Learn about the skin care benefits of goat milk, plus how to make goat milk DIY skin care with a few simple homemade goat milk skin care recipes.
I know I’m biased, but I’m in love with the skin care benefits of goat milk. It makes a great skin care ingredient! Luckily, there are a lot of folks who’ll agree with me, so I don’t seem like a complete nut.
I love the stuff. I even–gasp!–drink it. (Contrary to what many dairy goat people will tell you, it doesn’t taste like cow milk, but it still tastes good.)
But some of my favorite things to do with goat milk is to use it in handcrafted skin care products. There are many incredible skin care benefits of goat milk.
Goat Milk Is Soothing and Gentle
This means even those with sensitive or problem skin (acne, eczema, psoriasis) can use it without irritation. In fact, goat’s milk based skin care products are often much gentler than other products.
One reason is because goat milk is slightly acidic and is similar to the skin’s natural pH. This means it’s less likely to strip and dry the skin than an alkaline soap or cleanser can.
Goat Milk Moisturizes the Skin
Goat milk is incredibly high in butterfat, which may sound kinda icky to use on your skin but stay with me…
These rich fatty acids found in goat milk are very emollient. They provide a protective layer over the skin that is similar to our skin’s natural oil barrier.
The natural fats in goat milk help seal moisture into the skin without feeling heavy or greasy.
All skin types, from dry to oily, can benefit from the non-greasy moisture goat milk delivers.
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Goat Milk Is High In Skin-Healthy Vitamins and Minerals
Face it, most commercial skin care products are filled with not-so-nice stuff (take a look at SaferCosmetics.org to see what I mean). When goat’s milk is the base of your handmade skin care, you’re getting lots of vitamins and minerals instead of all the yucky stuff. That’s fabulous for your skin.
Goat milk is particularly high in vitamin A, a powerhouse anti-aging ingredient.
Many conventional skin care brands utilize vitamin A derivatives retinol or retinoids in their anti-aging products. While not as potent as commercial retinoids, goat milk has been shown to have anti-aging properties and may help reduce fine lines and skin discolorations when used regularly.
(As an aside, for an easy-to-understand primer regarding topical retinoids check out this article I wrote for Verywell Health: The Difference Between Retinol, Retin-A, and Retinoids.)
Goat milk is also naturally high in vitamin E. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant, and protects your skin against damage from both free radicals and UV rays.
Selenium is also found in goat milk. This mineral helps promote a healthy skin barrier function. It also helps improve dry skin and, like vitamin E, is an antioxidant.
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Goat Milk Rejuvenates Your Skin
Are you loving the skin care benefits of goat milk yet? Just wait, my friend, because there’s more.
Goat’s milk contains lactic acid. Lactic acid is a big deal in the beauty industry because it’s a gentle alpha hydroxy acid used to exfoliate, soften, brighten, and smooth the skin.
Studies have shown that regular use of lactic acid can help prevent and reverse signs of aging. Yay!
How To Make Goat Milk DIY Skin Care
Are you ready to reap the skin care benefits of goat’s milk for yourself? Here are a few ways to use goat milk in your handmade skin care.
1. Fresh Goat Milk for Single Use Facial Masks and Tub Time
Mix fresh goat milk into fine ground oatmeal with just a touch of honey for a scrumptious and easy DIY goat milk, oat, and honey mask.
You can also use goat milk instead of water to hydrate cosmetic clays, like white kaolin, French green, or rhassoul, and create and amazing clay mask with a nutritive boost.
Remember, with each of these facial masks, make up only enough for a single use. Fresh goat milk is highly perishable, so make these up fresh each time and toss any leftovers.
Fresh goat milk is also lovely in a bath (and it helps you use up that entire quart of fresh milk you just bought). Add a cup or 2 fresh goat milk to your bathwater for a gentle, skin-smoothing bath. Cleopatra is purported to have bathed in milk, so I figure if it’s good enough for a queen…
You can find fresh goat milk in the refrigerator section of most grocery stores (or straight from the goat if you’re lucky enough to have one).
2. Powdered Goat Milk Makes Shelf-Stable Masks, Bath Bombs, Soaks, and More
Fresh goat milk is nice, but honestly powdered goat milk is much easier to incorporate into your handmade skin care products.
The powder form gives you many more product creation options. Plus, it is shelf-stable so you don’t have to worry about your finished products spoiling (so long as they’re left in powder form until you use them).
Some well-stocked health food stores may have powdered goat milk. You can also buy online at soap making suppliers. I get mine from From Nature with Love and Wholesale Supplies Plus. You can also find powdered goat milk on Amazon.
If you’re ready to whip up your own fabulous goat’s milk-based skin care products with powdered goat milk, I’ve got some awesomely easy recipes for you:
- A gentle facial cleanser: Green Tea Facial Cleansing Milk
- An exfoliation treatment: DIY “Microdermabrasion” Scrub
- A soothing facial mask: Oatmeal, Goat Milk and Honey Facial Mask
- A shelf-stable bath milk: Lavender and Honey Milk Bath
- An easy soap: Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Soap Recipe (Without Lye)
