Every year, starting in the late fall until early spring, my hands get really dry. They sometimes crack and bleed. I’ve tried a lot of different hand/body lotions/creams over the years. Some helped, but never completely healed the dryness. What has helped this year, I discovered completely by accident. I’ve had a bunch of small business, homemade soap bars that I’ve been working through using up since last spring. I’m not normally a fan of bar soaps because they get messy, especially when the bar is almost gone. I’m powering through that though because I’m really impressed with the improvements I have had. The bar I’m currently using is a bar soap made from goat milk and has calendula oil in it. Calendula is a variety of marigolds known as pot marigold. One of it’s benefits is improving skin health. Goat milk also has skin care benefits, including:
– gentle on the skin, doesn’t remove the skins natural fatty acids and may help moisturize the skin by replacing missing fats
– contains fatty acids, cholesterol, Vitamin A and selenium
– contains lactic acid which is a alpha hydroxy acid that helps with removing dead skin cells. This may help prevent acne by preventing pores from being clogged.
– contains probiotics which may help the skin maintain it’s natural microbiome
Before using it, I was in between bars and using more cheap, chemical filled pump soap. My hands were cracking and bleeding, especially on the knuckles. They cleared up right away once I started using the goat milk soap. I also make my own pump soap with coconut oil and castile soap, but that didn’t seem to help. Goat milk soap seems to be the magic remedy for my dry hands during the winter.
A few other things I do to help with dry skin during the winter:
– wear dish gloves when doing dishes
– use a gentle dish detergent like Seventh Generation or Myers
– wear gloves when outside until the weather warms up
Challenge:
If you suffer from dry skin, give goat milk soap a try. If you are unable to purchase it from a local maker, check out Etsy. There are a bunch of sellers on there.
Resources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/goat-milk-soap-benefits#benefits
https://angelapalmer.com/skin-care-benefits-of-goat-milk/#:~:text=Goat%20Milk%20Rejuvenates%20Your%20Skin&text=Goat’s%20milk%20contains%20lactic%20acid,Yay!
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2019/07/24/homestead/used-in-skincare-products-goat-milk-benefits-are-backed-up-by-science/