Europe Laps up Dubai’s Camel Milk Beauty Bars

Two years ago, the western world didn’t know much about camel milk, even though Bedouins across the Middle East have long understood its role in preserving good health. Now it’s the next best thing since Morocco’s Argan oil.

We’ve covered the benefits of drinking camel’s milk several times on Green Prophet.

Packed with vitamins, it is also said to cut down the amount of insulin required by diabetics. Drop for drop, camel’s milk blows cow’s milk right out of the water in terms of its compatibility with our digestive system and health benefits.

It turns out that camel’s milk is also wonderful for skin. The Bedouins used it as a moisturizer and sunscreen, while some say that Cleopatra bathed in camel’s milk to retain her youthful looks.

These were home recipes, traditional healing techniques passed down from generation to generation of desert dwellers, but now camel milk is available commercially for the first time and demand for it has absolutely exploded.

The EU recently approved imports of camel milk products even though until recently, westerners mostly perceived it to be gamey and gross.

25 years of research at Dubai’s Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) has paid off and several brands have emerged from underneath the Emirates Industry for Camel Milk and Products (EICMP) umbrella.

There’s bottled camelicious milk, which comes in different flavors, delectable chocolate produced by Al Nassma Chocolates, and now EICMP is selling milk and the byproduct of its production to select boutique cosmetic brands throughout Europe.

“We’re picking and choosing only premium cosmetics makers in Europe, not mass-market producers of beauty products,” Kirsten Lange, director of communications at EICMP, told Gulf News.

EICMP has 3,400 camels at its facility between Dubai and Al Ain, a neighboring emirate, and they each produce approximately seven liters a day for up to 16 months. While this may seem like a lot, it pales in comparison to cows, which produce 35 liters a day.

:: Gulf News

Image of two loving camels from Shutterstock

Author: Tafline Laylin

As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.

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