There are legends that Cleopatra bathed in donkey milk daily for her complexion. These legends have not been confirmed. Historian Adrian Goldsworthy, author of Antony and Cleopatra, believes that Roman Empress Poppaea (wife of Nero) set this bathing fashion 80 years after Cleopatra's death.[2]
Tincture of benzoin was also referred to as a 'milk bath' in the United States in the 19th century, which could in some cases be confused for baths of cow milk, also popular at the time.[5]
In the early 20th century, singer and Broadway star Anna Held was reported to bathe in milk daily. She was later quoted as having bathed in milk two times a week when living in Paris, finding it difficult to do so while traveling. Her husband Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. later reported to the press that she bathed in milk daily and set up photo shoots so that reporters could photograph the milk being delivered to her.[7]
A buttermilk bath was also a common historical bathing technique for show animals and remains in practice today (such as for pigs and dogs).[8]
In folklore
According to scholars, milk baths were used "as a recipe for beauty", as well as for healing and rejuvenation.[9]
In film and media
A milk bath for supposed medicinal purposes for a dying child can be seen in the 1931 film Night Nurse.
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