What is inside the bottle and the jar
At our mill in Plasencia, Extremadura, we have pressed extra virgin olive oil since 1932. This glossary lays out the main components of the oil and the few companion ingredients we mix with it across the Olivita range. This page describes raw materials and their behavior in a formula; it promises nothing about your skin.
Extra virgin olive oil contains a large share of oleic acid, a single-chain fatty acid that gives the oil its slow glide and rich body. Oleic acid carries weight on the surface before settling in, which makes it useful when a formula needs slip under the fingers. Alongside it sits squalene, a lipid that occurs naturally in olive fruit and sinks in faster, leaving a softer, drier finish that helps balance the heavier fractions of the press.
Polyphenols and vitamin E remain in the unrefined oil we press from the fruit. Polyphenols are plant compounds with a bitter profile that give fresh green oil its peppery edge, while vitamin E is a fat-soluble nutrient that mixes cleanly into plant oils. In a cream or a balm, these elements remain part of the base oil rather than separate additives, maintaining the characteristic faint green tint and earthy odor of the batch.
Olive leaf extract comes from the foliage of the trees rather than the fruit. We steep or distill the leaves to yield a dark, water-soluble extract that we use in our micellar water alongside spirulina. It brings an astringent, herbal quality to liquid formulas without adding oiliness, letting the water wipe clean from cotton without leaving a slick layer behind.
Shea butter and cocoa butter provide body to the denser items in our small catalog. Shea butter melts right around body temperature, starting thick in the jar or tube and thinning out as you spread it, which adds a protective cushion. Cocoa butter is harder at room temperature, giving structural body to our Natural Moisturising Lip Balm in its tin so the mixture stays solid until warmed by your mouth.
Argan oil and beeswax round out the textures in the balms and oils. Argan oil is lighter than pure olive oil, absorbing at a moderate pace with a nutty trace and a silky finish that works across hair and face. Beeswax contributes a dense, water-resistant shield to the lip balm, keeping the oils suspended together and holding the surface steady through pocket warmth.