Take care of your skin naturally: The health benefits of goat milk soap

When it comes to improving our health, we usually think about eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, getting more or better quality sleep, and getting more exercise.  We may think about limiting our exposure to pesticides by buying organic, drinking filtered water instead of tap water to limit exposure to toxins and heavy metals, or using an air purifier to reduce air contaminants in the air we breathe.  These are good steps to take in overall health care, but they all have to do with what goes in the body.  Have you ever thought about what goes on your body?

Did you know that your skin is your largest organ?  That your skin, just like any of the other organs of your body, needs to be fed the right nutrients for good health?  Wait a minute, you may be thinking.  Feed my skin?  Yes!  We all are doing it every day without thinking about what we are feeding it – which was me, until recently.

I take care to minimize my internal toxic burden.  For example, I buy organic produce when possible and always for the “dirty dozen.”  It’s not just about the pesticide residues that are on conventional produce.  My husband and I have compared side by side organic produce and conventional produce and the results are always the same:  the organic tastes fresher, cleaner, and actually has a taste!  We feel better about feeding our bodies something that is better and healthier and more nutritious.

While God designed our bodies – especially our livers – to detoxify themselves naturally, our system can get overburdened easily in this day and age of increased air, water, and food pollution and contamination.  Doing what we can to decrease that load in the first place, then, makes sense.  I got a shock one day when I started taking the time to read the ingredient lists of my shampoo, soap, and lotion.  Many read like a chemical experiment!

I got a bigger shock when I looked up what these ingredients are and what they do.  Many are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors.  Then I got a real shock when I found out what the FDA says about soap:  “Today there are very few true soaps on the market. Most body cleansers, both liquid and solid, are actually synthetic detergent products.”  Synthetic detergent products….what??!!

So I asked myself:  why would you want to expose yourself to all of that?  I hadn’t really thought about the fact that my skin has millions of little openings in it called pores, and whatever I put on my skin gets adsorbed right into my body.  Ignorance is bliss…until you start to learn better.  And that led me on a quest to find a healthier alternative to what I was using.  Enter goat milk soap.

In my research, I came across Silly Goats Soap Company.  Chris and his wife Sandy are the owners and know all things goat milk.  I recently interviewed Chris and asked him to share about their company, why goat milk is so good for our skin, and to offer our readers a special discount on their products – just in time for the holidays!

Chris, tell me a little bit about Silly Goats Soap Company.  

Chris:  The Silly Goats Soap Company is located on our small, family farm in the hillside country of beautiful South-Central Kentucky. On our little patch of heaven we enjoy getting back to the basics.  We love God, family, friends, and our animals.  We like the concept of being self-sufficient and we are constantly striving to get closer to that goal.

Our goat milk soap is handmade from the milk of our little herd of Lamancha goats.  We milk our goats daily to get our supply of fresh milk.  We make each batch by hand, using goat milk, palm, coconut, and olive oils, along with various natural fragrances and essential oils.   We have thoroughly researched these ingredients and have chosen them as the best ingredients available to feed your skin with the best nourishing and moisturizing properties.  We use only premium all-natural ingredients and form the soap in our homemade wooden molds in small batches.

Our process gives us that lovely fresh and wholesome feel and fragrance that we love and the batch size helps us ensure consistent quality.  We fell in love with the process (part science, part creativity) and truly enjoy what we are doing.  We are very proud of the product we are producing, which really makes us want to share with all of you, and the Silly Goats Soap Company was born!  We know you will love it as much as we do.

What made you start your company?

Chris:  It all started with the desire to have our own source of good high-quality goat milk for drinking (and for our coffee too!)  Then we realized exactly how much milk we were going to have left over and thought of ways we could use it.  There’s cheese of course, but we felt a better use would be for our own skincare.  I have psoriasis and have been fighting my dry skin problem for over 25 years.  My wife has very sensitive skin and can’t use most commercial soaps due to the chemicals they contain.   Being out in the country, we have well water and it is very hard.  Every time we’ve researched these issues, goat milk soap has come up as a solution for better skin health and maintenance. Goat milk has been found to be excellent for replenishing oils, vitamins, and minerals into dry skin. 

Can you give me a summary of the health benefits of using goat milk products? 

Chris:  There are so many benefits of goat milk soap. It’s great for everyday normal skin, sensitive skin and those suffering from skin disorders like eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis.   Doctors highly recommend real, pure goat milk soap for these skin conditions every day. As someone who has suffered with psoriasis for over 20+ years, I cannot recommend it enough.

