Milk Baths
Milk baths are a fun way to use fragrance oils and essential oils plus pamper your skin at the same time. Fast to whip up, easy to do, and great to give as gifts, they are a nice project to start with when beginning to make essential oils and personal care projects.
Many of the ingredients are in our pantry, and so they can be great thing to mix up when you need a last minute (and inexpensive!) gift to give. I like keep on hand some general supplies for this type of gift giving. Some of these are: small wooden spoons or scoops, raffia ribbon, decorative jars (I like to use either pretty canning jars (pint or quart-depending on how much I am planning on giving), and lids.
Milk baths are so soothing and quite beneficial for your skin. Loaded with vitamins and calcium (of course), lipids, amino and lactic acids-all things that we have found are beneficial to the skin. Look on any expensive jar of facial cream and you will find almost all of them. That Cleopatra knew what she was doing!
Here are a few to get you started.
Oatmeal Lavender Bud and Buttermilk Bath
¾ cup Oatmeal (put through a coffee grinder or food processor to make it finely ground
2 cups Buttermilk Powder
½ cup Lavender Buds (Ground slightly-again in the food processor or coffee grinder)
½ to ¾ cup Baking Soda
A few drops of Lavender Essential Oil
Mix together very well, or blend for a moment or so in the food processor.
Buttermilk Bath
¾ cup Buttermilk Powder
¾ cup Baking Soda
3 tablespoons Grated Cocoa Butter, Kokum Butter, or Sal Butter
½ tsp Essential Oil Blend or Fragrance Oil
Blend together in food processor. Make certain that the essential oils are well incorporated.
Milk Bath for Aches and Pains
1 cup Sea Salt
1 cup Epsom Salts
1 cup Baking Soda
1 cup Whole Milk Powder
1-2 teaspoons Blend of Essential Oils (less is more here) such as Eucalyptus, Lavender, and Rosemary (Rosemary is contraindicated in those with high blood pressure and pregnant women)
Well, these should get you going. One thing to dress them up in the jar is to layer them with a beneficial herbal additive (like lavender buds or calendula petals). Just put a layer down of the milk bath, then a layer of herbs, milk bath, herbs...etc.
You can also get creative in your choice of scoops too. You can find some nice homey looking wooden scoops online for great prices. But again, get creative and use something like tying a pretty shell to your jar to use as scoop, or an old silver spoon.
Give your gift on its own, or combine with some other handmade gifts from your kitchen and place in a basket, and you have given truly a gift from the heart. A gift to pamper and soothe. How thoughtful are you? !