We're continuously seeking natural alternatives to synthetics in our cosmetics and skin care. But are Americans ready to embrace this emerging ingredient?
We're continuously seeking natural alternatives to synthetics in our cosmetics and skin care. But are Americans ready to embrace this emerging ingredient?
A co-worker just forwarded me some information on what could be the latest “it” ingredient in natural skin care, and his subject line said it all: ?
Featured on a recent episode of The Doctors, buzz-worthy Fresh Beauty Market Wrinkle Butter showcases potentially skin-rejuvenating earthworm poop, also known as worm castings or vermicast. Sound familiar? If you’re into organic gardening or farming, you probably know that these nutrient-rich droppings make an excellent natural fertilizer.
But now New York-based Fresh Beauty Market is tapping the ingredient for its antiaging properties thanks to antioxidants, copper peptides and cytokinins—which could help promote healthy cell growth, free radical protection and collagen production. Indirectly, this ingredient already has a hand in the natural antiaging market: Vermicast helps boost the health of plant stem cells, which are natural beauty ingredient standouts this year.
So, yeah … poop skin care rang a bell, and I looked over notes from a global beauty ingredients story I wrote back in 2009 (one of the benefits of saving emails from 2009). Sure enough, I cited powdered nightingale droppings (uguisu no fun, in Japanese), a common Japanese skin care ingredient, in an early draft. Sadly, it didn’t make the final cut.
“I wonder if Americans are really ready to put poop on their faces, even if the marketing is fun and the ingredient works. I’m a boy and even I think that’s icky,” my coworker said when the feces-beauty conversation came up this time around.
True.
Then again, I guess it comes down to how we define “icky.” Don’t we (in American more than say, Europe, where cosmetics regulations are arguably much tighter) deal with potentially dangerous ingredients in our cosmetics every day (a few of the worst offenders)? If you can look past the vermicast, which is sterilized before added to this particular product, what definitely isn’t horrifying is the rest of Wrinkle Butter’s ingredient list. Totally free from synthetics, it's made with many of our favorite skin care ingredients such as shea butter, green tea, hyaluronic acid, cayenne extract with radish extract as a preservative.
Natural beauty companies: Is this the latest ingredient to add to your repertoire? I have to say, I think in-the-know natural beauty devotees may be ready for a dollop of you-know-what in the face.
What do you think: Would you use poop-based skin care?
