circumcision is big business cosetics are using foreskins to make facial creams
Hollywood stars love their eccentric facials, and it often seems like they’ll put anything on their faces. The latest buzzy ingredient? Foreskins. Yes, you read that right.
Last week, Sandra Bullock appeared on
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and revealed that she and Cate Blanchett are fans of what they’ve dubbed the “penis facial.” We’ll admit, it sounds more X-rated than luxurious.
The treatment involves the use of something called epidermal growth factors, or EGF for short, which are derived from stem cells taken from the discarded foreskins of newborn babies in Korea. EGF is said to help rejuvenate the skin, improve overall skin texture and correct discoloration. It’s also known for its ability to aid in wound healing.
Um, what exactly is the “penis facial”?
The specific facial both Blanchett and Bullock got is called the Hollywood EGF facial treatment from
The Georgia Louise Atelier in New York, which started offering the facial last year. The treatment will cost you at least $650.
A representative for Louise’s atelier told HuffPost in an email that the facial consists of a
TCA chemical peel, followed by micro-needling. Micro-needling, as Dr. Samer Jaber of
Washington Square Dermatology told HuffPost, involves a process of creating tiny holes in the skin with a special tool (essentially wounding the skin), to promote healing and the creation of new collagen. The treatment also allows for better, deeper product absorption, he said.
Dr. Rachel Nazarian, of
Schweiger Dermatology Group expanded on the treatment, telling HuffPost the absorption of products is “exponentially increased” after micro-needling, which helps “trigger anti-aging much deeper, which is where you want it.”
Following the micro-needling, Louise uses a special “electrifying” mask to calm the skin. Then comes the “penis” aspect, what Louise calls her “secret box” of EGF serum. The EGF is “derived from the progenitor cells of the human fibroblast taken from Korean newborn baby foreskin ― which helps to generate collagen and elastin,” the atlier’s rep added.
Louise said in an email that she’s mindful of informing her clients about where the EGF comes from. (For what it’s worth, Louise’s serum
is FDA approved.)
“I always explain that EGF is derived from newborn baby foreskin, BUT cells were taken and from that, new cells are cloned from a laboratory,” she said. “The EGF serum only contains cloned cells.”
Nazarian said that once an initial stem cell has been taken from the source, in this case a discarded foreskin, “you don’t need to keep taking it. You just need the one initial [stem cell] and you can keep growing it forever and ever and ever.”
The use of EGF in skincare treatments and products
isn’t particularly new, Nazarian said. In fact, she said, professionals have been using it for years with mirco-needling, among other applications. Beauty brands, such as
DHC,
Mizon, and
Peter Thomas Roth also sell products that use it.
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/penis-facial_n_5b02df5be4b0463cdba4a6fa