Anti-ageing With Synthetic Snake Venom

Besides their use in our foods and garments, animal products and animal-derived ingredients also serve a more unorthodox purpose – beauty. Shaily Bhusri investigates some of the world’s more bizarre beauty treatments.

Why go under the knife and risk infection when there exist magical anti-ageing creams? Snake venom is already a big hit internationally and now it’s catching up in India as well. These advanced anti-ageing creams contain synthetic snake venom, not the actual snake poison, which works to stop the skin from wrinkling around the eyes, forehead and
mouth.

When these creams are applied on the face, they relax facial muscles the same way that actual venom paralyses the skin. With this remarkable venom technology, clients experience improvement in fi ne lines and wrinkles in their skin. Hollywood divas Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé and Jada Pinkett Smith are big fans of these products.

Dr Geetika Mittal Gupta, dermatologist and medical director of ISAAC, explains:

“As we grow older, the elasticity of the skin begins to weaken, sag or wrinkle due to the loss of collagen. Snake venom acts like Botox by mimicking the venom’s paralysing action on the muscles and thus causing them to relax by blocking the nerve signals causing muscl contraction. It is usually applied daily to show reduction of wrinkles up to 52 per cent.”

Though there  imported products are available here.