There are weird beauty treatments, and then there are weird beauty treatments. Kim Kardashian has subjected herself to the pain of a vampire facial and Gwyneth Paltrow visits her dermatologist regularly for bee-sting facials. But Cate Blanchett just opened up about one of the most-out there skincare treatments gaining popularity in Hollywood: something she calls the “penis facial.”
In an interview with Vogue Australia to promote the latest Giorgio Armani fragrance, Sì Passione, Blanchett opens up about all things beauty. And that includes the semen-smelling facial treatment that she and her Ocean’s 8 co-star Sandra Bullock once received at a popular N.Y.C. spa.
“Sandy [Sandra] Bullock and I saw this facialist in New York, Georgia Louise, and she gives what we call the penis facial and it’s something – I don’t know what it is, or whether it’s just cause it smells a bit like sperm – there’s some enzyme in it so Sandy refers to it as the penis facial.”
So in order to find out what the treatment really entails, we asked Louise for an explainer.
“It started last year when Sandra Bullock was filming in NYC and came to see me for a deep cleansing and long-lasting facial glow,” she tells PeopleStyle. “I wanted to give her something that would transform her skin without the need to undergo lasers, so I loaded up her bespoke facial with something that would give her long-lasting results. Within weeks her make-up artist, Whitney, and cast mates wanted to know the cause of her amazing, glowing skin … and from that moment onwards the Hollywood EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor) Facial was born!”
The facial, she explains, consists of chemical peels, micro needling to help stem cells and peptides to penetrate and promote collagen growth, an electrifying mask to calm the skin, and her secret sauce: the growth factor serum.
As for how it got its NSFW nickname? “I am always very mindful to explain radical serums and potions that I carry in my back bar so I always explain that EGF is derived from newborn baby foreskin, from which cells were taken and then cloned in a laboratory,” Louise explains. “I remember the time when I used placenta from a pig on a client that was vegan and that didn’t end so well.”
And yes, it’s FDA approved. “EGF is derived from the progenitor cells of the human fibroblast taken from Korean newborn baby foreskin during circumcision. It helps to generate collagen and elastin,” a representative of Louise explains.
Since then, the $650 facial, which is offered at the Georgia Louise Atelier in N.Y.C., has become quite a hit among fans of the pro.
“I have text threads which would blow your mind from celebs, asking for the ‘penis treatment’ all the time now,” Louise shares.
