We all know that the quest for glowing, radiant skin makes people do some questionable things (including using products that contain snail mucus, bee venom and donkey milk, but is topically applying the placenta of sheep and pigs a step too far?
Placenta has long been used as an ingestible skincare ingredient that promises glowing skin, eternal youth and to make you rich before you’re 40 (Okay, not quite. But you get the picture. People go wild for placenta). Eating one’s own placenta has become quite commonplace in celebrity circles (Kourt + Kimmy K, holla!) in recent years and is said to cure anaemia, re-balance hormones, stave off post-partum depression and help to bring in breast milk.
Applying it topically as skincare however? Not so common.
Here’s what you need to know about using placenta as part of your skincare regime (definitely up there with the weirdest sentences ever typed. Here goes):
There’s scientific evidence
A study published in the Korean Journal for Food Science of Animal Resources found that pig placenta extract reduced UV wrinkle formation and significantly prevented collagen degradation, helping to keep skin smooth and plump. Another Japanese study found that pig placenta stimulated the proliferation of collagen in human fibroblast cells, which, as we know, helps to stave off wrinkles, brighten the skin and significantly improve elasticity.
It’s already happening elsewhere
Take a stroll into Korean and Japanese drugstores, and you’ll not be hard pressed to find a myriad of masks that contain placenta as one of the main ingredients. Pig, horse and sheep placentas are the usual suspects, and most prods also contain a wealth of other skincare powerhouses like collagen, hyaluronic acid and peptides.
You can also get your hands on placenta skincare down under. While it isn’t very mainstream, there are a few brands to check out if your interest is adequately piqued. Rebirth Skincare, Lanopearl and Homepeel all offer skincare that centres around the healing benefits of placenta.
There are ethical questions
There’s a bit of mystery shrouding the process of harvesting sheep and pig placentas, which calls into question whether or not it’s ethical. Basically, no one really knows what happens, from the harvesting to the sterilisation, so it’s up to you to decide whether or not the potential ethical issues it raises outweighs the potential health benefits of the #placentalife.
And who knows, maybe in a couple of years time, placenta will be just as in vogue as collagen is now. Anything for better skin, right?
