Olive oil sits in an interesting position in the expert conversation: the same ingredient that earns real praise as something to eat barely survives scrutiny as a skincare ingredient. Most of the gurus who weighed in were speaking specifically about putting it on your skin, and the picture they paint is not very flattering.
Do skincare experts recommend Olive oil?
Topical olive oil and a yeast called malassezia turn out to be a bad combination, which is what most of the critical takes here circle back to. Malassezia lives naturally on skin and scalp and feeds on olive oil, meaning people already prone to dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, or tinea versicolor may find those conditions worsening with topical use, and the experts flag that the yeast can spread from the scalp down to the face and body. Beyond the yeast concern, they describe olive oil as pro-inflammatory, not helpful for the skin barrier, and possibly drying rather than moisturising. A lack of clinical evidence for any skin benefit rounds out the picture they paint.
In their words
"extra virgin olive oil contains at least 20 of amazing polyphenols and they work fantastic as an anti-aging tool as well. I normally have a thing of olive oil that I just drizzle on [...] practically everything because it's so good for you."
How do the experts rate Olive oil?
7 skincare experts weighed in on Olive oil, giving it a Guru Score of 29%. 2 approve of it, 0 land on a mixed take, and 5 would skip it.
Where do skincare experts disagree on Olive oil?
This is a fairly lopsided verdict, with most of the experts landing firmly against topical use. The more positive notes come from gurus who are enthusiastic specifically about cooking with olive oil and consuming it, praising the polyphenol content and the anti-aging benefits of having it in your diet. However, when the conversation narrows to using it on skin or scalp, the expert voice here is close to unanimous against it.
"Olive oil is essentially a petri dish for malassia yeast. This is why it makes dandruff worse, this is why it makes sebic dermatitis worse, this is why it makes tinea versicolor worse. If you're using olive oil as a moisturizer, it's actually going to feed this yeast and make it worse. [...] Olive oil as a solo ingredient has really no utility and no place on your skin for multiple reasons: pro-inflammatory, does not help the skin barrier, it is literally the food for this yeast."
"I'd say olive oil do not do olive oil can actually worsen scalp itch scalp dandruff because the main player behind scalp dandruff and actually flares in your scalp psoriasis is this yeast called malassezia. The special yeast, when you add olive oil to the media, it grows in the lab and cultures malassezia. So I would say do not put olive oil onto your scalp for hair loss because that will just be fertilizer or food for the malassezia and it'll proliferate come down to your face even come down to your body."
"I would caution you against going to the grocery store and buying olive oil and putting it on your skin, it may actually end up leading to more water loss, more dryness, more irritation for you. [...] There's just no evidence that it's helpful, and the research and clinical experience we have actually suggests that it's not very good for your skin."
Is Olive oil worth it?
What the experts would steer you toward is keeping olive oil in the kitchen, where they describe its polyphenols and nutritional value as genuinely worthwhile. Anyone thinking of using it as a moisturiser, face oil, or scalp treatment may want to hold off, and those already prone to dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis should be particularly cautious given what the gurus say about malassezia. The Guru Score of 29% reflects how rarely the experts who weighed in land on the positive side when olive oil is used on skin.
The gurus who weighed in
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This guide reflects what 7 skincare experts said about Olive oil across their videos, aggregated by The Guru Index. The Guru Score is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it. It is general information, not medical advice.