Bird poo facial madam? Or perhaps a semen hair mask? Have a read into the weird and wonderful world of extreme beauty treatments...
What have Kate Middleton, a snail, Gwyneth Paltrow and an emu all got in common? Well, they're all participants in some sort of weird beauty treatment (obviously!). Unfortunately for the snail and the emu they're actually a part of the treatment, not one of the ones receiving it.
That's right, everything from emu oil to snail gel appears in this gallery of weird beauty treatments. And where there's a weird beauty treatment, there's usually a celebrity fan behind it, so you'll find a few familiar faces in here too. While you'll learn the weird and wonderful secrets behind how some stars get such smooth, supple and age-defying skin, you might feel happy to age gracefully after hearing about all the lotions, potions and lengths they'll go to to stay looking good.
From the disgusting, to the ludicrous, to the downright bizarre, we reckon you'll be fascinated by these weird beauty treatments!
Would you give any of these a go in the name of beauty? Do let us know by commenting using the comments box below!
Urine face wash
Believe it or not, there's a skincare therapy out there that requires you to collect your own urine and splash it on your face and body. We're not even joking - studies suggest that this skincare secret can help deal with acne, eczema, rashes and dry skin patches.
It's also supposed to improve the skin's elasticity and make it more supple and youthful. Normal, healthy skin has 28 micrograms of urea (the major component of urine) per square centimetre, but dry and dehydrated skin will typically have 50% less of the substance. The skin of eczema sufferers will have up to 80% less urea than happy skin, so maybe there's something to this wacky method?
If you're curious, and not too squeamish, the first wee of the day is said to be the most effective, as it contains all of your 'peak nutrients and antibodies.' Alternatively, you can take the safe road and just use Eucerin products - a lot of them contain urea for hydration purposes.
You should also check out the ingredient list of your favourite skincare saviours, as urea is commonly used! It occurs naturally in our skin, so we suppose it isn't too bad... but still.
How much? Free (yuck), or about £10 for a Eucerin moisturiser containing 5% urea
Bizarre rating: 9 - not as awful as bull semen but still not for us
Would we try it? We'll stick to the actual skincare lines, there's no way we're DIYing this one.
Onions for eyebrow growth
Made the mistake of overplucking your brows? Beauty blogger Farah Dhukai reckons she's found the secret to speedy regrowth - onions.
Accompanied by a video posted to her Instagram account, Farah writes 'GROW EYEBROWS FAST! Onion juice has sulphur which speeds up the growth of hair and makes it thicker. Massage onion juice on brows for 5 mins, let it dry completely, wash off with cold water or a mild cleanser. Do this everyday, careful not to get this in ur eyes!'
Onion juice has been used in a 2002 study on women with alopecia areata, and those who applied onion to their scalp rather than tap water, as the control group did, did see an improvement in regrowth - but there's no evidence to show that the juice would have a similar effect on eyebrow hair.
'Sulfur is important in hair; however, applying onion juice does not mean that the sulfur is incorporated into the hair strand,' dermatologist Dr. Kavita Mariwalla told Allure. 'Rather, the sulfur acts as a natural anti-inflammatory.'
Referring to the study, she added, 'Some of the alopecia was a result of seborrheic dermatitis that was causing inflammation on the scalp, and sulfur in the onion juice is anti and can lessen that. I don?t want people to think that putting onion juice on every day is going to suddenly give them luscious, thick brows.'
The jury's out, but as long as you don't get the onion juice in your eyes, it doesn't seem like there's any harm in testing this eyebrow growth trick.
Will you be giving it a try?
Image: Instagram/Farah Dhukai
Body fluid facials
The single mum-of-two has the samples delivered to her by a male friend, who makes 'donations' into a takeaway pot. 'It's something that he would do naturally on a daily basis anyway,' she explains.
Tracy then applies the semen to her face and leaves it to work its magic for up to 20 minutes. She claims that it reduces the redness caused by rosacea, and improves the general condition of her skin.
'I think people are concerned with the thought of putting semen on their face but actually it's a very natural and healthy thing to do,' she adds.
'I know there are no added chemicals. It's as natural and active and live as you could possibly get.'
'Semen builds babies, they come out very soft and have beautiful skin, and it leaves my skin nice and soft so I'm very happy to use this as a facial.'
And Tracy's not the only one - earlier this year, daytime TV show This Morning found themselves in a sticky situation (sorry) after advertising for participants to appear on the show and try a semen facial, in an attempt to diminish wrinkles and smooth the skin. A little inappropriate for 11am viewing though, surely?
See how Tracy applies her facial
Clingfilm
Who would have thought that the secret to younger looking skin could have been in your kitchen cupboards all along? According to new bestselling book The Japanese Skincare Revolution, wrapping your face in clingfilm can make your skin appear firmer, fresher and more youthful!
