Does milk really do a body good? Cleopatra supposedly thought taking milk baths daily would maintain her gorgeous skin. Was it all for naught, or was the Queen of the Nile onto something?

Milk is an excellent source of lactic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA). But lactic acid already exists in our cells, so the body recognizes and accepts it more readily than it would a fruit-derived AHA. For the same reason, lactic acid creates less inflammation as it assists in new cell growth than other AHAs.

But don’t go jump in a milk bath just yet – homogenized milk will show little to no effect on the skin. Why? Unfortunately, the milk has to sour before the lactose in it can be converted to lactic acid. And no amount of skincare benefits are worth smelling like old cheese all day.

Continue reading The Milky Way: Using Lactic Acid in Skincare →