Style Section L.A.

You’re Putting What on My Face?

One Angeleno’s take on an animal placenta facial in Beverly Hills.

By Corey Scholibo
Published on March 30, 2010

The key to looking younger and more beautiful has finally come to this: Rub sheep placenta all over your face. Not exactly, but Dr. Harold Lancer of Lancer Dermatology in Beverly Hills has quietly launched one the world’s rarified stem-cell facial treatments, harvested from — not kidding here — the after birth of sheep from a remote New Zealand herd.

Placental facial treatments themselves are nothing new. In her new book House of Versace, Deborah Ball, a European correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, writes about Donatella Versace’s habit of indulging favorite models and assistants in the 90s by giving them jars of cream made from animal afterbirth ingredients. New York spas have been advertising their own versions for about two years now, while the website Stem Cell Face Products boasts products containing “human cytokines” in “a natural liquid media which has been conditioned by adult stem cells,” whatever that means.

Lancer has been a prominent dermatologist for years, and like many of his colleagues, he has offered his own version of the face cleanser, scrub and lotion regimen. It wasn’t until a patient brought his attention to a cloistered group of sheep, however, that the idea for this unique stem cell-based treatment become a reality. “These sheep are completely untouched by the modern world,” Lancer said. “It is very important, as they have no impurities in their system whatsoever.”

For Lancer’s facial, four types of stem cells of the placenta are removed, freeze-dried and made into a serum sold exclusively at his Wilshire Boulevard penthouse. The treatment runs $500 and takes about 90 minutes to complete; the serum, which you can purchase to use at home, will run you another $300. But if you want to be on the cutting edge of beauty, you will need to get in line behind the likes of Renee Zellweger, Beyonce, Hugh Jackman, Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham.

Why placenta? The stem cells contained apparently interact with your own already living cells, basically telling them to wake up, produce collagen and stimulate new cell growth. The facial begins with your typical offerings: steam, cleansing and exfoliating. Then you sit under a red LED light, which supposedly opens up your pores directly into the lymphatic system, preparing them to receive the stem cells. Finally, the esthetician spreads an entire ampoule of Lancer’s stem cell gel onto your face. It’s important to note, as the clinic makes sure to, that these are amniotic stem cells, not embryonic, and that the animals are in no way harmed. If anything, Lancer recycles the otherwise discarded placenta.

After the treatment, my skin was glowing. I was told there was supposed to be a relaxation effect, which was negligible. But the glow lasted two days (So I was told, unprompted, by many of my friends).

Lancer’s office is more of a medical facility than a calming spa, even though the view from my chair featured two enormous Klimt reproductions hanging over the windows. My French-Canadian esthetician formerly worked for the Prime Minister of Canada and couldn’t have been more knowledgeable and easygoing. She told me how much she loved her regular visits to Ryan Seacrest’s home — his bedroom, no less — to give him his stem cell treatments. “He is just the nicest guy in the world,” she doted.

Though you can eventually get an appointment, the wait is at least a few weeks. I had been previously bumped from the schedule because some nouveau riche Egyptians needed to get in before they hopped their flight home. The treatment has only been available for six months, but as Lancer pointed out to me, there are only so many sheep giving birth; who knows when demand will eventually meet or surpass supply? His customers certainly can’t get enough of it.

As I made my way out of the office, a well-preserved woman in her 70s pleaded with the nurse to ask if three weeks was a long enough wait between appointments. She was relieved when assured that she could have another dousing of the magic potion.