Baby BBB | Mummy’s Milk (Breast Milk) as Cleanser and Moisturiser

Now that I have a nursling once more, I thought this would be something interesting to share. Having nursed for close to a decade, I am a firm believer in the goodness of mother’s milk. And believe it or not, aside from its nutritional, medicinal and emotional value, it also has skincare properties.

It took me over four years to realise that breast milk can be an effective makeup remover and moisturiser. Many years back, I had quite a fair amount of expressed breast milk in the fridge which my baby then (my second boy) did not need. Every drop is liquid gold, as some nursing mothers like to refer to it; it would have been a waste to throw it down the sink. I figured that since we clean our faces with cleansing milk anyway, it couldn’t be wrong to do it with mother’s milk. It is, after all, the perfect milk for humans and if it’s good enough for an infant to ingest, it’s good enough for the face. (I baulk at eating breast milk ice cream, though!)

I eventually discovered that the fats in breast milk help to dissolve makeup and remove it well. I experienced no stinging at all in the eye area and that was a huge plus for me! For a full face of makeup, you will need some patience. The time and effort will be worth it – your face will feel clean and soft afterwards. Do note that freshly expressed milk usually contains more foremilk, which has a high water content. Hindmilk – which can be poured out easily from your store of expressed breast milk since it floats on top – contains more fat and has better cleansing power.

I sometimes used breast milk as a moisturiser on my face and would wake up the following day with really soft and smooth skin. However, for me, the only minus point about using breast milk is the smell. Human milk has a really strong smell (tolerable for cleansing, though) and this prevented me from using it daily as a moisturiser.

I haven’t started expressing this time round because it’s so convenient to nurse directly – the containers (hehe!) do not need to be sterilised or washed and the milk is always at the right temperature! ;) But when I eventually do, I’ll be sure to put the excess to good use. If you are a nursing mother and have a store of unneeded expressed milk, do try it on your face – this liquid gold truly works.

Healthy for the skin, au naturel and free…ah, the wonders of mommy’s milk! ♥

Click here for more information regarding the composition of breast milk and the nutrients it contains.

The comic strip above comes from Cut!, the latest Baby Blues book. I love that this popular comic strip doesn’t shy away from portraying realistic aspects of breastfeeding and how it often presents sweet and humorous nursing vignettes. Click here for a few choice ones. :)