Are they the key to health and wellness or just plain wacky? Amy Bangs takes a look at some of the world’s most bizarre beauty treatments…
Are they the key to health and wellness or just plain wacky? Amy Bangs takes a look at some of the world’s most bizarre beauty treatments…
We all know that a healthy diet, exercise and a low-stress lifestyle plays a major role in looking and feeling great, but achieving all three consistently is easier said than done – causing us to opt for more eccentric treatments.
“Our hectic lifestyles breed an impatience in everything we do in our lives,” says beauty expert Louise Thomas-Minns. “This stretches to our health and beauty regimes, with faddy treatments promising glowing skin or slimmer thighs.”
While there’s a lot to be said for natural healthcare, we’ve unearthed treatments that go back to nature a little too far – with critters of all shapes and sizes, from snakes to leeches, and animal bodily fluids of all varieties (yes, even that one…), being sampled in the name of beauty or bliss.
And while a pedicure performed by skin-eating fish might sound other-worldly, a spa has launched in the UK offering just that. So how extreme will the treatments get before you’re out of your comfort zone?
Could you handle…
…the fish pedicure?
Imagine dipping your feet into a foot spa, except, instead of a pedicurist’s hands or pumice stone dealing with your dry skin, having hundreds of tiny fish swim around your feet, literally eating away at your lumps and bumps. Originating in Turkey, but making its commercial debut in Japan in 2006, the fish pedicure is performed by hundreds of Garra Rufa, who are toothless, minnow-sized fish that feed on dead skin. After a 15-20 minute soak with the fish, the feet are reportedly left smooth and soft – Garra Rufa do not eat ‘live’ skin, hence their usefulness on cracked heels or psoriasis. The therapy was initially outlawed in Britain, as spas began illegally using species of fish that had teeth, potentially causing bites and infections. This year, however, newly regulated fish pedicures have been re-introduced to our salons, with Appy Feet in Sheffield being the nation’s first fish-friendly foot spa.
…the leech facial?
Leeches were regarded as a cure-all remedy by ancient Egyptian doctors, and the creepy crawlies are still regarded as a treatment in their own right, even having their own medical term (hirudotherapy). While their bloodsucking powers might send some running for the door, ultra-youthful actress Demi Moore credits leech therapy as a key part of her beauty regime, having discovered it while filming in Austria. Telling talk-show host David Letterman that a treatment ‘detoxified’ her, the star cited controlled, sterilised bleeding as a benefit to her inner and outer wellbeing. The most extreme transposition of the therapy, though, is a facial practised at the Kimberlyland Academy of Beauty in Moscow, Russia. During a treatment, live leeches are placed on the face – and once the critter has eaten its fill, it is cut in half. The patient’s blood is then massaged back into the skin to rejuvenate and anti-age. Personally, we’d rather have the wrinkles…
…the bull semen hair masque?
This is a home-grown treatment, whichever way you look at it. Conceived at Hari’s Salon in London, the sperm of Aberdeen Angus bulls is the primary ingredient in this hair masque that’s said to revitalise – if not fertilise – the tresses of the spa frequenting classes. Once the sperm samples are extracted from bulls on a farm in Cheshire, it is mixed with the vitamin-rich root of the Iranian katera plant. The resulting concoction is a protein-packed intensive conditioner that is said to leave the recipient’s hair nourished and smooth, particularly those with hair that is prone to frizz or breakages. From a chemical perspective, semen is said to contain moderate levels of protein, but whether a 20-minute session with a bull’s semen on your scalp would be as relaxing as a standard hair treatment? We can’t promise anything…
…the snake massage?
Can you ever truly relax with a serpent writhing on your back? The practitioners at beautician Ada Barak’s spa in Talmey El’Azar, Israel, believe that you can – and should. During their signature snake massage, up to six live snakes are placed onto the recipient’s back, neck, face or legs, and are then left to slither away your aches and pains. It is believed that the effects can be soothing for mind and body once any initial fear has subsided; and, comfortingly, the spa uses non-venomous reptiles, with docile corn snakes, milk snakes and king snakes being the typical masseuses on the menu. Snakes of varying sizes will be used on a patient, depending on their needs, with stronger, heavier snakes’ slower movements used to relieve back pain, and smaller, lighter snakes being used to alleviate tensions on more delicate areas such as the neck and face. Blissful, we’re sure…
…the bird dropping facial?
