Chicago Facial Bar Adds Breast Milk to List of Add-Ons

— -- It's just made its way to the public, but it's something mommy bloggers have been swearing by for years.

A just-opened Chicago facial bar plans to add breast milk to its list of skin-care add-ons in the coming months. Mud Facial Bar founder Shama Patel said moms inspired her to find a vendor so she could offer the purported benefits of breast milk to her clients.

"I always want to think outside the box," she said. "Moms are using breast milk for more than feeding their babies. They also use it on skin."

Indeed. A quick search for "breast milk facials" revealed a BabyCenter message board thread from 2011 where several moms talked of using breast milk to reduce redness and get acne under control. Mom Mary Haddad said she used breast milk "on everything" for her little one, from eye crust to diaper rash.

But Patel admitted the benefits of breast milk for skin benefits are anecdotal as opposed to scientific.

The breast milk add-on will cost $10 on top of the $40 treatments Mud Facial offers. The breast milk is mixed with a white clay so it can be applied to the face and dried.

The breast milk comes from milk banks in the Chicago area. Moms are screened by the banks before becoming donors, and Patel gets the milk from the approved women. She thinks it'll be a big hit come summer when women might be looking for a possible way to reduce redness in the face from too much sun.

For the squeamish, Alexis Wolfer, editor of The Beauty Bean, said the purported benefits of breast milk can be mimicked at home with whole milk and honey.