placenta facialI remember my first trip to the beauty supply store for hair dye. Browsing the aisles I came to the deep conditioners and seeing … placenta. Granted, it was pig placenta, but still.

Women have used their placenta for many things -- some eat it some make placenta teddy bears. Turns out, you can do a LOT more than eat your placenta or make art out of it.

First up: The placenta facial. Gone are the days of the glamorous 24k gold facials. Proponents believe that the vitamin-rich placenta will improve their complexions. The placentas used in these spa facials are harvested from Russian maternity wards. Celeb fans are said to be Denise Richards and Megan Fox. Sounds like the makings of an Eli Roth horror flick to me.

Those of us who can’t afford the spa price of $450 can opt for the $120 Plazan mask that J. Lo uses or a drugstore-version $3 mask -- though of course, you probably won’t be getting those premium Russian placentas at that price.

It doesn’t stop there, though. Out of the Philippines comes Clest Placenta Soap -- guaranteed to help smooth and whiten your skin!

However, if store bought placenta soap isn’t good enough (or blechy enough) for you, ehow offers up instructions for making your own.

Online stores sell numerous placenta creams -- this time made from sheep or pig placentas. One New Zealand line even features deer placenta. They also make a placenta cream that contains deer velvet -- you know, the fuzz from deer antlers? I suppose that’s for an extra little bit of magic (the fairies harvest it, don’t you know?).

If rubbing placenta all over your face just isn’t enough, you can get a licensed physician to inject you with placenta. Just three times a week for one month and you too can experience the miraculous anti-aging effects of placenta!

But, I suppose, in the end, these products aren’t so different from everything else that contains weird animal byproducts (except for the first one, Russian placenta harvesting is just bizarre). But I’m still not sure I want to rub placenta, any placenta, all over me.

What about you? Where do YOU draw the placental line?

 

Image via Neeta Lind/Flickr