A couple of months ago , my female parent was at a MD ’s fitting when she noticed that the 70 - something lab technician demand her blood had zero wrinkles . My mom ask the adult female what she used on her skin , and as she stuck a phonograph needle into my mom ’s weapon system , she respond : " sunscreen " and then in a susurration , " pee - pee . "
This char had supposedly been " pat " her face with weewee since she was younger , and now here she was , nearing 80 with the skin color of a 40 - twelvemonth - old . It was the first time I ’d ever hear of someone using their own urine for cosmetic intention , but piss therapy , the umbrella term for using pee topically or orally , is quite coarse in alternate practice of medicine . It ’s an ancient practice whose blood line are largelyattributed to Amerindic culture : theDamar Tantra , an ancient Sanskrit text , claims that drinking one ’s own urine is the curative to all diseases . The Greeks , Egyptians , and Romans used it , too;Pliny the Elderrecommended it to bring around burns , inflammation , and skin diseases . Which presumably mean Pliny the Younger was on board , and if piss worked for the Plinys , it ’s deserving a shot .
If urine is the elixir for perfect skin , I want in .
Daniel Fishel/Thrillist
However , urine therapy is n’t all ancient folklore . In 1997 , German doctor Flora Peschek - Böhmer and journalist Gisela Schreiber wrote a modern manifesto on it , in which they enumerate the various ailments – arthritis , pinkeye , diarrhoea and impairment ( not certain how that works ) , gout , obesity , " phantom pain " ( so yeah , really anything ) – that pee can heal , or at least prevent . The book , Urine Therapy : Nature ’s philosophers' stone for Good Health , condones drink in urine and subsequently arrive pretty eldritch ( there ’s a chapter called " Cocktail Hour " about how to flux urine with other natural remedies to increase its healing effect ) , but the authors do acknowledge that if you ’re repulse at the intellection of drinking your own pee , externally applying it to your skin will aid solve up pimples , wart , long time spot , or eczema .
There is a scientific hypothesis , of course , behind why urine could be beneficial for your skin . " Urine contain urea , which is an exfoliant that gives the skin some overturn and breaks it up , " explainsDr . Sejal Shah , a dermatologic sawbones base in New York . " What ’s interesting about urea is that it ’s also a humectant , so it can hold wet as well . As a urea product , urine would fit into this category . " From what Dr. Shah tells me , urea sound like a miracle factor that can heal two seemingly opposite , and common , skin conditions : acne and teetotal skin . If urine is the philosopher’s stone for perfect peel , I desire in .
Urine as a skin treatment isn’t as weird as it sounds
As gross as I found the initial thought of taking golden showers on the off - hazard they would better my skin , water is a comparatively tame constituent in the grand strategy of facial treatment . The lamia seventh cranial nerve – in which your own profligate is injected into your peel – was trendy for a hot 2nd afterKim Kardashiangot one . drink collagen is the mantrap trend du jour , thanks to researchshowing that women who orally consumed collagen peptide improved the look and wellness of their skin after eight week . Many anti - aging creams get away with madly high-pitched prices and obscure methods that claim to prevent and reduce crinkle ( 3Lab ’s $ 875 Super Creamcontains collagen - stimulating peptide , apple fore cells , and dragon ’s blood ) . Last year , G.M. Collin was sued for false advertisingbecause its Phyto Stem Cell + line of product did n’t actually contain any fixings capable of improving skin cellphone or DNA , as foretell .
So why not wee ?
You see , I ’ve spend much of my post - pubescent life in pursuance of a decipherable complexion . Two years ago , after many refills of Achromycin , retinoid cream , and birth command flunk to free my face of cystic acne , I went on Accutane , a potent form of vitamin A that ’s often considered a last - resort discussion due to its peril , specially for charwoman . I toss off three pills a day for six months , took monthly blood and maternity mental testing , stop wassail alcohol , and endured dry skin so uncomfortable that I often went to the bathroom at work to re - humidify my arms and legs .
Wo n’t my human face scent like pee ?
I come out at the other end with a glowing T - geographical zone , and I rarely get zit anymore , but having shrunken oil secreter come at a toll : my face is horribly sensitive and still gets super dry . I get flaky , red bumps that ebb and flow with how often I wash my face , and it was during a late episode of intensely scaly tegument that I settle to try out pee therapy .
Urine might be free and readily uncommitted , but I had two firmly - hit interrogative before I wash away my grimace with it . One , is n’t it full of bacterium ? Theoretically , urine is uninventive , butresearch has shownthat it does contain small amounts of bacterium , even if you do n’t have a UTI . I ’m a huge germaphobe but I reason out that I in all likelihood come in contact with more nefarious strains on thesubway every day .
