To our boyfriends, the things women do for beauty can seem really out-there — waxing, curling your eyelashes with what looks like a torture device, employing all manner of tools to change our hair texture, watching Scandal while wearing a green mud mask…the list goes on. And throughout history, people of both sexes have done pretty wild things in the name of looking good. (Take, for example, the fashion of plucking out your hairline to achieve the desired fivehead of Renaissance-era England.) But there are some beauty rituals practiced today that seem truly bizarre, that even the more game among us may hesitate to try. Read on to learn about these strange beauty tips and the celebs who swear by them.
Eating Dirt
In an interview earlier this year with Into The Gloss, Shailene Woodley revealed that she enjoys making her own natural beauty potions. One of her favorite ways to detox is by ingesting clay — a tip she picked up from a taxi driver. The actress claims that the clay bonds to and flushes out heavy metal built up in your system, leaving you with clear skin. She sources her clay from Mountain Rose Herbs, but there has also been a recent boom in trendy juices and smoothies that contain clay and activated charcoal, perhaps inspired by the leading lady and her mud pie habit.
Bird Poop Facials
It may sound repulsive, but for centuries Japanese geishas have sworn by cosmetics made from bird poop, known in Japanese as uguisu no fun (and yes, everyone has already made the joke about this facial being “no fun”). The age-old product is created by sanitizing, dehydrating and drying nightingale droppings and supposedly it whitens and balances skin tone. Just ask Victoria Beckham, who, according to Closer magazine, gave it a whirl to treat acne, while traveling in Japan.
Full Moon Haircuts
Looking for a voluminous, healthy head of hair like Matthew McConaughey? Well, you’ll have to wait until the next full moon. “If you want your hair to be thicker, cut it when the moon is about to be full—a heavy, full, waxing moon. Do not cut it when the moon’s waning. Right now, it’s 14 percent waxing on, it’s a crescent, so you don’t want to cut now. In about 10 days, the moon’s going to be 94 percent full—that’s a great time,” the studly actor told ELLE magazine. Don’t call him a lunatic!
Fish Pedicures
There’s something fishy going on in select nail salons around the world. Doctor fish, or Garra rufa, are tiny Turkish fish that live to feast on dead skin and letting them go to town on your toes has become a popular novelty spa treatment. Kim Kardashian tried it last year while on holiday in Greece, but couldn’t take the tickly sensation caused by the nibbling fish.
Urine Equals Fountain of Youth?
How does a man named Robert Wells maintain his “youthful glow?” In this eye-opening clip from Discovery’s My Strange Criminal Addiction, he describes his beauty secret: Drinking young people’s pee. This guy joneses for mellow yellow so much that he constructed a self-designed urinal collection method, which eventually landed him in prison. But before you think this beauty ritual is a limited concept, there are a bunch of people who are fans of urine therapy, and believe it gives them everything from great skin to better health. One woman claimed it was the key to her svelte figure. One U.K. couple swears it wards off depression and clears skin. Whether you’re drinking it or washing your face with it, urine is being touted as a cure-all.
Cat Litter Exfoliation
Snooki loves finding beauty treatments on the cheap and in 2011, she let Conan O’Brien in on one of her discoveries. Apparently, the Jersey Shore star did some googling and got the idea to exfoliate with kitty litter. She insists that she only uses clean kitty litter, but we’ve got to wonder whether she prefers scented or unscented.
Breast Implants for a Day
Blame the celeb mania for plunging necklines, but The New York Times recently reported on the rising popularity of breast injections. Women are clamoring for the “boob Botox” to achieve a bigger chest for about 24 hours. The procedure involves a plastic surgeon injecting the breast with a saline solution, which, after a day of showing off in a bikini, is absorbed into the bloodstream. There are some dangers like stretching out the breast skin and electrolyte imbalance, which is why the “lunchtime lifts” are currently unapproved by the FDA.
Oil Mouthwash
Gwyneth Paltrow has been known to divulge her beauty secrets in interviews and on her blog Goop, and her latest spill is all about oil pulling. The ancient Ayurvedic practice requires you to swish oil (coconut or sesame) around in your mouth for about 20 minutes. The star told E! Online that oil pulling is “great for oral health and making your teeth white. It’s supposed to clear up your skin, as well.” Guess who else has traded toothpaste for oil? Shailene Woodley.
