Did you know we use only LOCAL, fresh Goat’s Milk from a private family farm in our Goat’s Milk Soaps?  The farm is less than 20 minutes from where we make the soap.  We work with a sweet young girl who cares for her own goat’s and sells us extra milk as needed to use in our Orange Oatmeal, Lavender, Gingered White Tea and Good Clean Goat’s Milk Soaps.  Also once in awhile she sells us blue eggs from her chickens – that is always a treat for our entire family!

When we started soaping we knew pretty early on we wanted to include goat’s milk in some of our soaps.  We knew that the milk provided some great benefits to the skin, but we didn’t know much else.  Through research and trial and error we have found out some amazing things about goat’s milk. First and foremost we learned what those “great” benefits to the skin are but we also learned how soaping with goat’s milk or any milk is very different from soaping with water.

Goat’s milk is really wonderful both used in all natural skin care products and used alone as a beverage.  The family we purchase our goat’s milk from drinks it exclusively in place of cows milk; they think it tastes better and I am sure they feel comfortable knowing exactly what their herd are eating every day.  For us we like to use goat’s milk in our soaps.  The benefits are measurable.

Milk from goats helps to delay the signs of skin aging.  Let me mention that again – helps to delay the signs of aging…yes, please!  This is possible due to the high content of alpha-hydroxy acids in the milk.  These acids are the ones which break down dead skin cell bonds therefore removing the dead skin cells from the skin’s surface which in turn leaves new cells on the surface.  Those are the ones that make your skin appear smoother and more youthful.  Furthermore many commercial soap products use harsh chemicals to act like these natural acids and break down the skin cells that way.  Over time these chemicals can actually act like a chemical burn on the skin.  Goat’s milk is a fantastic all natural alternative to delaying the signs of skin aging.

Goat’s milk contains important anti-inflammatory properties.  The fat content in goat’s milk reduces skin inflammation while the cream present in the milk acts as a natural moisturizer.  This is why many soaps made with goat’s milk are more soothing to dry and damaged skin than soaps made without goat’s milk.  Some of our customers even report not needing to use lotion when they use their goat’s milk soap on a regular basis.

Goat’s milk feeds the skin from the inside out.  The milk is loaded with much needed essential nutrients and vitamins.  Vitamins such as D, C, B1, B6, B12, and E are absorbed into the body and feed and nourish the skin.    When your skin in nourished on the inside it is going to look and feel so much better on the outside.

Milk from goats may be effective for treating acne and skin conditions.  The reason this is possible is due to the fact the goat’s milk has anti-bacterial properties that delay the growth of microbial organisms that spur the spread of acne.  We recommend our goat’s milk soap for anyone suffering from allergies, eczema, psoriasis, and /or dermatitis.  We developed our Good Clean Goat’s Milk Soap for those customers with the strongest of sensitives as it contains no fragrance or exfoliants, just good clean soap.

Soaping with goat’s milk is a little different than soaping with just water.  First off as a soaper you have a choice to use powdered goat’s milk or fresh goat’s milk in your recipe.  We always use fresh milk in our soap recipes.  Normally when you begin a batch of soap you mix lye with a liquid, usually water.  Lye is an integral component to making soap but is also a caustic agent and must be handled carefully especially once it becomes in contact with the liquid.  Typically, in a well ventilated space or outside, a soaper, wearing a mask and safety gear, would pour the lye slowly into the water and stir until it was thoroughly combined.  The process of mixing the lye and water together produces steam and heat so the soaper would allow the mixture to sit and cool until it was the proper temperature to continue the soap making process.

When working with goat’s milk you must first freeze it.  Ice cube trays work well for this.  Then very slowly you add your lye mixture to the goats milk ice cubes.  It helps to have the ice cubes sitting in a ice bath to continue to force down the temperature of the milk.  Where it might take 1 minute to add all of the lye to your liquid when using water, it takes closer to 15 to 30 minutes to add the same amount to the goats milk.  You want to be very careful to keep the temperate of the mixture as cool as possible.  Something interesting to note about goats milk is that it will change color as you add the lye.  It starts out a very creamy natural color and as the temperature begins to rise it takes on a yellow or yellowish orange hue and becomes thicker.  Not to worry, the yellow color does not stay in the end result.  Once the goats milk and lye are incorporated you can continue soaping as you would any other batch.

It takes a little bit of extra effort to make goat’s milk soap but we think it is worth it for all the wonderful skin benefits.  If you haven’t tried goat’s milk soap in the past I would encourage you to do so soon.

We are currently working on a lotion stick version of our Good Clean Goat’s Milk Soap for our customers who have asked to have the skin benefits in lotion form.  Follow our progress at https://www.facebook.com/puregracesoap.