Placentas for skin care: Introducing the life force facial.

I am the twin sister of a Doula, so naturally I have heard about all the latest trends in the birth world. Recently, I learned that these birth healers may hold the key to a healthy aging mecca, through offering the service of placenta encapsulation.

Honestly, I didn't even know what a Doula was until I was watching The Bachelor one night during Nick Viall's season, there was a Doula named Liz from Las Vegas. So then it led me to ask, what exactly is a doula?

A doula helps to support a woman in labor, providing emotional and physical support. They are true healers during a woman's most vulnerable state. 

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my sister and I were enjoying poke bowls on the beach in Jacksonville, FL and we started brainstorming how the #doulalife and #estheticianlife relate.

I immediately thought of Placenta facials. The placenta is an organ that your body creates in the womb, which supplements the fetus with nutritional support throughout the pregnancy.

When women give birth to a baby, they also birth the placenta, and many women are choosing to wake up to (rather than overlook) the potent life energy or Qi in the placental tissue; IMHO, it contains way too many restorative benefits to ignore.

My sister Lily offers a service called "placenta encapsulation", where the placenta is dehydrated, ground up, and put into a vegetable-based caplet. I thought about emptying the caplet and using it in a facial treatment with a powerful hydrating serum. Talk about the ultimate customized life force facial! 

Placental Benefits in Health and Skin Care: from Traditional Chinese Medicine to Modern Day use with mobile LED therapies

          Traditional Chinese Medicine has supported the use of the Placenta for health benefit since the 1500's, and is said to aid the new mother's recovery postpartum. It can stop hemorrhage during childbirth, help milk supply to come in, balance the hormones, help women to avoid postpartum depression, and more.  This is the ultimate way to healthy aging. In fact, many cultures call the placenta the "tree of life". Esthetics applications include stem cell serums in topical application, injection in live cell therapy, and using ground placenta in masques.

Beverly hills-based dermatologist Dr. Harold Lancer extracts protein-rich nutrients from the human placenta in serum form. Some skin care specialists use more readily available stem cells from sheep placenta. 

 TCM believes it brings the body back into balance. The stem cells in the placenta are young, so they have no identity as cells. When our bodies experience them in application, the cells have the opportunity to identify with specific tissue and conform to their structure, re-building damages where they're needed most.

"According to Lancer Dermatology, placenta is an effective skin-firmer, lifter, and hydrator. It also treats acneic skin and that which has been damaged from over-exfoliation." (Livestrong)

(Instantly thought of repairing all the micro-tear damage we created during our St.Ives Apricot Scrub phase -.-)

A spa Clinique La Prarie in Montreaux, Switzerland is practicing whats called live cell therapy, which takes it to the next level. LCT is where specialists inject cells (extracted from sheep placenta) to stimulate cell renewal. 

"In a nutshell, when a young cell comes in contact with an old cell, it relays information via the DNA. The old cell receives this information and in turn begins to act like the young cell. The old cell is not becoming young, instead it just begins to take on the mindset of the youthful cell. So no you can’t live forever through live cell therapy. Your life span is set, you’re not going to live any longer but you are certainly going to live much better. Your immunity is raised and your body returns to operating at its optimum.

You could say that placenta reverses the aging process. People who use it  regain a youthful glow. Take a close look at celebrities who suddenly reappear in public looking decades younger.

Live cell therapy is recognized as a highly coveted means of stimulating cell renewal along with the anecdotal benefits of finer, even-toned skin, firming up of skin and sagging breasts. Boosting immune systems, improving sleep, enhancing energy and stamina, improving blood circulation, easing menstrual and menopausal symptoms, and boosting sex drive." (lasplash.com) 

Diane Fumat is a mobile spa therapist in the Beverly Hills area, and she operates under the name La Beaute. When she performs placenta facials, she will use stem cells in a topical form in conjunction with a LED light therapy to aid it's effectivity, all the way down to the Basal cell layer:

"There are a number of celebrities who swear by them. There’s a lot of protein and amino acids in placenta. This is what helps cells to grow. It feeds the baby, and there is nothing better than a mother’s nourishment. It’s a valuable aspect of the birth of life. The rare quality of placenta is that it treats everything. Acne, rosacea, dull skin, you name it. It solves such a host of problems it’s amazing.", says Diane. 

So why not? I don't know about you, sheep placenta sounds more off-putting than creating a placenta and utilizing it for it's optimal health benefit.  Lily offers placenta encapsulation as a service, so you can break open a capsule, mix it with your favorite serum, apply it as a masque, and jade roll it in.

Placental facial treatments are arguably the most custom-tailored, potent life-force application. 

If you are an Esthetician and you or your clients are interested in placental encapsulation for skin and health benefits, please reach out to Lily Carter at Golden Lotus Doula Services! 

Leila Belle Carter