The theory is that your breath and body heat, when covered with the plastic, will cause your pores to open, allowing your face mask, cream or serum to absorb into deeper layers of the skin and work more effectively.
When paired with a cosmetic facial mask sheet (a thin, face-shaped piece of cotton which you apply your product to and wear beneath the film, £2.79 for 60 on Amazon), the results can apparently be extremely impressive, in just one use.
What do you think of this plastic fantastic treatment - would you give it a go, or will you be sticking to your regular routine?
Potatoes
There's a slightly bonkers new beauty treatment on the scene - it's the humble spud!
Beauty bloggers like Annabel Venning, who's been trying out spud-style beauty for Mail Online, have been juicing and drinking potatoes in the hope that the antioxidents and vitamin C might promote healthier-looking skin.
They've also been applying potato pulp to their faces like a mask for its spot-reducing benefits and popping slices over their eyes in a bid to de-puff. Annabel even tried applying mash to smooth crows' feet and applying a potato-peel leave-in conditioner to ward off grey hairs!
One thing's for sure, this is probably one of the cheapest beauty treatments around!
Shaving your face
As morning beauty routines go, we'd say ours is pretty standard - a quick scrub with a flannel, a dab of moisturiser, a slick of mascara and we're ready to face the day. However, experts are now suggesting that women would benefit from adding a quick facial shave to their repertoire - with claims suggesting it can make your skin looks better, slow down the effects of ageing, and help your make-up last longer too.
Angela Garvin, 46, has been shaving her face three times a week for eight years, and swears she can see the benefit. "It's cheap, takes seconds and doesn't irritate my skin, unlike laser or waxing," she explained to Mail Online.
"The claim that facial hair grows back thicker and darker is a myth. It's been the best thing I could have started doing. Make-up goes on more evenly and easily, products absorb better and my skin is in great condition. It?s the smoothest and brightest it's been in years."
It may seem surprising, but the idea of women shaving their faces isn't a new one - old Hollywood starlets like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor are said to have shaved their faces in their heydays.
How much? Just a couple of pounds (or free if you steal from your husband)
Bizarre rating: 6 - it's not the strangest one we've seen
Would we try it? We'd be living in fear of a 5 o'clock shadow, but if it's good enough for Elizabeth and Marilyn, it might be good enough for us...
Bee Venom Facial
Even our very own Kate Middleton (who you'd think wouldn't be swayed by all this faddy beauty balderdash, here, here) seems to have the itch, or should we say sting, for the 'Bee Venom Facial'.
Kate's beauty therapist, Deborah Mitchell, has been treating Camilla The Duchess of Cornwall with the treatment since 2006, and it's reported that she treated our Kate with the insect venom before the royal wedding.
The bee venom is meant to work by stinging the skin (ouch!) and stimulating it to produce chemicals that relax wrinkles.
How much? £165
Bizarre rating: Un-bee-lievable! Sorry...
Would we try it? Well, if it made us have skin as fresh and dewy as Kate's, then yes, we think we would
EMK Placental Cream
Not as bad as it sounds, this animal-friendly face cream may say placental across the front but in fact it's actually just an imitation. The botanics used in the cream are said to act in the same way as the nutrients found in the placenta - the human placenta that is.
How much? A pot of day cream will cost you $90 (approx. £54)
Bizarre rating: 1 - not so much bizarre, more hurrah, once you realise there's no real placenta in there
Would we try it? Yes!
Emu Oil
Emu oil has long been used by the Aborigines in Australia, for thousands of years in fact, thanks to its countless health properties.
Made from the fat of the bird (eww... ) the oil can be taken for improving cholesterol levels, applied to the skin for the relief of aching joints and muscles, to improve the appearance of stretch marks and for the youthful effects it has on the skin. It clears age spots, imperfections and protects from sun damage, too.
And the beauty of this one? It's available to buy at our very own Holland & Barrett.
How much? £11.25 - bargain!
Bizarre rating: 7
Would we try it? At that price, we're very tempted...
The Vampire Facial
Umm, so this looks... painful. This beauty treatment, actually called the Platelet-rich Plasma Facial, was famously tried by Kim Kardashian who tweeted a picture of herself receiving the treatment mid-procedure. It involves taking some blood, separating the layer which contains the platelets and injecting it into your face.
It's thought to work by boosting the skin's production of collagen, which is what keeps skin smooth and gives it elasticity, preventing wrinkles.
How much? This weird beauty treatment whistles to the tune of around £900
Bizarre rating: 9
Would we try it? No thanks, nothing is worth going through that!
The Bird Poo Facial
We kid you not. This really does exist. And celeb couple Victoria and David Beckham are both said to have had the treatment. The main ingredient is Nightingale droppings, which are dried, mixed with rice bran and water, and apparently act as an amazing exfoliating face mask. Who knew?
