'Mud,' Chicago Spa, Offers Breast Milk Facials To Treat Skin Conditions With Lauric Acid

Men and women tend to have their own skincare regimen they swear by that includes everything from body scrubs to moisturizer. These beauty treatments aim to defy age and prolong eternal youth for the entire body, especially the face. Mud, a facial bar in Chicago, offers an exotic breast milk facial that claims to treat skin conditions, such as acne and eczema, with lauric acid.

Mud founder Shama Patel was inspired to find a vendor after reading mom blogs that purported the skin benefits of breast milk. "There are so many mommy blogs out there that talk about using breast milk to basically help with skin conditions,” Patel told FOX 32. "I really wanted to come up with something that is quick, effective, that appealed to the urban city girl.”

Patel purchases the breast milk from local moms who are registered with a certified milk bank. The suppliers are medically screened so customers can be confident that there are no diseases in these bodily fluids. The donors are also notified if their milk will be used in a spa.

Patel believes the breast milk facials will become a big hit in the summer when women may want to reduce redness in the face from too much sun exposure. For those with acne, the breast milk's lauric acid content may prove beneficial for the skin. The saturated fat has antibacterial and antiseptic properties that have been shown to reduce acne.

A 2010 study published in the journal ACS Nano found lauric acid, both found in coconut oil and human breast milk, could help attack skin-dwelling bacteria that cause common acne. Dissaya "Nu" Pornpattananangkul, a bioengineering graduate student at UC San Diego, developed the "smart delivery system" in the study that is capable of delivering lauric-acid-filled nano-scale bombs to the affected area. The student and her research team believe the non-scale delivery of drugs that are applied topically to the skin could improve treatment of skin bacterial infections.

If you feel squeamish about a breast milk facial, there’s always pure coconut oil. It’s composed of 50 percent lauric acid compared to the 10 percent in breast milk. That way you’ll reap the benefits of lauric acid without relying on online bodily fluids.