Monday, December 16, 2013

Chocolate Peppermint Twist Milk Bath

A few weeks ago, I ordered a set of mini milk cans and was having a hard time coming up with what to do with them. My friend, Tonya (Created2Fly), suggested putting a milk bath in them to give as gifts. *Genius!* 
While perusing Pinterest for milk bath recipes, I came across several posts for a hot chocolate milk bath. Um, yes please! I love hot cocoa! Don't you? It is so good this time of year. 



The recipe:
6 heaped Tablespoons whole milk powder 
1/2 cup unsweetened (dark) cocoa powder
15 drops peppermint essential oil*

Mix these together and seal in a bag. You can use the entire amount in your bath. 



Important: Make sure to use whole milk, this allows the essential oils to bond to the fat in the milk and not to your skin. *Please note that peppermint essential oils should not be used by children, during pregnancy, and by individuals with epilepsy

Benefits: Milk is great for moisturizing skin. The fats and proteins in whole milk may help to hydrate the skin by retaining moisture. How? By increasing the skin's capacity to retain water. 
Milk may help with skin conditions as well. It may help calm the redness from a sunburn and reduce dryness and itching from certain skin conditions. 
The antioxidants in milk may improve cell function. The lactic acid is a gentle exfoliate, which could reduce wrinkles, pigmentation and discoloration. 
Plus, it is used as a conditioning ingredient in many recipes for dry, damaged hair.
Dark chocolate may help protect your skin from damaging UV rays, research suggests. 

Unfortunately, I'm not a "bath" person so I didn't test this recipe. I will tell you, though, it smells DELICIOUS. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Sources: The Glamorganic Goddess, Discovery Health, Livestrong
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