How much? £135
Bizarre rating: 9 - amazing skin you may have Victoria, but in our eyes, you've still had poo rubbed into your face
Would we try it? We think we'll give this one a miss, thanks
Gold Leaf Facial
If there was one indulgent beauty treatment that will never be available to us mere beauty mortals it would probably be this one. A spa in the US offers this truly luxurious 24-carat treatment, where the gold leaf is laid on the face and then rubbed in. The body sees the gold as a foreign object and tries to reject it by generating new cells, apparently resulting in younger-looking skin.
And a little bit of gold trivia for you, apparently Cleopatra slept in a gold mask every night, for its beauty benefits.
How much? £180
Bizarre rating: 8 - rah!
Would we try it? To be fair if we were so rich we could sleep in a mask of gold, we probably would. Just because.
Diamond and Ruby Facial
Oh no no no, you don't want any of that cheap 24-carat stuff, precious stones are where anti-ageing is really at. Your skin is washed and then exfoliated with crushed diamonds and rubies for their antioxidant properties. Yes, crushed diamonds and rubies. You're then given a lactic acid peel to stimulate cell production.
Black Swan actress Mila Kunis is said to be a fan. But we imagine it's probably only a once-in-a-blue-moon style treatment at that price, even for celebrities!
How much? Around £4,500
Bizarre rating: 6
Would we try it? Probably not eh.
Sheep Placenta Facial
Just when we thought there couldn't be much else that the all-seeing, all-knowing beauty powers above that be could find to slap on our faces. They find this. Yes, really.
After the face has been cleansed, received a course of microdermabrasion, a mask and some red light therapy, a blend of sheep placenta and hyaluronic acid (which is a clear liquid with a faint smell of vinegar, so we hear) is applied.
Apparently the properties of the placenta is great for the skin as it contains stem cells that can repair any type of cell in the body, rejuvenating the skin and making it look supple and youthful.
How much? £185
Bizarre rating: 9
Would we try it? Would we heck!
Bull Semen Hair Mask
We're all for organic products, but we think this one really takes the biscuit.
Availabe at Hari's Salon in London, the 45-minute treatment sees the, ahem, protein-rich conditioner massaged into the client's hair after shampooing, and then heated to allow the hair to absorb the mixture.
It's said to get to work by enhancing the protein naturally found in hair molecules, for a super-nourished and glossy finish. And FYI, apparently the mixture doesn't smell, if you were worried.
How much? £55
Bizarre rating: 10 - we worry about the person who first thought of trying this...
Would we try it? We're not sure this one's for us
Red Wine Bath
We all enjoy the occasional glass of wine in the bath and Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher, 49, is no different. Except that it really is IN the bath.
She told The Telegraph that she pours a glass of red into her bath (along with her bubble bath, we can only presume) because it makes her skin feel amazingly soft!
How much? Medium glass of Merlot - about £4.75
Bizarre rating: 4 - it's weird, but we bet the bath smells amazing!
Would we try it? We might, but we can't guarantee the wine would actually make it into the water...
Snake Venom Face Cream
We have to admit this one made us shudder a little. I mean what exactly makes anyone think it's a good idea to put snake venom, actual snake venom, on their face? Well, for its anti-ageing properties, apparently.
Gwyneth Paltrow is said to be a fan of the treatment, which has a parylising effect on the skin, like you would get from a snake bite, that has a Botox-like affect, freezing your wrinkles.
How much? £88 for a pot
Bizarre rating: 9
Would we try it? Certainly not!
Snail Gel
Right. So another animal-derived beauty treatment, but this time in the form of snail slime.
This gel, available from Holland and Barrett, contains the unique substance that snails produce to repair their own shell and skin when damaged. It's then mixed together with Aloe Vera and other skin-smoothing properties which make it an amazing anti-ageing treatment. Celebs from Kara Tointon to Ashley Roberts are said to swear by the slimey serum.
How much? £19.99!
Bizarre rating: 7
Would we try it? Yes, we think so, dependant on what it smelt like, of course...
Flesh-eating Fish Pedicure
These fishy pedicures have become all the rage in recent years, we've even seen them pop up in shopping centres for a mid-shopping trip treat.
The Garra rufa fish feed off dead skin whilst they forage for food, but don't worry, it doesn't hurt, it merely feels like a tickling sensation as the fish move around your feet and get rid of any dead or dry skin.
All very well you may think, but there have been warnings issued that the fish could spread conditions like Athlete's Foot and veruccas - yuck!
How much? Around £20
Bizarre rating: 6 - compared to bull semen and sheep placentas, this seems pretty normal!
Would we try it? We'd be willing to try this one
