Venom is hot, Botox is not in Beverly Hills

Only in Hollywood. Forget human placenta for wrinkle erasing, the town that put Botox on the map is now buzzing about a new trend in anti-aging skin care: snake venom.

Beth Landam at New York Magazine reports that celebrities are on waiting lists to get a $185 anti-aging product UltraLuxe 9 which contains Syn-Ake, a venom-like substance.

The master marketer behind UltraLuxe is Sonya Dakar. For those of us who don't get skin treatment in LA, Sonya operates a shi-shi Beverly Hills skin care clinic that attracts stars like Drew Barrymore, Britney Spears, and Debra Messing. Sonya is equally famous for her pre-award show Beauty Boot Camps.

UltraLuxe is a family affair: husband Israel Dakar is the product formulation guru and their children are involved in the marketing and operations.

The 9 stands for 9 anti-aging complexes that "coalesce to diminish the appearance of fine lines, expression lines and deep wrinkles." Interestingly, Dakar's website fails to reference the venom-ish property. UltraLuxe will rollout to about 100 spas with an oil control formula (shown in image), serum for dry skin, as well as a wash and mask.

UltraLuxe is not the first product to infuse wrinkle freezing properties of venom in a face cream. Vipodex [$250, 1.8 oz.] contains a peptide that resembles the venom of a "temple viper."

The chemists at Idori-the maker of Viprodex Anti-Aging Treatment-must have written up the description of how the venom-like peptide works:

The key ingredient in Idori's treatment cream is part of the company's proprietary peptide complex, called "Venoxaphyl^TM". This ingredient is an antagonist of the muscular nicotinic acetylcholine membrane's receptor (mnAChR). It blocks Na+ release at the post-synaptic membrane, which in turn inhibits muscle contraction, thereby relaxing lines and wrinkles.

Got that? If not, here's the official website for Viprodex.

Apparently both UltraLuxe and Viprodex are hard to find, but get on the waiting list to be in the company of stars. Alternatively, pick up Olay Definity and save over $150+.

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