Don’t be fooled by expensive caviar extract products

La Prairie Cosmetics from Switzerland has made a fortune selling caviar extract products to their clients willing to dish out $300, $500 and $900 for skin care products.

I’ll be honest and I’ll admit that as a beauty editor I’ve not yet pulled out my credit card to purchase skin care that expensive. I also think that caviar might be best left as a delicacy.

It surely looks like Angelina Jolie and I don’t see eye to eye on that front. The London Daily News has reported late last week that Mrs. Brad Pitt has been indulging in a £200-a-time treatment (a little shy of $450 US) extracted from the eggs of Baerii sturgeon, located on farms in the South of France. It would appear that Angelina Jolie finds the three-hour caviar treatment essential in keeping her newly-super-skinny-body super-firm. The caviar treatment is said to “drench the skin with moisture and nourishment and combat loss of firmness and slackened skin”.

Why would Angelina Jolie drench her body in caviar extract?

Well, the obvious reason is because she can! The second reason is because it’s been reported that the high oil and protein content of caviar are especially moisturising to the skin. It’s also said that Angelina likes to release her stress via the La Prairie facial (a luxurious 90-minute facial using La Prairie’s caviar-based creams).

Some skin care experts say that caviar-based skin care creams contain phospholipids (fats that are essential in hydrating and softening the skin) and proteins (that help with regeneration of skin cells) that are shown to provide significant benefits to the skin.

Jenny Harding, a skincare specialist from the Dynasty clinic in London, shares my views on caviar: “It is true there are omega 3 fatty acids in caviar, but you might as well put cod liver oil on your face. The best thing you can do with caviar is put it on a plate and eat it. By the time it reaches a cream, it has been doctored so much you are getting little benefit.”

The last part about caviar creams not having that much effect will sadden countless of La Prairie devotees who have invested a small fortune in these caviar extract skin care line.