Vampy: Would you have a vampire face lift? Photo: Getty
What with vampires and anti-ageing being two of the world's biggest obsessions right now (thank you K-Stew and R-Patz), it was only a matter of time before the two came together.
And now, according to nytimes.com, a cosmetic treatment to get rid of wrinkles is being marketed as the 'vampire face lift'.
But, it's not quite as gory as it sounds. There's no big surgery, and it can even be done at your desk.
The procedure entails having blood drawn from your arm, then spun in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets.
They are then injected into your face, with the hope of stimulating new collagen production.
The system, called Selphyl, arrived on the market in 2009, and has now emerged as the new facial rejuvenation craze. And, according to Sanjay Batra, the chief executive of Aesthetic Factors, which manufactures the Selphyl system, it's used by roughly 300 doctors in America today.
As scary as it sounds, some patients prefer the idea of using their own blood rather than a neurotoxin or synthetic filler to rejuvenate their faces.
And some doctors say that fillers taken from your own body are less likely to cause irregularities and bumps in thin-skinned areas.
But Dr. Phil Haeck, the president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, is troubled by the lack of research proving the efficacy of Selphyl, which costs $900 to $1,500 for half an hour.
"There are no scientific studies, only personal attestations," he said, adding that he thinks the "creepy" concept is as antiquated as bloodletting to cure disease. "This is another gimmick that people are using to make themselves stand out on the Internet in a real dog-eat-dog part of medicine."
What do you think of the 'vampire face lift'? Let us know below...