Vampire facelifts, bull testicles, bird droppings, diamond nail varnish... Hollywood stars sweat blood to look good at Oscars

 

Nick Clark
Monday 18 February 2013 13:13 GMT
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Whether putting their faith in leeches, cupping or even human placenta, Hollywood stars stop at nothing to beat the ageing process – and in the week of the Academy Awards looking dazzling is more important than ever.

Those strolling down the red carpet for the Oscars this Sunday will have scrubbed and coated themselves with all manner of unguents and concoctions to shimmer for the cameras. For beauty therapists, awards season means big bucks and ever more outlandish antidotes to the ageing process.

At this year’s Oscars, stars with that special glow may have just had their own blood injected into their faces, or simply been exfoliating with bird poo. Others may have gone for the snake venom facial.

Demi Moore has admitted to leech therapy, but Dr Charles Runels has gone one step further and gone from actual bloodsuckers to mythical ones with his patented Vampire FaceLift – tagline: “your beauty revived”.

The process involves extracting a patient’s blood and injecting components into their face, with celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Anna Friel swearing by the procedure. The process, which supposedly boosts the development of new blood cells and collagen, smooths out wrinkles and gives the skin elasticity and plumpness.

The “Geisha Facial” is another beauty craze sweeping Hollywood. The preparation, created by salon owner Shizuka Bernstein, involves using nightingale excrement and rice powder on willing participants’ faces, supposedly leaving the skin “shiny and smooth”.

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