15 Crazy Celebrity Beauty Secrets
While some celebrities probably do wake up like this, the majority need to put in a little bit of effort to look as flawless as they do. In an industry that depends largely on what you look like and the whole world judges your appearance, can you blame the stars of Hollywood for going to some pretty extreme lengths to look beautiful? Of course not! In fact, you probably want the low-down on how actresses and singers get glowing skin, luscious locks, and super white teeth! We have tracked down 15 of the craziest beauty secrets celebrities use to improve their appearance, and some of them are even more shocking than you would expect. Whether it's soda in your hair, placenta on your face or kitty litter on your pores, nothing is too extreme. Read on to find out which methods are backed by science, and which are just silly!
15 Strawberry Toothpaste
It turns out that actress Catherine Zeta-Jones's white teeth come down to more than just a top-quality toothpaste and a five-star dentist. The actress reportedly uses strawberries to make her teeth whiter! In order to remove old stains and food particles, Catherine rubs fresh strawberries all over her teeth, which is said to both clean and whiten them. She has stated that the juice that comes from strawberries includes something called malic acid, which is kind of an astringent and works to lighten stains like a bleach. Well, this does not sound too harmful, and if that scientific explanation is correct, then this strawberry idea might just work! We would be keen to try this one, but we probably will not be giving up our toothbrushes, mouthwash, and floss for a pint of strawberries. If nothing else, at least we will have a sweet treat before we brush our teeth!
14 Eating Clay
Yikes! Applying weird ingredients topically is one thing, but ingesting them is a whole other level of risky so we'd definitely want to know absolutely everything before we gave this one a try! Actress Shailene Woodley is a huge fan of this ancient practice. Apparently, munching on clay is an effective way to cleanse your body by removing heavy metals and other forms of harmful bacteria from your system. Experts have said that clay does, in fact, remove toxins from the body, but our bodies have a way of doing this naturally anyway-they are pretty amazing! So eating clay to do something that our bodies are doing already is kind of redundant. Thank goodness for that, because somehow we don't think the stuff would be too pleasant on the palate! There are fine clays you can get specifically for eating, such as kaolin clay, but we'll still pass on this one.
13 Coca-Cola Hair Treatment
Just the sound of this one makes us cringe as we imagine the sticky brown liquid running all over our scalps! Suki Waterhouse is all about the Coca-Cola in the hair and swears by it as a way to finally obtain those effortless-looking beach waves. She says that her hair is naturally fine and without much volume or texture, but pouring soda on it after it's been washed gives it an enviable feel. The truth is that Coca-Cola does actually provoke hair cuticles to contract, which in turn enhances the natural curl. But along with this, it also tends to help hair colors to fade. This is a good thing if you've had a disaster at the salon, but not so good if you've just paid an arm and a leg to get your hair that platinum blonde! It's a better idea to stick to the products you know.
12 Oil Mouthwash
The concept of using oil to clean anything sounds totally bizarre in our culture, but it's actually been used for thousands of years in some parts of the world! But even though oil pulling might work on skin, is it really a good idea to use it as a mouthwash? Gwyneth Paltrow thinks so! Basically, she takes a tablespoon of oil into her mouth and swishes it around for between ten and twenty minutes. She has to do this on an empty stomach, and the supposed results are that toxins will be drawn out from her body and her oral health will be improved. While oil pulling in the mouth does come with benefits, there aren't any more than the benefits you'll get from using a regular mouthwash. And if you mess up the oil pulling in your mouth, you could end up messing with your taste buds. What a nightmare!
11 Milk Mist
Who needs boring old facial mist when you can use milk?! Model Cindy Crawford, whose youthful skin is iconic the world over, is all about the milk on the face. Her reported routine is combining a touch of milk with water and simply spraying on her face for continuous periods throughout the day. Doing this is supposed to keep the skin moist and hydrated, and if Cindy's skin is anything to go by, then it is clearly working! They say that Cleopatra used to bathe in milk and honey, so perhaps this one is worth looking into. The beauty icons of the ancient world and of our world seem to be behind the milk movement, so we're keen to give it a try! Milk can also be used as a face mask, an exfoliator, a soother, and a cleanser, as it's filled with vitamins your skin will love you for.
10 Ketchup Hair Mask
We are already grossed out! Actress Sienna Miller has done a lot of experimenting with her hair over the years, but she is reportedly found something that finally works to repair the damage done. After Sienna tried using henna to dye her hair and totally hated the results, she needed to restore her hair back to health and get rid of the icky color. So she simply loaded her hair with ketchup-yes, ketchup-and kept it under heat. And she did this for a whole year! While we love Sienna's locks and would do just about anything for healthy, glowing hair, this one crosses the line for us. Ketchup just does not belong on your hair. And even if we could tolerate ketchup on our hair, we most definitely could not do it under heat. Imagine the smell of hot ketchup on your scalp and dripping down your back. No thanks!
9 Grapefruit Oil Appetite Suppressant
Jennifer Lopez's bod is serious #goals, so we'd totally take on board any tips she had in that department. Interestingly enough, she swears by grapefruit oil as an appetite suppressant! You know how it goes-by reducing her hunger, she doesn't eat as much and so reduces her body weight. Sounds simple enough! Studies indicate that there is some truth behind this, as smelling the oil three times a day for periods of fifteen minutes (wow, we hope the smell is pleasant!) can work to limit your appetite and cravings. Since you don't actually have to eat anything, put anything on your skin or even touch anything here, we're totally willing to give this one a go! What's the worst that could happen? The trick is using the oil when it's appropriate, and not being tempted to go overboard and skip meals! But as a craving-reducer, we say heck to the yeah!
