Fertilizer for the skin
"The treatment, I was told by Asako Nunose, the aesthetician, originated centuries ago when Japanese entertainers damaged their skin from the high lead level in their white makeup. As a remedy, they used a mask containing nightingale droppings that had enzymes said to break down dead skin cells.
For this modernized hourlong version, which costs $180, the excrement is sanitized under ultraviolet light, then mixed with rice bran, an exfoliant and brightener. Because the poop contains guanine, a nucleobase, it supposedly shines the skin as well."
(..)
"According to Karen Grant, vice president and global beauty analyst of the NPD Marketing Group, cosmeceutical brands, which include biologically active ingredients like those derived from animals, were the fastest-growing segment of the prestige skin-care market in 2011.
Perhaps this is because some people trying high-tech ingredients (like peptides or StriVectin) or stem-cell technology or even purportedly natural and organic products have been disappointed. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/fashion/fertilizer-for-the-face-beauty-industry-turns-to-animal-secretions-and-droppings-for-ingredients.html
For this modernized hourlong version, which costs $180, the excrement is sanitized under ultraviolet light, then mixed with rice bran, an exfoliant and brightener. Because the poop contains guanine, a nucleobase, it supposedly shines the skin as well."
(..)
"According to Karen Grant, vice president and global beauty analyst of the NPD Marketing Group, cosmeceutical brands, which include biologically active ingredients like those derived from animals, were the fastest-growing segment of the prestige skin-care market in 2011.
Perhaps this is because some people trying high-tech ingredients (like peptides or StriVectin) or stem-cell technology or even purportedly natural and organic products have been disappointed. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/fashion/fertilizer-for-the-face-beauty-industry-turns-to-animal-secretions-and-droppings-for-ingredients.html