Milk it! Dairy produce being utilised for skin care benefits in Germany

History shows us that milk has been used in beauty treatments for years, and although the actual health benefit of a milk bath is limited, it has become popular within the wellness sector.

According to the German Press Association (DPA), the hotel in the German town of Fischen, specializes in fresh milk and has patented the term ‘Milchwell’, meaning ‘milk well’.

Helps dry skin​

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

The milk is often combined with honey, herbs and olive oil and is used to make curd for facial masks, cream for hand treatments, yogurt used in full body packs, and the buttermilk is used as a general beauty treatment.

The focus of the milk at this spa is on cow milk rather than the milk of mares or donkeys, which it is thought Cleopatra bathed in, and the Tanneck hotel claims that people are convinced of its positive effect.

Calming effect on the skin​

One dermatologist from Muenster in Germany has backed up this claim stating that the calcium in milk can have a calming effect on the skin, as the combination of milk and oil is positive because vitamin E is fat soluble.

“Milk products seem to replenish fats and the vitamin E contained in milk seems to smooth the skin,” ​commented Nadine Peukert.

Whilst Peukert states that a milk bath can be very good for someone with normal to dry skin, they are very mild and she warns that users should not to expect too much.

“When someone applies a milk curd mask, they should realize that the active ingredient in the natural product occurs in a very low concentration,”​ she said.