YouTubeFirst, it was the vampire facial. Now, we have an at-home blood cream.
When I say "we," I mean E! News host Catt Sadler and me, who were recently invited me test Dr. Barbara Sturm's skin-care innovation: the customized MC1 Blood Cream.
It's as it sounds: a moisturizing face cream made with your own blood. Sure enough, it's pricy—around $1,000 for a jar, but it's not a completely new idea—it's the same concept used in Kim Kardashian's headline-making vampire facial, in which your own blood is extracted and then infused back into your face for maximum anti-aging benefits.
The MC1 Cream is basically an at-home version of the famed facial. It's also nearly impossible to get a jar for yourself unless you're a celeb or a beauty editor (Dr. Sturm's clinics are also based in Germany). Essentially, it takes the same curative proteins from your blood and fuses them with a face cream.
The blood gets processed in a lab, where it's spun in a centrifuge to separate red blood cells and plasma, which contain healing properties to the human body. The plasma is then mixed into the cream. By adding the final product topically to the skin, anti-aging benefits are eminent—most notable rewards are reduced inflammation, collagen stimulation, reduced redness and acne-clearing benefits, a.k.a. better overall skin texture.
The question is: Does it actually work?
Dr. Sturm offered to draw both mine and Catt's blood. A day later, our respective creams were in our hands. My name was neatly handwritten across the bottle, accompanied by an expiration date. (There's a three-month shelf life because, remember, this product contains actual blood.) At the advisement of Dr. Sturm, we each dedicated the next 30 days giving it a whirl.
To my surprise the cream was white, not beet red, as expected. It didn't really have a smell, but putting it on took some getting used to. It might have been mental, but, as you might imagine, smearing your own blood on your face feels less than normal. I worked through my squeamish tendencies and within a week I noticed a difference. "What are you doing to your skin? Something about the texture is different…honestly, it's never looked better," noted a coworker. "I think it's the blood cream," was my honest response.
I was slathering it on day and night, and I wasn't holding back on how much I used. I will say, aside from smoother texture, my typically flaky winter skin has been nowhere in sight. (A word of advice on moisturizing in general: Whatever amount you think you should use, double it. Let it sit and sink in. That way you're getting maximum benefits.)
Catt was also pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of her skin. "Literally going on, it feels like butter," she noted. "I will say that I already try to take excellent care of my skin and I didn't notice radical change on my face, but I did notice the surface of my skin was exceptionally smooth and radiant. For this reason, I lathered the cream on my neck and chest, too."
Personally, I've been using it non-stop and after two months I'm almost out.
Refill anyone?