8 Scary, Bizarre, and Gag-Inducing Natural Beauty Treatments

3. Fish pedicure

Photo credit: Nicootan

A pumice stone seems positively pedestrian when you can have a hundreds of itty bitty fish feasting away at your foot calluses. All the rage in Asia, the exfoliation treatment harnesses the toothless chompers of tiny carp, known as Garra rufa, to nibble away at dead, flaking skin. As expected, PETA isn't the least bit amused. "Confining thousands of fish to a tiled pool in a beauty salon—in 94°F water—is anything but harmony with nature! In fact, it's exceptionally cruel," it notes in action alert. "Furthermore, these fish's lives are very much at risk. In fact, 7,000 of these helpless animals were reportedly cooked to death recently after an Yvonne Salon staff member left the heat on in the animals' tub."

4. Bull semen conditioner

Photo credit: Getty Images

Some things you just can't make up. Case in point, a conditioning treatment made out of bovine sperm. Offered by Hari's, an upscale salon in London, the Aberdeen Organic Bull Semen Treatment combines the semen of Aberdeen Angus bulls with Katera root to create a protein-rich hair mask that drenches follicles in gobs of moisture. The result: shiny, full-bodied locks that have its devotees heralding it "Viagra for hair."

5. Snake-venom wrinkle cream

Photo credit: Getty Images

Simulated viper’s venom may be a little less au naturel than anything else on this list, but it's by no means any less mind-boggling. Syn-Ake (geddit?) is the key constituent of UltraLuxe 9, an anti-aging potion by Beverly Hills dermatologist Sonya Dakar, whose A-list clientele includes Drew Barrymore, Fergie, Ben Kingsley, and Gwyneth Paltrow. The $185-per-ounce cream works by blocking the neurotransmitters that tell muscles to contract, just not on a level that leaves you completely paralyzed.

---