BeautyCred's fearless Francine recently posted about an detoxifying skin care treatment involving leeches (no--Francine's fearless, but she didn't actually undergo this leech treatment--Demi Moore did, in Austria).

Then I came across a newsflash about bullfrog skin--which I pulled the excerpt from Cosmetics Design-Europe here, as reported on February 28, 2008:

 Scientists in South Korea are claiming that a new study has shown the skin of bullfrogs produces antioxidants that can help fight human skin aging.

The team, led by professor Kim Se-Kwon of the Department of Chemistry at Pukyong National University, in Busan, believes the study findings indicate that the bullfrog may harbor a valuable anti-aging solution.

In a report published in the academic journal Bioresource Technology and reported on by AFP, the scientists highlighted how they managed to isolate a peptide found in both the skin and the muscle of the frog.

Because of the peptide's strong antioxidant qualities, the scientists say that it is effective in eradicating the effects of free radicals on the skin--one of the main contributing factors to skin aging, which can lead to wrinkles.

The scientists believe that the peptide extract, derived from a creature that many farmers and environmentalists term a pest, could prove to be a cheap and easy way to produce an alternative to synthetically produced vitamin E--or dl-alpha tocopherol.

 

Finally, I just heard about the Geisha Facial. This issue of NY Magazine (published online March 30, 2008) reports:

Shizuka New York, a high-end Japanese spa in midtown, has just introduced a new “Geisha Facial,” which promises to cleanse, brighten, and exfoliate a patron’s face—thanks to a secret ingredient: bird poop. For centuries in Japan, both Kabuki actors and geishas used uguisu no fun, or nightingale droppings, to clean off their thick white makeup and soothe their faces; apparently, guanine, found in the droppings, helped their complexions. Shizuka’s poop has been sanitized through exposure to ultraviolet light, then finely milled and mixed with rice bran. It’s applied as a mask and costs $180 for a 50-minute treatment. “The smell is neutralized,” maintains a spokesperson for the spa.

I don't know about you, but if I'm using "natural" ingredients, I'll stick to things like oats, brown sugar and green tea.

What's your take?

posted by skintoxicated