Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock got facials made from cloned foreskin
March 16, 2018Celebrities do some outrageous beauty treatments. We’ve been through leech facials (no, just no), the “V-steam” (again, nope) and the Vampire Facelift (eww) and now, we can add the “penis facial” to the list of WTF personal care treatments.
You expect this kind of crazy from, say, Gwyneth Paltrow or Kim Kardashian, but the actresses who got this are Cate Blanchett and Miss Congeniality herself, Sandra Bullock. Cate, speaking with Vogue Australia, said that she and her Oceans 8 co-star tried the unconventional facial at a Big Apple spa. She recalled, “Sandy [Sandra] Bullock and I saw this facialist in New York, Georgia Louise, and she gives what we call the penis facial and it’s something – I don’t know what it is, or whether it’s just cause it smells a bit like sperm – there’s some enzyme in it so Sandy refers to it as the penis facial.”
PEOPLE got to the bottom of this phenomenon, getting the details of the treatment from the esthetician herself. It’s actually called the Hollywood EGF Facial and the bulk of it is pretty much what you’d expect from any other high-end spa – chemical peels, micro needling and an electrifying mask (I’m assuming there are high end spas that do this, right?) The X factor in the mix is the “growth factor serum” and it doesn’t come from a plant.
According to Georgia’s website the serum, Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), is derived “from the progenitor cells of the human fibroblast taken from Korean newborn baby foreskin.” What? Even I’m going to read that last line again. Yep, cloned baby foreskins. Now I’ve heard it all. Of course, this isn’t Georgia’s first foray into icky town, recalling, “I remember the time when I used placenta from a pig on a client that was vegan and that didn’t end so well.” Egad.
Oh, and, believe it or not, this isn’t the first product to use foreskins in the name of anti-aging. Oprah Winfrey has endorsed an anti-aging product from Skinmedica. The line’s TNS Recovery Complex contains Tissue Nutrient Solution, which is derived from, you guessed it, foreskin cells. Apparently anti-circumcision activists are not fond of these products. A Canadian group went after Oprah back in 2013 for promoting the product.
While I’m glad that these ladies are looking at other options aside from cosmetic surgery, this is just too bizarre. (And side note, Cate is 48 and Sandra is 53 and they both look amazing. I’m sure they have some other, more normal tools in their beauty arsenals.) I don’t care if it works, it’s just a little too out there for me. But, hey, if you have $650 to spare (and two years to wait), you too can treat yourself to a penis facial. I’ll just stick with my Oil of Olay if it’s all the same to you.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com