What We Do For Beauty

Everybody wants to be beautiful, look younger and feel good about themselves. But beauty comes at a price, sometimes a big price. Just look at all the anti-aging products and cosmetics in the department stores.

These are some alternative methods to use in the beautification process. The question is, "How far would you go?"

One method that seems to be growing in popularity is SNAIL SLIME THERAPY, also known as Snail Mucus Therapy. This therapy is done at spas where clients lie down and live snails are allowed to crawl all over their faces, leaving trails of slime. This is mostly popular in Thailand, Japan and the U.K.

Snail slime has been used for centuries to heal scars and skin irritations. It became popular after farmers harvesting snails for escargot noticed how smooth their hands were after handling the snails. This news eventually reached cosmetic companies which began making hand and body lotions from the snail slime filtrate.

The snail slime in cosmetics comes from garden snails grown in laboratories. Most snail filtrate is produced in Italy. The snail filtrate is sterilized to remove any substances that may cause infection on human human skin.

The claimed benefits are reducing wrinkles and creases, preventing acne, healing sun-burned skin, removing scars and reducing signs of aging. There is no actual scientific proof that any skincare product can halt signs of aging beyond reducing wrinkles temporarily.

There are several products on the market for snail cosmetics but they contain different amounts of snail mucus. If you want to try any of them, be sure to look at the ingredients. If snail filtrate is not one of the first listed in the ingredients, it has only a minute amount and won't do much good.

Do not try to collect snails and do it yourself. You could contract some nasty infections.

If you think snails crawling on you is weird then LEECH THERAPY will really hit your 'weird meter' hard. Leeches are creepy slug-like blood suckers. They attach their mouths full of sharp teeth into the skin and suck up to ten times their weight in blood. They are like a vampire worm.

Leech therapy is considered a safe and natural healing procedure. It has been used for centuries to heal infections. When leeches bite they secrete blood-thinning agents and dilate the blood vessels. They dispense analgesic and anti- inflammatory substances to enhance healing.

Leech therapy is used to treat baldness, shingles, psoriasis and other skin infections. It can also be used to increase blood flow to the face to give a healthy glow.

Have you heard of the BIRD DROPPINGS FACIAL? Who would want to put bird poop on their face?

Apparently, Nightingale droppings have some powerful enzymes that break down dead skin cells, and also contain guanine to put a glow in the complexion.

The Nightingales are raised on farms for their droppings which are collected by the farmers. The droppings are sanitized with ultra-violet light then ground to a powder. The powder can then be mixed with soap or rice bran. Nightingale droppings contain nitrogen-rich urea which is used in many cosmetics.

The Japanese geishas wore white makeup containing toxic ingredients so they would apply face masks made from the bird poop to reduce damage from the makeup.

I don't know where you can get one of these facials even if you wanted one.

There is also the SEMEN FACIAL. Many people believe that Spermine can remove blemishes. Spermine does contain anti-oxidants but there is no evidence that it will help cure acne.

Semen does contain a lot of protein but putting it on your skin is not likely to do anything except expose you to sexually transmitted diseases or cause an allergic reaction.

But wait! We're not done with semen yet. There's also a BULL SEMEN HAIR TREATMENT. I would not want to be the one to collect the main ingredient. The semen is taken from Angus bulls.

The testicles of the bull are boiled and the broth is refrigerated so it doesn't smell. Then a small amount of the semen is mixed with a hair treatment. After the hair is shampooed the mixture is massaged into the hair. Heat is then applied to allow the treatment to soak in. The hair is then styled as desired.

Bull semen is said to contain proteins that will strengthen the hair and make it grow faster. I don't know if this treatment is available out side of England.

Another one growing in popularity is the FISH THERAPY TREATMENT. With this one you go to a spa and place your bare feet into fish tanks. Garra Rufa fish nibble on your cracked skin and callouses. The 100-150 toothless fish at first tickle but then relax your feet as they remove dry skin. The saliva of the fish produces enzymes which make your feet feel clean and fresh. this is usually followed by a foot massage.

How about a nice VAMPIRE FACIAL? As a big fan of horror stories, I found this interesting but I don't think I would want to do it.

You go to a clinic, or maybe a spa, that does this procedure to have a doctor extract some blood from your arm. The blood goes into a centrifuge to isolate platelets to obtain growth factors. Then they use a micro-needling tool to put tiny punctures in your face. They cover your face with the growth factors to stimulate your skin's stem cells.

I couldn't find any information on whether this works, how long it lasts or where it is even done.

In the same vein as the Vampire Facial (pun intended) we have the VAMPIRE FACE LIFT. A licensed provider retrieves growth factors from your blood and injects them into your face where the stem cells can grow new tissue. they use a numbing cream and very small needles.

This treatment is used to improve the texture and tone of your face. They also inject hyaluronic acid fillers to improve the shape of your face.

The effects improve with time, usually over a few months but last for 1-3 years. There is usually some minor swelling that disappears within days but bruising can last for up to 3 weeks.

Are you allergic to bee stings? If you are, the BEE STING FACIAL is not for you. This facial involves a mask made of bee venom. The body's natural reaction to a bee sting sends extra blood to the location of the sting. This is the same reaction one gets from the mask, stimulating the production of collagen and elastin. The enzymes in the bee venom act much like BOTOX, freezing the skin and controlling muscle contractions.

And last but not least is the PENIS FACIAL. No, it's not what you're thinking. This process uses stem cells found in the foreskin of newborn babies to rejuvenate the skin. Epidermal Growth Factor is found in the foreskin in the form of a serum.

The treatment consists of cleansing, a chemical peel, micro-needling and an electrically charged face mask. Stem cells from the serum are applied to the skin by micro-needling. It is said to generate collagen and elastin. I don't know if it is done anywhere besides India.

References for this article include: healthline.com, abcnews.go.com, toptenz.com, smartertravel.com, yesstyle.com, vampirefacelift.com, vampirefacial.com, leechclinic.com, cosmopolitan.com, naturallycurly.com, listverse.com, getfreshman.com, aletia.org, forbes.com, sciencebeautygal.com, indiatodat.in/lifestyle.

Thank you for reading.