DIY Milk Beauty Recipes

For the holidays, we're revisiting some of our favorite festive articles from the Beautylish archive. Enjoy!

Milk is an amazing topical skin care ingredient found in many lotions, bath mixes, and cleansing milks. An ancient beauty secret that spans back to Egypt and Greece, Cleopatra was known for bathing in the stuff, and ancient Greeks used yogurt like Americans use Vaseline—on just about everything! Milk contains high levels of vitamins A, D, E, which is why dairy products are fantastic anti-inflammatories and great for soothing burns. Milk also contains lactic acid, which is a natural skin exfoliant. Since the extraordinary liquid is already sitting in your fridge for your morning breakfast, give these time-honored milk beauty recipes a try.

Romantic Chocolate Milk Bath

• 3 cups whole milk (if you prefer powdered milk, use 2 cups)
• 5 Tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 3 Tbsp raw cacao powder Available at health-food stores
• ½ cup Epsom salts
• 1 cup cornstarch

Nothing says romance like the sensual scent of chocolate, and this saccharine milk bath will leave your skin feeling touchable and soft for any encounter! Fill up your bathtub with hot water until it’s 75% full. In a separate large bowl, mix all of your ingredients together. Then, pour the liquid mixture into your bathtub and enjoy your soak for at least 20 minutes.

Nourishing Milk and Honey Facial Scrub

• 3 Tbsp milk (choose whole milk for drier skin)
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp raw oatmeal, crumbled

Mix all your ingredients together in a bowl until they form a thick paste. Apply the mixture onto clean skin and massage for a few minutes with your fingers. Rinse the scrub with lukewarm water and a washcloth and pat dry.

Soothing Honey Cucumber Cleansing Milk

• 1 chamomile tea bag
• 2 Tbsp clear honey
• 1 small cucumber, peeled and seeded
• 1 Tbsp whole milk

Boil a cup of tea and leave the chamomile bag in the cup to steep and cool. Peel, seed, and mash your cucumber, then strain out the pulp with a fork to retain the juice. Stir the honey into the cucumber juice, and add the milk. Apply this mixture onto your skin with a cotton pad or washcloth, and use your cooled chamomile tea or water to gently wipe off the milk.

This article was originally published on February 18, 2011