Calling all dairy queens to let goat milk work its magic on your skin with artisan products made from natural ingredients.
Milk is a rising-star ingredient in the beauty and skincare world. Milk contains lactic acid, which is proven to be a superior skin-softening agent and a natural exfoliant that doesn’t set off alarm bells for irritation or dryness. And when we talk about milk properties, the latest news in dairy-based beauty includes an industry explosion of goat’s milk along with vegan-friendly versions of skin-softening products like almond and vegan-oil based formulas.
For many, goat milk is completely in the equation and seems like a quirky choice. Technically, like cow’s milk, it is considered a type of dairy because its produced from mammals. Not like in Indonesia, goat’s milk is actually the most popular milk worldwide, and it has been for centuries. It’s springing into dairy-beauty routines everywhere and it’s a great alternative to cow’s milk because it’s easier to digest, less inflammatory and lower in many of the allergens that are commonly found in cow’s milk.
“Most people in Indonesia dislike the goaty smell of goat’s milk products, whereas goats produce plenty of benefits, including high in vitamin D and has very thin protein molecules, making it very easy to digest and good for lactose intolerant individuals. And because it’s also rich of vitamin A with a mild texture, goat’s milk doesn’t trigger an itchy response or worse, especially for consumers with eczema and allergy. It is also more compatible for skin cell repair,” Esterlyta Pandjaitan (Lyta), Founder of Moloka Farm Living explains the goodness of goat milk.
Lyta created Moloka Farm Living in 2012 to answer the challenges of those who still doubt the benefits of goat’s milk. From modest workshops in Parung, Bogor, West Java, Moloka produces goat milk-based products ranging from food to skincare using only natural ingredients. The business started from the family farm that raised a hundred Etawa (Jamnapari) goats in addition chicken and freshwater fish.
When Lyta stayed in Canada, she diligently observed goat-milk-based beauty products, especially the packaging, which she thought was very eye-catching and creative. Also, when she travelled some parts of America she knew that goat’s milk soaps were so popular there and sold on the premium level among other beauty products. Then, she learned about how to make soaps and tried to produce them using goat’s milk harvested from her family farm, in addition to selling milk to manufactures. Her experiences in making aromatherapy really helped her to get the formulas to produce perfect goat’s milk soaps.
Not only soaps, Lyta developed her products by creating two kinds of cheese; fresh farmer’s style and feta and followed by other skin care products such as shampoo and lip balm.“All our production are still manual and handmade and using local resources including the workers to produce around 5,000 to 10,000 pieces of soaps per month. We usually introduce and sell our products in segmented bazaar and events, especially handmade products and artisan market which allow us to interact and communicate directly to customers, so that we can see their responses in addition to take the chance to evaluate our products. Feedback has been positive so far,” Lyta revealed.
Moloka releases soap variants based on skin types: oily, dry and normal with basic ingredients including fresh goat milk, coconut oil, palm oil, essential oil and sunflower seeds. Additional ingredients for exclusive variants include charcoal, lavender, lemon yoghurt, black tea tree, patchouli oatmeal and peppermint priced at IDR 55,000 for a soap bar with aroma (80gr) and IDR 50,000 for an unscented (plain) soap bar (110gr). Also available in liquid version (IDR 80,000 for unscented and IDR 125,000 with additional ingredient).
Other Moloka’s popular signature products include lip balm with variants including original, green tea and chocolate (IDR 35,000) and carrot milk and celery shampoo bar (IDR55,000) which is very suitable for travelling because it is simple and easy to pack.
“Most of our customers really like soap and shampoo bar because of the lack of preservative and SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate). And we see that most people now demand simple packaging and ingredients, and we represent those elements,” Lyta told NOW! Jakarta.
For cheese, Moloka sell Goat Feta IDR 80,000 for 190ml and IDR 125,000 for 270ml, while Fresh Farmer’s Chevre are available at IDR 60,000 per 100gr.
Lyta revealed that Moloka’s production capacity is still small to ensure quality. Customers can purchase via online shops like Shopee, Bukalapak and Tokopedia or directly order through Instagram account @molokafarm.
