Give Your Skin The Respect That It Deserves
Are you not a fan of traditional, chemically-enhanced soap coupled with the harsh water that comes out of your home tap?
Me neither!
You really need to be careful about what you rub into your skin to cleanse it, especially your face, don’t you?
Sensitive Skin
I actually stopped using traditional soap, and even sensitive face wash, many years ago because I have sensitive skin and the combination of the harsh tap water with the harsh synthetic ingredients of soap just did my skin no favors at all.
With having sensitive skin, I wanted to dig a bit deeper and learn more about these wonderful goat milk soap benefits which I keep hearing about and what milk soap can do for skincare in general.
Goat milk soap is becoming massively popular, and with very good reason too.
So if you have dry skin, sensitive skin or even a skin problem such as acne or psoriasis, then you’ll find this blog post enlightening because it addresses how goat milk soap can benefit all of these skin problems.
A Very Quick Skin Tutorial
Just in case you didn’t know, your skin is made up of three different layers with the top layer being the epidermis, the middle layer is the dermis and the bottom layer being the hypodermis (fat layer).
There are actually five layers of skin within the epidermis itself, but I’m not going to discuss those today as I don’t want to complicate things.
What you want to be concerned about here is that the very top layer of the epidermis (called the stratum corneum) is a protective coating of dead skin cells which are waiting to be sloughed off in order to make way for new skin cells.
These dead skin cells are normally sloughed off naturally every 30 days or so, allowing a new tissue of skill cells to appear.
However as we age, this ‘sloughing off’ process slows down, therefore not making way for our new juicy skin cells to appear until every 40+ days or so.
This is the reason why you need to exfoliate at least once a month, especially when you’re at the age of 35+.
So with that said, let’s take a look into goat milk benefits for the skin, and a good place to start is with the ingredients…
Goat Milk Ingredients
These are the ingredients what are in a standard goat milk soap bar which you may purchase from a store.
Note: Some ingredients may vary from where you purchase your goat milk soap from.
Alpha-Hydroxy Acids (AHAs)
Lactic Acid: Remember the layer of dead skin cells called the stratum corneum? Well, its these acids (in particular lactic acid – and don’t fret at the word ‘acid’) within the actual goat milk, which dissolves the stratum corneum and gently exfoliates and sloughs off the dead skin cells for you.
This is the main ingredient that makes goat milk soap very effective and different, because it also acts as a super gentle exfoliator.
There’s no need at all to exfoliate your skin with those hard, coarse exfoliator lotions which practically rip off your whole epidermis!
Vitamins A & B2
The famous Vitamin A! You might know it better as the main ingredient in Retinol A, which is known to be very effective in reducing lines and wrinkles as a topical cream (only available over the counter in the U.S. I believe).
Vitamin A is essential to our skin as it plays a major part in repairing the cells which have been damaged by free radicals.
Vitamin B2, namely Riboflavin, helps towards clearing up spots and revitalising the skin by promoting the healthy cell turnover.
Minerals
Goat milk is also rich in the mineral selenium which is known to help prevent skin damage by protecting the epidermis layers (remember, there are five of them) from too much sun exposure. Selenium is also known to help neutralize free radicals which are the main cause of wrinkles and aging skin.
So as you can see, there aren’t many ingredients in goat milk soap – which is a good thing!
And the ingredients are all natural.
If you’re concerned about the lactic acid, be rest-assured that this is also a natural, organic acid found in all milk because it’s mainly used in the fermentation process to counteract lactic bacteria.
Lactic acid is also extremely soluble in water. This is the reason how it helps dissolve and slough-off dead skin cells – because even the stratum corneum (dead skin cells layer) still contains a high amount of water.
Allergy Alert! If you’re lactose intolerant, please seek medical advice if wanting to use milk-based soaps, lotions or any other type of milk based skin care products.
Goat Milk for Skin Care
Goat milk being used as a skin care product is actually not that new as it’s been known for its skincare benefits for centuries. In fact, you’ll have heard that Cleopatra bathed in milk. Fair enough it wasn’t goat milk, as it was donkey milk, but she obviously saw the skincare benefits of bathing in milk and she was renowned for not only her beauty, but for her radiant, glowing skin complexion too.
But in more recent years, science has proven that goat milk is indeed an amazing skin care treatment.
Problematic Skin
If you suffer from:
- Sensitive skin
- Dry/Extremely Dry
- Psoriasis
- Eczema
- Acne
…then goat milk soap is a good choice to cleanse and bathe your body in, not only because of its natural ingredients, but also because it has a high fat content which hydrates your skin on a deep level. And not only that, the pH balance found in these fatty acids is very similar to ours which means that the goat milk soap doesn’t disrupt the natural pH balance of our skin which leaves it feeling natural and normal – but healthier!
All Weather Conditions
You know how in the summer our skin dry’s out through humidity and sun exposure, and in the winter our skin also dry’s out because of the cold climax? This makes goat milk soap and lotion a great asset to have to help us deal with all weather conditions and the effect they have on our skin.
Goat Milk Skin Care Products
The good news is that there is now an abundance of goat milk skin care products available, such as:
- Soap
- Body Wash
- Face Wash
- Moisturiser Lotion
- Shampoo (think scalp)
Have a quick look on Amazon and you’ll see what I mean >> Goat Milk Skin Care
DIY Soap Bars
If you feel in a creative, DIY mood, then why not have a go at creating goat milk soap bars yourself? I’ve dedicated a full blog post to doing just that and included three different videos showing you how to make goat milk soap using different ingredients. You can watch the videos here ‘3 Creative Goat Milk Soap Recipe Ideas For The Ultimate DIY Milk Soap“.
Summary of The Main Goat Milk Soap Benefits
So in order for us to have the healthy, glowing skin complexion to that of Cleopatra, here are the benefits of using goat milk as a skin care treatment:
- Gentle exfoliator
- Vitamins & minerals
- Must have for both summer and winter
- Sensitive skin
- Dry/Eczema/Psoriasis/Acne
- High levels of fat
- Hydrates skin on a deep level
- Similar pH balance as humans
- Enhances skin balance, not disrupting it
