Milk, Balm, Body Cream: What Is the Difference?

Although these body care products have the same function: to moisturize and protect the skin, there are notable differences which will impact your choice:

• Texture: The body balms have a fatty and thicker structure. On the other hand, the body milks have a fluid and light texture. They are easy to apply and penetrate easily in the layers of the epidermis without leaving a greasy film. The body creams have a smoother and more flexible texture.

• Composition: The creams and the milks for the body are both the fruit of an emulsion, i.e. that they mix aqueous ingredients (water, milk, hydrolat...) and oily (butter, oil and vegetable wax). What differentiates them lies in their proportion of fatty and aqueous body. A milk will be richer in water thus more liquid, whereas a cream will be richer in fat. Like milks and creams, body balms are much richer and are composed only of fats, which explains their consistency.

• Use: Body balms are very nourishing and are therefore used to deeply care for dry, fragile and damaged skin rather than for daily care. It is better to use it in the evening because it leaves a greasy film on the skin, and must be applied on wet skin to facilitate the penetration. Because of their watery texture, body milks are quickly absorbed by the skin, leaving no greasy film on the surface. They are therefore suitable for people with normal to oily skin and are ideal for daily use. Finally, creams are suitable for quickly moisturizing the body, protecting against external aggressions and fighting against skin aging. More nourishing than milk, they are recommended for normal to dry skin.

• Conservation: Contrary to the balm, the milk and the cream for the body contain preservatives (O-cymen-5-ol for example) in order to avoid all contaminations. Indeed, the presence of liquid in their composition makes them more fragile.