier for all the water soluble vitamins, such as B and C, which can only be delivered through a water base.

We worked with a top laboratory in Princeton to validate the potency of our proprietary olive leaf water. Tests demonstrated what a powerful antioxidant it is: our olive leaf water protects against free radical damage by 100%.

LIVING IN SYNERGY

We craft these olive infusions to use as delivery system bases rather than using mass produced, synthetic bases which do not have the same living properties. Olive oil and olive leaf hydroglycerin infusions make the perfect delivery system for our formulas because the combination of olive and wild botanicals produces a synergistic effect that amplifies the total effectiveness of the blend. A mixture is many times more powerful than any individual ingredients alone. Not only does olive oil bring potent levels of nutrients, antioxidants and benefits to the mix, it helps the nutrients from the other botanicals work better together and facilitates skin’s uptake of the nourishment. The wild botanicals that we immerse in our olive bases complement and strengthen each other because we harvest the plants from the same land so they already have a supportive and synergistic relationship. Take Anchusa azurea for example, a medicinal flower that grows wild on the outskirts of the olive groves on our Sicilian Farm, Anchusa works in synergy with olive oil and olive leaf to provide a full scope of nutritional and antioxidant benefits for skin.

We know how extremely powerful this synergy can be. In skin-specific, antioxidant tests, our Splendore Anchusa™ Complex blocked free radical damage by 100%. The blend features Anchusa azurea plus other potent wild-foraged botanicals, extracted using our Soundbath™ method in an olive-based delivery system.

ODE TO THE OLIVE

The olive delivers the transformative results of a high tech ingredient without synthetics, giving us good reason to bow down to its beauty benefits. Experience its rich heritage, revolutionary performance and exceptional nutrition in our olive-obsessed, organic skincare line, Furtuna Skin.

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Lydia Dorfman

While watching Mimi and her girls cook today using Fortuna olive oil I was transported from Noosa straight to Sicily where I have been fortunate to visit. The sounds the smells…….♥️🌿☀️Aaaaaaah how I miss it.