More and more local women are turning their excess breast milk into either soap or jewellery, writes Meera Murugesan
BREAST milk is precious and highly nourishing for baby but can you imagine it being used for anything other than feeding an infant?
Some enterprising women certainly can. Breast milk soap, anyone? How about breast milk jewellery or keepsakes?
It’s a concept that will certainly raise eyebrows but such products are much in demand among young mothers and a growing number of local businesses are catering to this increasing need.
Breast milk is being used to make gentle and nourishing soaps and even turned into pretty and creative breast milk jewellery that mums treasure. It’s a concept that’s already well-established overseas and fast catching on here. For some women, the goal is to retain something precious from their journey of motherhood.
Others don’t want excess milk that they have to go to waste, when it can be turned into something beautiful, like jewellery or practical, like soap.
MILK AND CRAFT
Eean Ti Mei Foong, who runs an online business called Beyond the Milky Way, understands this need and provides women with unique and beautifully-crafted breast milk soap and jewellery. Her customers are not just in Malaysia but in Singapore and Indonesia as well.
Ti, who is experienced in soap making, turned specifically to crafting breast milk soap after the birth of her daughter in 2012. Her daughter rejected her frozen breast milk and, not wanting to waste it, Ti used the milk to make soap and a new business was born.
Mothers with excess breast milk are her usual customers and they place their orders online and send her the milk through courier service. The milk is then stored in a deep freezer and used to craft either soap or jewellery in designs that the mums favour.
“It’s still a new trend in Malaysia. Not many people know that frozen or expired breast milk can be turned into a memento to mark a woman’s breastfeeding journey,” explains Ti.
Ti’s breast milk soaps come in eye-catching animal and flower designs and the inclusion of nourishing oils such as coconut or olive to the mixture means these soaps protect and moisturise the skin well.
Her jewellery or keepsakes are equally enchanting, with breast milk solidified to form designs such as tiny baby feet, hands or even feeding bottles. These designs are then encased in transparent lockets to show them off to best effect.
Ti says it takes about two to four weeks to complete a piece of jewellery and up to a month to make the soap, given the long curing process.
Heidi Tan Hua Wey is co-founder Woodie Pie, which started offering breast milk jewellery under the name Simply Unique in August last year.
Most of its customers are from Malaysia but they also receive orders from Singapore Customers place their order through the company’s website and send the milk via courier services. It takes about eight weeks to process a piece of breast milk jewellery.
Tan stresses that even expired breast milk can still be used for this purpose.
Tan says Woodie Pie came up with its own formulation to create breast milk jewellery after much research.
She explains that solidified breast milk takes on a quality resembling plastic and they use a resin from the United States to preserve breast milk into solid beads for jewellery setting.
It takes about 20-30ml of milk to create one piece and the pieces are set in jewellery of various metals, such as 925 sterling silver, stainless steel or silver plated. They do everything from earrings and pendants to keepsake charms, with prices ranging from RM49-RM280 according to designs and the type of metal used.
“We believe the demand for breast milk jewellery will go up as mothers love any keepsake that reminds them of their children and they love wearing jewellery too,” says Tan.
SOAP AWAY
Giene Cheng, co-founder of Artiz Soap based in Shah Alam, Selangor which provides custom-made breast milk soap, says this trend is on the rise because many women have realised the benefits of breastfeeding and knowing how precious breast milk is, they don’t want to waste any excess or near expiration milk which they have stored in their fridge.
Most mums, she adds, go through a labour of love to diligently pump and store breast milk for their children. If it’s unused or nearing its shelf life, rather than discard, they want it to be used to create something for themselves or their families.
As is the usual practice in this business, customers either send their milk to Artiz Soap or the company arranges for pickup. “Breast milk soap is very good for dry skin, eczema or even sensitive skin because it’s gentle and nourishing.”
Generally, it takes about 20ml of milk to make one square bar. Cheng says Artiz Soap, which was established in 2013, uses high-quality natural and food grade ingredients to ensure the products are as safe as possible.
Besides the standard bar soap, they also make designs in the form of roses, teddy bears, owls, cartoon characters and even fruit and cupcakes.
Some of the food-inspired designs are so meticulously handcrafted they look
almost edible.
But one must be willing to pay for this exquisite craftsmanship. A kilogramme of handcrafted breast milk soap (about 10 pieces) from Artiz Soap can cost between RM190 and RM250.
“Basically, this is about preserving something precious and making a long term investment for the health of your skin,” says Cheng.
Besides breast milk soaps, the company also offers a wide range of natural ingredients for consumers who want to use them for skincare or soap making. It even offers soap making courses.
Chan Sook Woon, a chemistry graduate and founder of Hello Natural Lab, says her inspiration for making breast milk soap came when she herself had some expired breast milk.
She was thinking of ways to salvage it when a friend suggested that she turn it into soap. From then on, she has been encouraging other mothers to do the same.
She has customers from Malaysia and Singapore and says the most popular soap designs include 3D baby toys and animals.
“Turning expired breast milk into soap is not only preventing wastage but creating the best soap for baby’s skin and adults too.”
She says to yield a batch of six to 12 pieces of soap, she would need between 200 and 300ml of breast milk from a customer. All milk received is kept in a freezer and labelled with the mother’s name before the soap-making process.
Chan says the shelf life of breast milk soap is between one and two years but with proper storage, it can last longer.
“As long as the soap doesn’t smell rancid or turn oily, it is safe for use.”
Each bar can last for 30-40 uses depending on its size and Chan sells for between RM120 and RM180 for a batch of six to 12 pieces depending on the ingredients, weight and quantity.
But one must ensure that these soaps have minimum water contact after every use as they tend to dissolve easily.
Chan says one of the main ingredients in breast milk which makes it suitable for soap is its high lactic acid content. Lactic acid is known as a natural exfoliant and breast milk also contains vitamin C, A and E which are also beneficial for the skin.
The milk also contains lactoferrin, which is known for its anti-bacterial properties.
However, Chan explains that one can only reap all these benefits if the soap making process doesn’t involve a temperature that’s higher than 35 degrees Celsius.
Anything higher and the natural goodness of breast milk will be destroyed.
OTHER USES OF BREAST MILK
BESIDES breast milk soap, breast milk in its natural form is also beneficial to the skin in many ways. This includes:
1. Acne
Clean face well with water and then apply breast milk to the affected areas.
2. Cleanse
Apply milk over the face and then wipe off with a soft clean towel for gentle and soothing cleansing.
3. Facial
A breast milk facial is usually a mixture of milk with white clay and is supposed to give skin an anti-ageing boost.
4. Sunburn
Breast milk can provide soothing relief from the pain and discomfort of sunburn. The antibodies in the milk help heal skin.