Are These The Freakiest Beauty Treatments Ever!?

By BR Kellie

The things we do in the name of beauty. We paint and buff, colour and shade, suction and inject, and sometimes we just let the animals do the work for us. Yep, using animals to aid in the quest for eternal youth, or just smoother feet, is a thing, and has been for a while now. So what animals are employed in the land of beauty -well, probably not employed, I mean they wouldn't get paid, they really should form some sort of union or stage a revolt. Or something.... - Sorry! Tangent! So what do they do and why? Read on...

The Leech Facial. I shudder even typing the words. But it's a thing, and model Miranda Kerr has even admitted to partaking of them, and bless her, she even takes them home to live in her koi poind, because if she didn't they'd be killed. So what does a leech facial involve? Basically a leech is attached to a part of your body where it happily takes in your blood. Once engorged the leech is removed from your body. Your blood is then squeezed out, applied to your face mask-style and left to sit, then washed off. I kind of feel sorry for the leech, it thinks it's getting a feed and then the feed is taken away from it... that's a bit blimmin' mean. Like putting cake in front of someone, saying 'here, have at it', then whipping it away just as you're about to take a bite. 

Using leeches on humans is not a new thing by any means, in fact they've been used medically for a long time to help with blood flow, but having one suck out your blood only to have it applied to your face? Pass.

I'm rather fond of fish. I like their style. Boopling about in the water. Doing their thing. Being fishy. I also am rather fond of the way they taste. Yes, I eat them. But I wouldn't want them to eat me. Which is why I will not be ever attempting the fish pedicure. Imagine sinking your feet into water and having a school of little garra rufa fish nibbling at your dead skin cells. It sounds ticklish. And apparently also leaves you with soft feet. I'll stick to my pumice. 

I can't bring myself to stare at pictures of snakes. They terrify me. I once saw one that was in a secure area in a market on the Gold Coast and I still hung right back and made my escape as quickly as I could. Nope. Uh-uh. Full body shiver alert. So why anyone would pay to have snakes massage their body is beyond me. But snake massage is a thing. And people do it. And involves snakes slipping over you releasing tension, working out knots. And the more foreceful a massage you're after the bigger the snakes they'll put on you. Moving on...

Only marginally less terrifying is the practice of taking a bath with eels in order to allow them to nibble away at your skin until you're nice and exfoliated, silky and smooth. What saves this from being an immediate 'no'? Well, the eels are small, like pencil size. So not full blown massive ones writing around your body taking chunks out of you. But they're still eels. And they're still eating you. And then there's this guy who had one enter his body through a rather unorthodox way. No. Thank. You.

You know I'm all for trying things in the name of beauty, but these? These I can do without. What about you? Have you added animals into your beauty routine? Would you be brave enough to give these a go? Get chatting!