There's Milk and Cheese in My Soap!

You may be seeing a rise of soap's made with cow's milk or goat's milk at your local health food store and in several online shops. Even The Soap Distillery has soaps made with goat's cheese (which gives the soap many of the same benefits of goat's milk). But, what's the deal? Why buy soap with milk or cheese in it? Is it a marketing scam, or does it actually do something? Why can't I just drink my milk? Why would I want to shower with it, too?

It's looks so creamy...creamy enough to bathe in!

Well, I'll tell you something. I've used bars of soap that have milk in them, and I've also used soaps that don't have milk in them. There is a noticeable difference between two bars of soap that share the same ingredients except for the milk. In the soap with the milk, the lather bubbles up much more (most likely because of the sugars in the dairy product) and the bubbles quickly come together in a small, tight, and thick manner, hence creating an amazingly creamy lather. It's much different from a salt bar, though. The lather is not lotion-like and stiff like a salt bar, but still smooth and creamy, much like milk itself. The bar has more slip to it, and generally just feels better. Now, this isn't to stay that a non-milk bar can't be amazing, because it definitely can. However, as mentioned before, I'm only comparing two soap bars that have the same ingredients, except one is made with milk and the other with water.

For the purposes of this short post, I'll be talking about goat's milk/cheese. Aside from the visual and tactile experience, what else does it give? Oh boy...this is the best part! Not only does it feel better, but the milk makes your skin actually FEEL better. When I dried my skin off, I could notice how softer my skin felt. Why is this? Well, one thing that allows this to happen is the extra fat that's in milk and cheese. Soap bars need to be made with some type of fat and lye to be soap. The extra fat that does not get turned into soap moisturizes your skin, and helps to prevent that tight, dry feeling skin that needs moisture can get. The addition of goat's milk makes this happen. Now, what else?

Creamy, moisturizing Pink Lady goat's cheese soap. Just in time for Valentine's Day! From The Soap Distillery

Aside from the addition of extra fat, goat's milk is loaded with vitamins, specifically vitamin A, which helps to repair your skin. Studies that have been made about the benefits of vitamin A show this to be true, but of course, without getting a specific soap tested by the FDA, we can't say how effective it would be for each person. I can say that many people with skin issues tend to like to use unscented or mildly scented goat's milk soaps because of what they offer the skin. Between vitamin A and lactic acid, goat's milk is the way to go.

The best way for you to know for sure is to try a soap with goat's milk/cheese! Don't just take my word for it :)