Two , wo n’t my boldness olfactory sensation like water ? According to Peschek - Böhmer and Schreiber ’s book , any smell will disappear as soon as the piss is absorbed into the peel . I did n’t totally conceive this , but I had to prove it to find oneself out .
The experiment begins
Peeing on your face is all about timing . Peschek - Bohmer and Schreiber recommend the " midstream morn urine " to be the most effective at clearing up acne and teetotal skin . TheDamar Tantra , for what it ’s deserving , also suggest using midstream flow to get the good stuff , and it seems wise to follow theDamar Tantra ’s words when it comes to get premium urine . The reasoning is that the first part of the pee flowing contains wastefulness released by the initial flushing of the urethra , and the last portion does n’t contain any significant nutrients .
My design was to supercede my morning face wash with urine . I tried to get my two sisters to join me in the name of sisterly soldering – one of them , Roshan , flat - out refuse ( whole understandable ) , while the other , Yasmin , agreed but apparently kept " forgetting " in the shower . Whatever , I ’d be fine on my own .
If anything , it was a little sweet . I swear .
For the first few days , I waited for my pee to strike its midstream height , then I piss on a cotton fiber swab and swob it on my face . Instead of rinsing it off , I let it dry . I was worried about the smell , so after every diligence I made Yasmin sniffle my face . She ’s pretty honest about these sort of things – she ’s the first mortal to tell apart me when my unibrow is derive in a small strong – so I trusted her verdict that it did n’t smack . If anything , it was a minuscule fresh . I swear .
For about a calendar week I followed the same function of wiping urine onto my brass in the dayspring and not dampen it off . By daytime eight , my pelt had n’t change for better or worse . I chalked up the lack of progression to the timbre of my urine – I was using fresh morning pee , but it was n’t from thefirstpee of the morning . I reasoned that if want to see real results , I ’d have to truly use the first bright - yellow piss of the Clarence Day , which according to my trusty guideUrine Therapy , is the most potent because it ’s been in the trunk the longest . If they say the morning pee has all of your body ’s instinctive , beautiful face - make superpower in it , who am I to interrogate ?
My fount was no longer an inflammation zone , but was urine creditworthy ?
It ’s a little operose to recollect to wipe urine on your face when you ’re half - gone in the daybreak , so I set a wake - up reminder on my headphone for my " facial treatment ” ( it seemed less conspicuous than the original one , " urine on expression ! ! ! ! " ) . like to before , I waited until my urine was midstream to pee on a cotton fiber swab , wipe it across my face , and countenance it dry out . I usually go on a run in the morning , so I waited until after I worked out to lavish – I still did n’t apply font washables , but I did rinse the sweaty , weewee - tinged balance off my grimace with piss .
After a few days on this new regime , my skin take a turn for the worsened . The petite cherry bumps I was seek to decimate were bigger and redder , and the skin around them drier and scurfy . Weird skin reactions call for straightaway action at law , so I arrest my intricate morning piss subprogram . Soon after , my skin start peeling , and when the peeling cease a few days later , my face felt softer than it had in months . The hump were gone and my face was no longer an inflammation geographical zone , but was urine responsible ?
It ’s possible that my face go through an intense round of exfoliation , but it ’s probable that the pee just aggravated my cutis . " If you use urine too much , it can irritate the hide , " confirms Dr. Shah . " That ’s why babies get diaper skin rash – because urine is left on their pelt . "
After speak to Dr. Shah and Googling images of " diaper rash on font , " I conclude that I probably got a broken - grade version of it . That ’s right : I put water on my face for better peel and all I amaze was this lousy nappy blizzard facial . Luckily , I was on holiday and did n’t have to see anyone worth ingrain .
You, too, can have a pee face like mine
Dr. Shah does n’t urge using urine on your face – not because it ’s life-threatening or can stimulate a reaction kin to diaper rash , but because it ’s just not that effective . " Urine is primarily water and there ’s very footling urea in it , " she clear up . " It incorporate less than 5 % and actual skincare ware with urea contain 10 % or more . "
If you ’re search to draw the two-fold exfoliate and hydrate benefit of carbamide , there are just products on the ledge . Urea itself is an organic compoundthat ’s made in an industry setting , and doctors prescribe it for term associated with ironical and scaly skin , like psoriasis , ichthyosis , corns and calluses , and dystrophic nail . It ’s available in over - the - counter products , too : Eucerin makes moisturizer with up to 10 % urea and La Roche - Posay has a urea - base line of products .
So , did I have to wash my face with pee for two weeks to get disembarrass of my wry peel ? Absolutely not . Would I do it again ? If the occasional dab of urine on my face means I ’ll get on without crinkle , I could be convinced . In the lag , I ’ll just go bribe some urea cream .
