The natural lactic acids in milk make it a wonderful beauty ingredient. These mild acids can gently loosen dead skin cells, allowing them to be rinsed or scrubbed away without damaging skin. Casien, another component of dairy products, can help skin absorb and retain moisture. Milk Powders provide an easy way to include the benefits of natural dairy into your handmade skin care products. The dry powders can be added to formulations as-is, or you can reconstitute the powders with water.
We’ve shared five fun ideas for using Milk Bath in handmade skin care products – but that’s just the beginning! We asked folks on our Facebook Page and in our Google Plus Community to share some other ideas for using Milk Powders.
Here’s what Patrice Johnson from Melange Jolie LLC had to say:
“I love to use the goat’s milk, yogurt, and coconut milk (for vegan friends) in foot masks, scrubs, bath melts, and lip balms. The milk powders provide a nice creaminess to the finished product. I make sure to keep leftovers from milk batches for myself.”
How do you use Milk Powders in your own recipes? If you have another idea to share we would love to hear it! Share yours in the comments below.
Make Milk Soap
Try replacing the water in your Cold Processed Soap recipe with reconstituted Milk Powder. Mix 4 – 8 tablespoons of Milk Powder per cup of water, measure what you need for your recipe, then freeze it into cubes before you soap. Chilling the milk will help keep it from scalding when the time comes to mix it with lye. To add Milk Powder to Melt and Pour Soaps simply mix 1 tablespoon of Milk Powder per pound of soap with just enough water to form a thick slurry. The slurry can be mixed directly into the melted base along with any other additives.
Make Bath Truffles
You can create a smooth, creamy ganache by mixing Milk Powder into your favorite Vegetable Butters or Solid Carrier Oils. These rich, moisturizing Bath Melts will not only look gorgeous, but will leave the skin feeling silky and soft. We use about 1 cup of Milk Powder for every 4 ounces of Solid Oil or Vegetable Butter in our Bath Truffle recipes. Check out our recipes for Coconut Milk Bath Bars and Holiday Spice Bath Truffles to see some examples of this method in action.
Add Milk Powder to a Scrub
Milk Powders can be mixed into Carrier Oils before being added to Salt or Sugar Scrubs. The addition of Milk Powder may shorten your scrub’s shelf life, but it will also enhance its benefit and appeal. Check out our Mango Lassi Skin Smoothing Scrub to see an example of Milk Powder being used in this way.
Beef Up Your Bath Bombs
Powdered ingredients, like Milk Powders, are perfect for filling out a basic Bath Bomb recipe. Try adding up to 1/4 cup of Milk Powder for every 2 cups Baking Soda used in your recipe. We’ve used Milk Powder in several of our own Bath Bomb recipes. Check out our recipes for Milk & Honey Hearts, Chocolate Peppermint Bath Bombs, and our Coco-Lime Bath Cookies.
Make Milk Bath
Of course, the easiest way to use Milk Powder is to make a batch of Milk Bath. Milk Baths can be as simple or complex as you’d like to make them. Start off with one or more Milk Powders, then throw in some additives like Sea Salt, Oat Flour, Silk Powder, or Essential Oil. We have some great Milk Powder recipes in our Archives, or you can check out this article to learn how to make your own custom recipe.
Would the milk powder shorten the shelf life of my lip balms if I add it to them?
Hi Irenie. I would expect that the shelf life and stability of the lip balm could certainly be affected by the inclusion of milk powder. Most milk powders have a shelf life of around 6 – 12 months, so a 6 month shelf life would be the most I would expect to get from the balm. Of course, the shelf life could be shortened further after the product is used. I’m not completely sure how much it would be affected, so if you are planning to sell the balms you may want to consult a private lab to have your formula tested for stability or to get some advanced formulation advice.
I would love to make these using milk powders. I am also worried about the shelf life ut you have mentioned that I can get it checked by the local lab. Where can I look for the private labs to check the shelf life of the product? What are these labs called?
I make bath bombs and am wanting to add powder milk to my basic mix to enhance foaming but I am wanting to know does it make a difference if I use instant milk powder or none instant milk powder Please thank you also can I enquire please where I can obtain a milk bath safety assessment package please would it come under creams and butters ?