8 Ice Water Facial
We're feeling chilly just thinking of this one! A few stars are completely into using ice water on their faces -- Sienna Miller, Kate Moss, and even Kate Hudson are reported fans of the ice water. All they have to do is stick their face in a bowl of the stuff and the result is glowing and radiant skin. It seems that the longer you can leave your face in the water, the better. Kate told an interviewer that the more badly she wants totally revived skin, the longer she will suffer with her face in that chilling water. People have been using ice water as a therapy since the days of the Romans, so we're sure this wouldn't be too harmful and might come up with some impressive results! We're just not so sure that we could tolerate the actual process. We might save this one for a really, really hot day!
7 Leeches For Youthful Skin
Yuck! It seems that the answer to youthful skin might only be one blood-sucker away! Demi Moore is into the leech thing and enjoys the benefits of the regimen so much that she flies to Austria to use specific medical leeches that are highly trained. Basically, the purpose here is to use the leeches to remove toxins from the blood and remove bruising. They can also be used to remove baggy, dark circles which can appear under the eyes. This all works together to create a young and fresh look! While we are sure that this works, since people have been using leeches for a variety of purposes for a long time, we just can't get our heads around actually bringing in a parasite to get things going. It is a bit extreme and a bit medieval! Isn't there just a nice, simple face mask that will get the same results?
6 Beer Hair Conditioner
And you thought soda in the hair was bad! Catherine Zeta-Jones is all about the alternative beauty therapies, and totally supports the notion of using beer to add some hydration to the hair. Rather than applying a traditional conditioner after a wash like most people, Catherine applies honey and beer together on her long brown locks to condition them. She's also stated that she unfortunately smells like a barrel of beer afterward, but the results are worth it. Other than the smell, studies have shown that this could actually be a great way of getting healthy hair! Beer contains proteins and vitamins that will make your hair shinier and add to its glow, so this is definitely one to try one day. Maybe do it on a night when you're staying in though, just in case the lingering scent of stale beer is too much for the people around you!
5 Cinnamon Limp Pump
With big lips being more in than ever nowadays, this one is probably going to be the most popular secret on our list! Lisa Rinna has revealed that in order to get lips that Kylie Jenner would approve of, there isn't any injections involved. All you have to do is grab some cinnamon (which you probably already have in the kitchen) and rub it on your lips. And according to the experts, this one actually works! Cinnamon provokes an inflammatory reaction in the lips, which will manifest in a plump, slightly swollen pout for you. But since this is aggravating the lips, we wouldn't do it every day. If you want to try it for a special occasion, it's more than fine! But try and limit the amount of inflammatory reactions you put your body through! Plus, we'd imagine that this process would feel a little tingly, to say the least.
4 Cat Litter Exfoliant
Only you, Snooki! The Jersey Shore star has noticed the benefits of exfoliants that have little rocks and jagged parts in them and maintains that using store-bought kitty litter is a substitute for that and has the same effects. While she does have a point, when you use an exfoliant that has too many rocky bits, in this case, the cat litter, you could risk over-exfoliating and actually irritate your skin in the process. This could lead to permanent skin damage, but would also likely redden your skin and make it super sensitive. You could also cause little bumps to appear over your hair follicles, as well as extreme dryness which you'll notice as soon as you put on a touch of makeup. In short, being too rough with your skin is no good at all! So we'd probably steer clear of the kitty litter unless you need it for your cat.
3 Mayonnaise Hair Treatment
The things people will do for shiny hair! According to actress Zoe Saldana, mayonnaise is a must-have hair treatment when you're after a mane that is nourished, healthy, and shiny AF. This process is pretty simple and involves massaging mayo into your hair and leaving it there for a minimum of ten minutes. The only tricky part is trying not to gag during that time as the scent drifts down to your nostrils! The experts say that this could work, but it's not really going to be any better than using a standard hair mask or treatment. When it's put that way, we aren't really that inclined to hop on the mayo bandwagon! If the results were going to be absolutely phenomenal, we could try and put up with the smell for the sake of beauty, but since there are other ways of getting the same results, we'll just stick with those for now.
2 Sheep Face Treatment
The secret to Victoria Beckham's glowing, youthful skin? Sheep placenta facial. Science says that this should totally work in rejuvenating the skin because mammal placentas are known to contain stem cells which are rich in nutrients. These basically repair our own skin cells when applied, so it's understandable that Posh would swear by this routine. There are a few obstacles for anybody looking to try it though. First of all, the whole notion is kind of gross. But if you can stand to have sheep placenta on your face for however long the product tells you to leave it on, all the power to you! There's also the cost factor, as these products are available to mere mortals like us, but they don't come cheap. Depending on which facial treatment you get, you could be looking at upwards of a few hundred dollars. It might be better to stick with something cheaper!
1 Snake Venom Botox
Okay, we're officially crazy-ed out! Gwyneth Paltrow is at it again with her quirky beauty regimens, and coming in at the top of our list, she uses snake venom as an anti-aging treatment. That's right. Snake venom Botox. This concept comes from Swiss scientists who produced a venom-synthetic when they made the connection between the stuff and regular Botox. A snake bite will send venom into your blood and paralyze your muscles, so of course, the stuff acts like Botox because it will smooth the wrinkles out of you through paralysis of the muscles. Gwyneth is reportedly not the only celebrity who gets around the snake treatment, and to be honest, we would probably try this one if we were given the chance! But, you know, it would have to be under the care of those Swiss scientists in a controlled environment, and not through a snake bite to the face! Hmmm. We might leave these to the celebs!