In Japanese folklore, legend has it that ‘Uguisu No Fun’ (that’s ‘nightingale droppings’ in English) possessed a quality that made it one of the few substances resilient enough to remove a Geisha’s heavy white make-up. How exactly this was discovered we’ll never know, but scientific analysis found it to be rich in the enzyme guanine, as well as having a high nitrogen content – and the combination of the two made it both exfoliating and deep-cleansing. Nowadays, the droppings are used in a powder form that is sterilised using highest-quality white light, and the Shizuka Spa in New York City has become one of the first Western institutions to adopt the treatment. With the results said to parallel that of chemical peels without the side effects, A-listers such as Victoria Beckham and supermodel Karolina Kurkova are reportedly fans of the facial. Will you be the next in line?
…the cactus massage?
It’s often subtly referred to as a Hakali massage, but this is an ‘exactly what it says on the tin’ treatment – no exotic names distract from the fact that you are literally being rubbed with a cactus during this therapy. Thankfully, the sharp spines are removed from the cactus leaves before it is coated with pulque (a form of plant-based alcohol) and used to massage the skin all over the body, like a sponge or loofah. As well as the obvious exfoliating effect, the nopal species of cacti are said to be rich in skin-strengthening nutrients. What’s more, the desert plants are famous for retaining high quantities of fluids, which are packed full of plant nutrients. Chlorophyll-based supplements such as spirulina and chlorella became popular over the past few years, both in supplements and skincare products – eccentric as it seems, there could be some science behind this.
Too much for you?
If that’s all a bit too much, these therapies are based more on flora than fauna, but still aren’t your run-of-the-mill beauty treatments…
…the gondola massage
Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Italy, certainly offers one of the more surreal spa treatments around; this is a standard massage, only rather than have your muscular discomforts rubbed away in a quiet, candlelit room, you are transported throughout the city’s famous canals in a traditional gondola. This is strictly a therapy for the exhibitionists, though; there is only so much that a few carefully placed drapes can do for an open-air, public pampering. So as much as you’ll be enjoying the city’s beautiful views, there’s a good chance that onlookers could be getting a good view of you too…
…the ramen bath
The Yunessun Spa Resort in Japan is famous for its unusual jacuzzi experiences, with green tea, coffee and red wine all featured in their extensive treatments. One limited-edition therapy that refused to leave our radars, though, was the ramen (‘noodle soup’) bath, in which a hot tub was turned – almost quite literally – into a flavourful broth to bathe in. According to the individual’s skincare needs, nutrients such as garlic, black pepper and spices are brewed along with collagen to leave your skin soft and nourished. With garlic containing immune-boosting enzyme allicin, it might do you more good to eat it though…
…tok sen therapy
Tok sen is an ancient Thai therapy that treats the body’s ills with wooden tools. Shake off the idea that you’ll be taken to with a hammer and chisel, though – during a session, gentle rhythms are tapped into acupressure points on the skin using the specially crafted apparatus. Translating as ‘take off energy lines’, Tok sen therapy is used to unblock energy channels within the body, with some tools emitting sound vibrations to stimulate acupressure points further. The treatment, still practised in rural parts of Northern Thailand, reportedly dates back 5,000 years, and new therapists are taught orally rather than through textbooks.
…the arctic ice room
You may be familiar with the ancient Romans following a sauna or steam room session by plunging into an ice-cold pool of water, and now modern day spa-goers at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas have the opportunity to cool off in their post treatment ‘reverse sauna’, known as the Arctic Ice Room. Laid out like a sauna, the room has a fixed temperature of 12°C (55°F) and heated benches, so as not to chill you out to the point of hypothermia. To accent the room’s cooling atmosphere, synthetic snow rains down from the ceiling, and the air is infused with refreshing mint extracts.
By Amy Bangs
By Amy Bangs 
