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‘Mission: Im-poo-ssible’: I attempted the ‘fowl poop facial’ Tom Cruise reportedly swears by

If you happen to’re one of many hundreds of thousands of moviegoers who’ve seen “Mission: Unimaginable – Lifeless Reckoning Half One” in theaters, two ideas possible crossed your thoughts as you wolfed your popcorn within the air-conditioned darkish: 1. Wait, is that actually Tom Cruise driving a motorbike off a cliff? (Sure!) and a pair of. How does the person look so rattling good at 61?

Seems, Cruise’s skincare secret is perhaps a crock of s—t: For roughly a decade, reviews have credited the actor’s ageless glow to powdered fowl poop, or what the Japanese name uguisu no enjoyable.

“Tom doesn’t go in for Botox or surgical procedure, however he does pay shut consideration to all the brand new and fashionable pure remedies,” a supply near the star informed Now journal in 2012, per HuffPost. “He just lately began experimenting with the nightingale poo facial.”


Perhaps he’s born with it. Perhaps it’s fowl poop.
Stephen Yang

Tom Cruise and Vanessa Kirby in a scene from "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One"
Vanessa Kirby clearly needs his secrets and techniques — and so do I.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Assortment

Dr. Melissa Kanchanapoomi Levin, board-certified dermatologist and founding father of Entière Dermatology, tells Web page Six Model the usage of uguisu no enjoyable in skincare dates again to historic Japan.

“Geishas and kabuki actors within the 18th century used nightingale droppings to take away their heavy make-up and whiten their faces. The droppings had been discovered to have naturally excessive ranges of urea, which helps retain moisture within the pores and skin, and guanine, an amino acid that imparts a luminescent high quality to the pores and skin and fights solar harm,” she says, including that some proponents of the fecal facial even declare it may clear zits and decrease pores.

Cruise apparently skilled “incredible” outcomes from the remedy, which was “really helpful by a Hollywood pal” — maybe David or Victoria Beckham, who additionally reportedly incorporate avian dung into their skincare routines. And contemplating his face has hardly aged within the decade since, I needed to attempt it for myself.


A painting of geishas and a birdcage
The “fowl poop facial” can also be usually often known as the “geisha facial,” as geishas in Edo-era Japan used the droppings to take away their make-up and brighten their pores and skin.
Heritage Photos by way of Getty Photos

A Japanese bush warbler on a branch
No operating round selecting up pigeon poop, New Yorkers: Solely the Japanese bush warbler produces these coveted craps.
Getty Photos/iStockphoto

My mission, ought to I select to simply accept it? Incorporate fowl poop into my skincare routine for a full week in hopes of turning again the clock, Cruise-style.

Choose spas provide these so-called “geisha facials” for a whole bunch of {dollars}, however after a little bit of Googling, I found you should purchase a bottle of pure Japanese fowl poop on Amazon.

Uguisu Poo’s Uguisu No Enjoyable Illuminating Masks retails for simply $45 and boasts a decently respectable 4.2-star score, with customers describing it as every little thing from “my new favourite product” to “smells like a barnyard.” I held my nostril and positioned an order.


Uguisu Poo Uguisu No Fun Illuminating Mask
Amazon

Uguisu Poo Uguisu No Enjoyable Illuminating Masks ($45)

A double-duty (or moderately, double-doody) purchase, the powder could be each added to face wash for an additional dose of exfoliation or blended with heat water and utilized as a masks — and no, not just like the eerily sensible form Ethan Hunt wears to impersonate others and execute his missions. I figured I’d use it each methods every day for good measure.

Uguisu Poo touts its hero product as “UV sterilized and purified to take away musky odor,” and certainly, it’s completely scentless straight out of the bottle. That stated, it took on a decidedly off-putting aroma when rehydrated — stale and a bit sweaty, like Cruise’s socks would possibly scent after one among his iconic “M:I” sprinting scenes.

This meant my husband, whose nostril is stronger than mine, didn’t need to come wherever close to me throughout the 10 or quarter-hour it took for my nightly poo masks to dry. (My bird-obsessed cat, then again, didn’t appear to thoughts one bit.)


A woman trying the bird poop facial
When utilized as a masks, the product begins out as a yellowish slop (so … like fowl poo) however dries and hardens in about 10 minutes.
Elana Fishman

A woman trying the bird poop facial
Praying bits of dried fowl crap don’t get in my mouth.
Elana Fishman

Smelliness apart, nevertheless, the uguisu delivered respectable outcomes for an over-the-counter product; after every masks, my face felt delicate and clean, if not precisely de-aged, and my pores appeared ever so barely smaller.

However whereas magnificence buffs shouldn’t pooh-pooh this time-tested remedy, Dr. Levin notes that “not everybody might expertise important advantages” and there are potential dangers value contemplating — significantly in the case of hygiene.

“The droppings come from birds and should comprise dangerous microorganisms,” she says. “To mitigate this danger, respected spas and producers observe a technique of UV sanitation. Nevertheless, some people should have allergic reactions or pores and skin sensitivities to the elements in uguisu, so it’s important to do a patch take a look at earlier than making use of it to the whole face.”


Before and after photos of the author's face
I can’t say I seen a significant distinction after one week of use. Unhappy!
Stephen Yang

And in the end, there are many different elements — from retinol to niacinamide to hyaluronic acid — that may provide related (if not superior) outcomes.

“Whereas there could also be some advantages to this ingredient, there are loads of [others] that additionally assist to exfoliate,” Dr. Marisa Garshick, a board-certified dermatologist in New York Metropolis, tells Web page Six Model.

“So in the event you’re hesitant to make use of nightingale droppings in your face, you’ll be able to really feel reassured there are different methods to get brighter pores and skin.”

As for me? Whereas my pores and skin didn’t self-destruct like one among Hunt’s IMF messages after per week of being slathered in poo, I’d moderately spend my cash on prescription topicals.

If I’m going to age in addition to Tom Cruise, in any case, I believe I’ll want one thing a bit stronger than nightingale scat.

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