DIY Beauty: milk and oats hand soak
Thursday, 18 June 2009
It’s been awhile since I’ve tried any homemade remedies because I was really busy for the past few weeks to experiment with new recipes. Anyway, I’m making a comeback on this series with expired milk! Okay, the milk didn’t turn bad but it was over the use-by-date by a couple of days. I thought it was a waste to throw the milk away and so I decided to use it on my hands as a hand soak!
Milk and oats are great for smooth and soft skin
Milk is great to soften our skin. Because of the lactic acid found in the milk, it actually makes a great natural exfoliator, sloughing off those dead cells and leaving our skin smooth and soft. Why do you think milk bath was a favorite of Cleopatra? Oats, on the other hand, possess some wonderful skin care properties because they have the best amino acid balance of all cereal grains and a high silica content, making them great emollients that restores the skin’s natural moisture. They are also said to be highly absorptive, hypoallergenic, and can be used to cleanse, exfoliate, soften and soothe the skin; suitable for most skin types.
Pour everything into a big container large enough for both hands
So first, I found a big glass container which can fit both my hands. Next, I grinded some rolled oats and finally, I just poured the oats and the milk into the container. For photo effect, I put in some rosebuds and lavender tea leaves but those can actually be left out of course. Anyway, the smell of the milk and oats overcame the inital scent from the lavender tea leaves almost immediately.
Oats act as a natural scrub for the hands
To experiment with this homemade DIY hand soak recipe, you should have at least 15 minutes on hand as you need that time or longer to benefit from the dip. Since there was nothing else to do, I massaged my hands constantly and I found the oats to be a great natural scrub. And after 15 minutes, I just washed my hands under the tap and moisturized them with my hand cream. My hands felt a lot softer and smoother of course but the effects aren’t long lasting unless I have the luxury of doing this as often as I want!
Recipe can be used for foot soak too
This hand soak recipe is really easy, but it’s definitely indulgent considering the amount of milk wasted. But since it was expired milk, I didn’t feel so bad about using it. You can use this recipe as part of your DIY manicure session too since it will make your cuticles really soft. Milk by itself is good enough as a soak if you don’t want to use oats and this recipe can of course be expanded to become a foot soak although the idea will have to wait since I don’t own a cow or have an Anthony to fund my fancies.
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Posted in Homemade/DIY | 19 Comments »
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June 18th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Hey! This is a great DIY receipe!
The skin on my hands are actually more sensitive than my face, I realised.
The hand that I use to put on my skincare and apply base makeup is dry and rough.
I remember that there’s once when the skin on my fingers is entirely peeling off when I use shampoo which is too chemically overwhelming.
sesame Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Okay, now I get it. It’s the skincare products. I remember Paris B of My Women Stuff had a post where her skin peeled quite badly after using an organic line. I asked Susan of True Beauty about this and she said it’s cos of the ingredients and the fact that skin on our fingers are thin.
June 18th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
this is great tip. Can I use Instant Oat ? ( I have Quaker Instant Oat at home )
sesame Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Instant oats are no good for our skin. Because it’s processed, it tends to dry out our skin. I’ve tried it and the fresh ones are much better. You can do with baby oats too – those that you need to cook before eating.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Hi,
thanks for sharing. This is a great recipe. My hands are in really bad condition even if I put the hand cream everyday. Will give this a try. Also a good way of recycling the expired milk.
By the way, where can I find the rose bud and lavender in singapore. Though for visual effect, it would be nice to add the flowers for relaxing
sesame Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I haven’t seen lavender tea leaves around. But I have seen rose bud tea like those you see in the picture sold in some medicinal hall. Maybe you can try your search there.
June 18th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I’ve been wanting to use milk to wash my face, but got phobia about the smell. You know when sometimes babies throw up milk? My mum was a babysitter years ago and I like to carry them after they got fed :X
About the rodbuds I got from TrueBeauty, do you know what they are good for the body? The smell is so strong, I’ve yet to try them…
sesame Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Ah, the smell of milk can be quite a turn off…but I wouldn’t say it’s as bad as the vomit from babies.
Rosebuds are known for some beauty effects and also to improve digestion, blood circulation, and ward off depression. I agree about the smell; not everyone likes it. Maybe you don’t use so much in one brew?
June 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
By the way, thanks for adding me to your blogroll. I also did the same ^_^
sesame Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Oh you’re welcome! I like your bilingual style! You’re very good!
June 18th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Forgot to ask you, should I warm the milk or can I use directly from the fridge?
sesame Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
You can use it both ways, depending on your personal preference.
June 18th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
that is definitly an idea i would like to try as it sounds quite interesting.
sesame Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
It’s kind of fun actually.
June 18th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I loved doing this. I couldn’t find any flowers around so I added some honey, warmed it up a it and soaked with the oatmeal. My hands felt very soft afterwards. The ideal would be of course bathing in it, but I don’t own a cow either! :p
sesame Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Oh honey is nice! It’ll definitely add to the positive effects. I might try that next time.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:34 am
HI Sesame,
*digress*
since the market has mineral makeup and stuff..
is there any bb cream which is of mineral components as well?
hahaha i have followed your footsteps becoming more au naturale lolx..
sesame Reply:
June 19th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Most of the BB cream seems to contain some mineral components eg. titanium dioxide but not sure if any brands has more. If I’m not wrong, Etude House has a BB cream marketed specifically with mineral components but I’m not sure about the exact ingredients. But I don’t think they’re 100% natural, if that’s what you’re looking for.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:59 am
[...] milk Still, I hate to bin them so I thought I should use them for my hands since I like the milk and oats hand soak I tried last time. Moreover, I learnt that goat’s milk beats cow’s milk with a higher [...]