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Skin Care Products Made From Jersey Milk
"Clarabelle's Creamy Creations" is a business based on one cow û a pampered Jersey named Clarabelle. While she may not be the only cow on Dawn and Ken Peterson's farm at South Range, Wis., she's the only one whose milk is made into soaps, facial cleansers and moisturizers.
    Dawn Peterson skims off the rich, "certified organic" cream, using it as the base for her all-natural, unscented skin care products, which she sells at craft fairs, the local feed store, and by mail order. Her products come in custom-sized containers to suit everyone's needs.
    "Living about a mile from Lake Superior, our winters are more harsh here than many other places, and before I started making and using Clarabelle's products, I had deep, dry cracks on my feet that were painful and seemed impossible to get rid of," Dawn says. "I tried almost everything, including moisturizers and commercial goat's milk soap I bought in a store. Nothing helped."
    This experience motivated the farm woman to take matters into her own hands, and develop a personal recipe for soaps and moisturizers, using her pet Jersey's high-fat milk.
    Once she tried her new moisturizer on her feet, Peterson says it took only a matter of a few days, and the cracks all healed up. "My moisturizer heals grand canyon cracks fast, and my soap keeps your skin from drying out again," she points out.
    Since Clarabelle's milk fat level varies depending on her diet and the time of year, Peterson uses a recipe that's adjusted according to the current milk fat level.
    "I want my products to be consistently beneficial, so I have to do a lot of calculating to get the recipe right," she explains. "I add lye and oils to the cream to create glycerin, which is the moisturizing component. The lipid proteins in milk are insoluble in water and work to seal moisture into the skin and prevent drying. Commercial soap manufacturers remove the glycerin and that's why my soap is more useful to heal skin damage."
    Peterson uses cow, rooster and other farm animal molds to make her 5 to 6-oz. soap bars. Because they're handcrafted, they're more solid and last a lot longer than commercial soaps. They sell for $5.99 each, plus S & H.
    According to her recipe, the milk must first be heated, and then frozen, before the rest of her work begins. Six cups of milk makes a 20-bar batch. "My moisturizer contains Clarabelle's cream, lanolin, grape seed oil, almond oil, wheat germ oil, natural beeswax, and comfrey infusion," she explains. "It's not greasy it absorbs into the skin."
    The ambitious farm entrepreneur uses her computer to make all her own labels and brochures, and is also starting a newsletter.
    Until Peterson finishes putting together her own website, products can be ordered by email or phone.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dawn and Ken Peterson, 3032 S. Hanson Rd., South Range, Wis. 54874 (ph 715 398-0275; clarabellescream@aol.com).


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2006 - Volume #30, Issue #6