Goat milk is highly rich in vitamins, minerals, and proteins.  It contains over fifty essential nutrients, like vitamins A, B1, B6, B12, C and E, minerals, citric acid, amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, natural enzymes, and a variety of other nutrients that nourish and revitalize dehydrated skin.  Vitamin A slows down the aging of our skin and helps prevent brown spots and the thickening of skin.  Zinc contributes to the reconstruction of collagen fibers, encouraging moisture retention and assisting in maintaining your skin’s elasticity.

Goat milk is naturally rich in caprylic acid, which is known for soothing and rejuvenating skin.  It also contains lactic acid, an alpha-hydroxy acid, which removes dead skin cells, and which is believed to stimulate the production of collagen and elastin.  All of these make it a great for anti-aging. 

Doctors have recommended using goat  milk soap for those who suffer from acne, eczema, psoriasis, rashes, and sunburn.  It does not leave your skin feeling dry or irritated; it leaves you feeling naturally clean and smooth.

How do you make your soap?

Chris:  Commercial brands of soaps are made with water, detergents, petroleum products and surfactants, all of which are very harmful to your skin.  They take out the glycerin and sell it to makeup manufacturers.  All our goat milk soaps are made using the cold process method.  They are vegetable oil based, giving you a soap that is super high in glycerin, which is awesome for your skin!

We are super generous with the goat milk in our bars!  Our recipe calls for 25% of the total weight to be goat milk.  There is no water added.  Our soaps are made in small batches, hand cut, and then allowed to cure for four to six weeks to complete the curing process.  This curing helps them last two times longer than the leading commercial bars.

What is one interesting fact that you know about goats?

Chris:  We have all grown up watching shows where goats are depicted as eating tin cans and anything laying around.  That is not so! They are actually finicky eaters.  Also, goats are raised all over the world, from the deserts to the mountains.  You would think they are very hardy, but they are really quite delicate and you have to watch their health carefully.

I’ve read that the nutrient levels in goat milk soap largely depend on the amount of milk added during production.  It was difficult to find places that either listed how much goat milk they used or were willing to disclose that information.  Tell us about what you do and how that compares to the industry.

Chris: You do have to be careful when you buy goat milk soap. Some of them claim to be goat milk soap, but they may say “Goat Milk Base”.  What does that really mean?  Goat milk base could be one cup of milk and the rest water or dry goat milk added to water. Buyers beware!  Again, our soaps are pure goat milk, no water added, with 25% of the total weight being goat milk.

Is there a difference in how much goat milk you use in your bars, vs the liquid, vs the lotions?

Chris:  We do add different quantities of milk to the various products. The bar soap is all milk, but the liquid soap and lotions have less milk.  It really is all about science. 

Also, for our lotions, we add sweet almond oil and pure avocado oil.  Sweet almond oil is rich in omega-9 and omega-6 fatty acids. It makes the external layers of the skin softer and more pliable.  It increases the skin’s moisture level by limiting evaporation and is rich in Vitamin E and other nutrient rich lipids.

Pure Avocado oil exhibits excellent penetrating qualities which makes it ideal as a massage oil or carrier oil for all sorts of products. It is also moisturizing while having a low chance of clogging skin pores. It is also known to be very rich in vitamin E and the essential fatty acid Oleic Acid.

So that’s it!  Chris has a saying that goes, “Once You Go Goat, You Will Never Go Back!”  I will have to attest to that.  I got lotion, bar soap for the shower, and liquid soap for washing hands, and I have been impressed with them all.  The soaps lather up nicely and are so silky feeling on my skin.  They do indeed leave my skin feeling moisturized afterward instead of feeling dry, and that feeling lasts!  The lotion smooths on easily and absorbs well into the skin without leaving any kind of greasy or oily residue.  I’ve been using it for about 2 months now and I can say from personal experience that I can feel and see the difference in my skin.

Give it a try and see the difference for yourself!  If you are sensitive to chemicals or fragrances, they have pure and natural unscented soaps and lotions.  Just go to Silly Goats Soap Company  and when you check out, use code throughhim15 for a 15% discount on your order!  (Disclaimer:  Signing up for this discount coupon will add you to Silly Goats Soap Newsletter. They do not spam. They only send out once a month or so and include baby goat pics, new products or promotions.)

As always, if you have any questions or you would like to schedule a discovery session to explore how we might work together, contact me.