Bathing like Cleopatra - milk as a skincare product

By Cornelia Wolter Oct 6, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Berlin - Cleopatra is said to have retained her beauty by taking baths in milk and honey. Poppaea, the second wife of the Roman Emperor Nero, kept a herd of 500 female donkeys because she said bathing in their milk made her skin light and taut.

Milk has been used in beauty treatments since antiquity, and even today many believe that the natural product offers something special. Although the actual health benefit of milk baths is limited, its use in wellness is increasing. Often it is combined with honey, herbs and olive oil.

A wellness hotel in the German town of Fischen, in the area known as Allgaeu south-west of Munich, specializes in fresh milk and has even patented the word 'Milchwell.' Here the focus is on cow milk rather than the milk of mares, and people are convinced of its positive effect. It is used to make curd for facial masks, cream for hand treatments, yogurt used in full body packs and buttermilk that is mixed with herbs and used as a general beauty treatment.

'Buttermilk helps dry skin,' says Patricia Fischer-Schwegler, who runs Hotel Tanneck in Fischen. Dairy products are good remedies for imperfect skin, she says. Vitamins B, A and E contained in the milk have a regulating and regenerative effect.

'Milk products seem to replenish fats and the vitamin E contained in milk seems to smooth the skin,' says Nadine Peukert, a dermatologist in Muenster, Germany. The calcium in milk also can have a calming effect on the skin. The combination of milk and oil is positive because vitamin E is fat soluble.

A milk bath can be very good for someone with normal to dry skin. However, they are very mild and Peukert warns not to expect too much. 'When someone applies a milk curd mask, she should realize that the active ingredient in the natural product occurs in a very low concentration,' says the dermatologist.

Another business that has placed faith in milk is Toepfer of Dietmannsried in Bavaria. The company produces baby cosmetics under a German federal industry standard. Its bran bath, the recipe for which has been nearly unaltered since 1937, contains dried milk properties such as lactose and dairy powder.

'They help to maintain the moisture in the skin,' says Roman Roessler, director of development. 'In addition the milk proteins ensure that the skin is firm and smooth.'

Peukert considers the positive effect of dairy products on the skin to be purely short term. 'After the so-called Cleopatra bath the skin definitely does feel good,' she says.

The bath calls for 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of olive oil to be added to the bath water. It can also be agreeable to babies and people with neurodermatitis. 'Milk, however, is not a silver bullet against skin ailments and the effects are not very lasting.'

When the skin is extremely dry, products containing urea are the most effective. People who want to keep their skin firm and smooth should use hyaluron products, which penetrate into a deeper layer of skin than milk products. Peukert also warns people who are allergic to dairy products to use caution, especially children. When the allergy is severe, a milk bath could lead to a reaction.

Some historians doubt that Cleopatra was beautiful in the classic sense, but the myth of her beauty appears to be as long lasting as the belief in the benefit of her milk baths.