New Anti-Aging Skin Care: Bee Venom Is the New Botox! Will You Get Stung?

Arriving from the UK is a new anti-aging skin care treatment using innovative technology: poison! Yes, that's right, the bees that you run away from so that you don't erupt in allergic hives or painful, itchy swells or experience death like the poor little boy in "My Girl", are actually what the Brits are running towards -- primarily Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall.

The 63-year-old wife of the effervescent Prince Charles has been reported by The Daily Mail to use bee venom as a way to fight aging. Though the princess can evade taxes, even royalty can't avoid wrinkles -- especially after years of smoking and galloping under the sun. These "organic facelifts" are a non-surgical alternative to Botox. Instead of going under the needle, the facelifts involve a mask made out of bee venom. The venom extracted from honey bees "stings" the skin causing the body to produce chemicals that will relax muscles and thereby reduce wrinkles. It's like your face getting attacked by an angry bee hive.

Though it sounds totally wacky, it seems like this skin care treatment actually works, because the Duchess' wrinkles seem to have "ironed out."

Beautician Deborah Mitchell who runs the Heaven salon in Shropshire, Britain, said, "The bee venom completely changed Dannii Minogue and my other clients love it so much that we have got waiting lists."

Of Mitchell's A-list clientele, her most celebrated patron is Her Royal Highness.

A spokesman for the Duchess said, "Deborah does carry out beauty treatments for Her Royal Highness. We cannot go into which treatments."

Of the various organic skin care treatments that Mitchell does (some procedures costing up to £165), Mitchell's most popular product is her organic Bee Venom Mask, $85.

"It keeps skin firm and youthful and is not at all painful -- there is just a slight tingle as the blood supply and nutrients flow into the skin tissues."

Now the true question is how do they extract the venom from those buzzing insects? Can you imagine Her Royal Highness' assistant coming back with a jar full of venom and her body covered in hives?

The process is a bit more sophisticated. Turns out Mitchell makes the mask from venom extracted from organic hives in New Zealand. A pane of glass with an electrical current running through it is placed alongside the hives to entice the bees to sting its surface, thereby accumulating the venom without killing the bee.

Due to its tedious procedure, the venom is extremely pricey costing £27,000 for one ounce, according to Mitchell. She then dilutes the venom, only accounting for one percent of the mask's formula.

According to the beautician, if used twice a day for 20 minutes, the bee venom treatment can reduce signs of aging for up to ten years.

If you aren't feeling inclined to be stung for youth, check out this video on more anti-aging secrets from top dermatologists.

By Sharon Yi