Do you suffer from eczema or dermatitis? Use this in your bath, you’ll be left with skin that feels silky and smooth thanks to the oats. Store the bath mylk in a sealed glass bottle in the fridge, where it will last for about a week. Use it for relief when your skin is particularly irritated, by adding a healthy slurp to a warm bath—the more, the better.
Shake well before each use.
Ingredients
500 millilitres (2 cups) coconut milk
1 cup fresh or dried chamomile flowers
95 g (1 cup) rolled oats
500 millilitres (2 cups) boiling water
Jasmine essential oil, for fragrance
Method
In a heavy-based saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer, then stir through the chamomile.
After 10 minutes stirring over a very low heat, remove the saucepan from the heat and strain the liquid into a bowl. You may need to press down with a wooden spoon to get all of the liquid out. Discard the solids.
Add the oats to the bowl, combine, then pour over the boiling water. Stir through well, cover and leave to infuse for 5 minutes.
This is where it gets messy! Strain the whole mix through cheesecloth. The oats will have absorbed a lot of the liquid, so you need to squeeze hard to get as much liquid out as you can.
Throw the soggy solids aside, and pour the mylk into a glass bottle.
Allow to cool before adding your essential oil. There is no such thing as too little or too much; this is just for fragrance so the amount you use is up to you and your personal preference.
This is an edited extract from The Garden Apothecary by Reece Carter (HQ NON FICTION $39.99)
