The same composition that makes oats so healthy in your breakfast porridge is responsible for making them also good for your skin when you apply them on the outside. Surely you already imagined it, because many cosmetic products contain oats for their ability to soften and soothe the skin. But you may not know that we can also take advantage of these properties of oats for the skin in other ways, not only using cosmetics with oats, but also by preparing a oatmeal bath at home.

Taking an oatmeal bath is ideal for softening and hydrating the skin, as well as calming itching and irritations. It is recommended, for example, for relieve itchy dry, cracked or sensitive skinto improve discomfort in case of eczema or psoriasisto soothe sunburned skin or to care for baby’s sensitive skin or naturally relieve diaper rash. It is even recommended to soothe itching in dogs, which is known as canine atopic dermatitis.

Why is oatmeal good for the skin?

Different properties for the skin are attributed to oats, including moisturizing, emollient, purifying and anti-inflammatory properties. Hence it is included in creams, lotions, gels, shampoos and cleansing masks, to name just some of the most common cosmetic products that we can find with oats.

• Moisturizing power: Thanks to its high concentration of starches and beta-glucans, a type of fiber, oats retain moisture in the skin, which helps prevent dehydration.
• Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action: It is given by its different types of oat phenols, including ventasanthramides, which inhibit the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and also calm irritation.
• Purifying capacity: It comes mainly from saponins, soapy substances that help cleanse the skin.
• Softening properties: They are due to its mucilage, which softens both the skin and the hair.
• pH regulation: Oatmeal helps regulate the skin’s pH.

How to prepare an oatmeal bath

To take full advantage of these properties of oats, it is not enough to add a few flakes to the water. Using oatmeal in the bath is very simple, but it is preferable to use the finely ground oats so that it dissolves well in water. This way, it will be able to form a thin layer that will cover the skin and protect it, retain moisture and reduce inflammation.

One option is to use colloidal oatmealwhich you can find in pharmacies and stores specializing in cosmetic or natural products. Colloidal oatmeal is a flour made from very finely ground oats for cosmetic use and contains both the grain and the bran. Many oat-based cosmetic products contain colloidal oatmeal.

You can also prepare oatmeal for the bath at homefinely grinding the grain or, even easier, the oat flakes. Some people add the flakes directly wrapped in muslin, a stocking or some similar fabric, then securing the bag with a rubber band. The oats thus release some of their substances beneficial for the skin into the water, but if the oats are well ground, dissolving them in the water will give you the advantage that they adhere directly to the skin.

1. How to prepare oatmeal for the bath

If you buy colloidal oatmealyou won’t have to do anything. Simply separate the part you will need.

If you are going to prepare the oatmealboth fine and thick flakes work for you:

• For a bath, grind a cup of flakes in the chopper, a coffee grinder or a food processor the oat flakes until obtaining a very fine powder.
• To know if it is fine enough for youadd a teaspoon to a glass of water and stir lightly: the water should immediately take on a whitish tone, a sign that the dust remains in suspension and does not quickly sink to the bottom.
• If the water does not turn whitish, continue grinding for a while longer so that the oatmeal is finer.

2. How to give yourself an oatmeal bath step by step

This is the basic procedure, only with oats, but you can add other skin products to the water if you wish and your skin problem allows it:

1. Fill the bathtub with warm water. Avoid very hot water if your problem is irritated or inflamed skin, as an excessively high temperature could be counterproductive.
2. Add the cup of powdered oats and stir the water lightly with your handsso that it is well distributed throughout the bathtub. You will see that it turns slightly milky or whitish.
3. Stay in the bathroom at least 15 minutes. Take the opportunity to relax!
4. When leavingbe careful not to slip: oats that have fallen to the bottom are so soft that they can be slippery.
5. To finish, dry yourself carefully with a soft towelwithout rubbing hard, just patting gently, and apply your usual moisturizer or treatment.

If the bath is for a baby and you bathe it in a small bathtub, less oatmeal will suffice, approximately a third.

If you want some ideas of other products that you can add to the water apart from oats (and as long as you don’t have a problem such as atopic skin or dermatitis that would contraindicate it), here are some:

• A few drops of lavender essential oilto enhance the relaxing effects of the bath.
• a little bit of baking sodaif you have irritated skin and want to enhance the pH-regulating effect.
• Some milk or honey They will leave your skin even softer.
• Other essential oils depending on the effects you want, such as some of those proposed in these therapeutic baths.

Other home remedies with oats

Use the flakes or colloidal oatmeal directly, you can take advantage of the softening, moisturizing and cleansing properties of oats in other ways.

• You can make your own oatmeal cleanser at home, like this lavender oatmeal dry cleanser to purify your skin.
• You can also make a homemade conditioner for dry hair.

References