Raw, whole goat milk is a virtual storehouse of nutrients that enrich and pamper all skin types! Goat milk is rejuvenating, anti-inflammatory, and moisturizing. It contains over fifty nutrients including the vitamins A, B1, B2 (riboflavin), B6, B12, C, D, E, and K, niacin, zinc, and calcium, as well as minerals, amino acids, citric acid, unsaturated fatty acid, proteins, various enzymes and many other nutrients. Many of these components of goat milk play an important part in skin-care, working in our soap to gently clean your skin without stripping and drying it, moisturizing your skin, smoothing and plumping your skin, and soothing sensitive and allergenic skin conditions. It’s true; we think goat milk soap is THE BEST kind of soap we can use, and that’s why we use goat milk in our soap!

"Showgirl" produces some of the excellant milk that goes into Garland Goat Soap bars.

We’ve looked at some of the reason’s goat milk is a valuable addition to your skin-care. Perhaps this has raised a question for some of you: Why do we use goats milk in our natural soap bars, rather than cows milk? Does it make a difference? Well, as a matter of fact, it does! Although all milk, to some degree, has good skin-care qualities, goat milk is especially rich, full of nutrients for your skin.

The composition of goat milk differs from that of cow milk. Goat milk is higher than cow milk in vitamins A (helps prevent aging effects in your skin, brown spots, wrinkles, and dryness), B1 (thiamin), B12, calcium (helps clear blemished skin and revitalizes lifeless, tired-looking skin), iron, niacin, and phosphorus. Compared to cow milk, goat milk is higher in small and medium chain fatty acids (which richly moisturize your skin), including caprylic acid which helps our soap to clean without drying out the skin.

All milk contains certain amounts of natural emollients, vitamins and triglycerides that moisturize the skin. However, goat milk has a unique protein structure that enables higher absorption of the milk’s natural emollients. And of course, the higher the absorption level of the emollients, the more effective the moisturizing properties of the soap are! So while cow’s milk may also be good for your skin, goat’s milk definitely has the cutting edge in value for a great bar of handcrafted natural soap!

There are many aspects to keeping healthy, vibrant, smooth skin. Your skin needs to be moisturized, it needs to be exfoliated - the dead skin cells broken down and removed-, it needs protection against harmful bacteria, and it needs good, healthy nourishment and rejuvenation.

Two constituents in goat milk, alpha-hydroxy acid and caprylic acid, both play a crucial role in rejuvenating your skin, adding vital elements of skin-care to our soap. For instance, over time your skin looses its ability to get rid of old cells fast enough. Therefore this outermost skin layer thickens, which reduces your skin’s elasticity and fresh look. Here’s where the alpha-hydoxy acids come into play, breaking down the glue holding your dead skin cells together, and thereby providing the way for your skin to easily shed those unwanted, dead layers. This results in less wrinkles and age spots, less acne, and less dry skin. Alpha-hydroxy acids also help to plump the skin and smooth fine lines. Additionally, these acids neutralize free radicals, slowing the aging process and refreshing the skin.

Caprylic acid is a fatty acid contained in goat milk that reduces alkalinity, giving goat milk soap a pH level very close to that of the skin. This enables our soap to cleanse without stripping the skin of its protective barrier of natural, neccesary oils. Caprylic acid also soothes the surface tension of the skin, allowing it to be moisturized and to absorb the other healthy nutrients of the soap. In addition to alpha-hydroxy acid and caprylic acid, there are other fatty acids present in goat milk that are natural antimicrobials and antifungals.

It is a well know fact that in ancient times, Cleopatra, renowned for her beauty, took milk baths. Now we know why it worked so well for her!!

We mentioned in a recent post Is Goat Milk Good in Soap, the goodness of goat milk in natural soap bars. If you’re like me, though, you’ll be curious to find out more specifically just how the different vitamins and nutrients work for your skin! After all, it’s nice to know, for instance, that goat milk has vitamin A in it…but what does that do for your skin? To begin with, it may encourage youthful skin!

Vitamin A acts as an antioxidant to neutralize harmful elements in our skin, helping to prevent wrinkles, resist infection and keep your skin youthful! It also slows down the effects of aging, as manifested in your skin, and helps prevent both dryness and brown spots on your skin.

Vitamin B12, also found in goat milk, is essential for a variety of synthetic processes in the cells, including skin cells, and an absence of it can be detrimental for skin health.

Vitamin E is another of the vitamins contained in goat milk that protects skin cells from free radical damage (in other words, keeps them from aging).

Consider another component of goat milk, zinc. For some of you, zinc may bring to mind a type of metal, but in reality, zinc is an essential mineral that is a component of more than thirty enzymes. Zinc contributes to the reconstruction of collagen fibers, resulting in firmer, smoother skin (collagen fibers are responsible for your skin’s strength and elasticity, and its degradation leads to wrinkles that accompany aging). Zinc also encourages moisture retention and assists in maintaining your skin’s elasticity. Is the value of goat milk as a wonderful, natural skin-care product beginning to make more sense? There’s more yet…we’ll continue to look at more of the components of goat milk in another post!