Placenta cream was created to help treat skin damage from the sun, signs of aging, and dry skin. It contains actual placenta as one of the main ingredients. In most cases the placenta is from either cattle or sheep. Many brands of this cream are made in Australia and New Zealand, where sheep placentas are used almost exclusively.
The placenta nourishes the young while in the womb, transferring food and other essentials for life from the mother to the growing fetus. It is likely that this life-giving aspect of the placenta is the original inspiration behind using it to give users a vital and youthful appearance. Sheep placentas are most commonly used, as sheep are known to be strong animals with tough immune systems.
Not all placenta cream actually contains any placenta at all, in the conventional sense of the word. In some cases the products use plant placenta, and no animal products are involved. While technically these products are using placenta (plants do have a placenta, but not like the one that exists in mammals), it is not what people expect when they see the term “placenta cream.”
This cream is used as a beauty product, but many people also claim that it is useful for healing injuries. The living cells in the cream are thought to help to increase blood circulation to the area where it is applied. Many of these creams are formulated with additional ingredients that boost the cream’s healing power.
Some of the ingredients added to placenta cream include tea tree oil, goat’s milk, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and papaya extract. Collagen, vitamin E, avocado oil, alcohol, and glycerin are also used. Extracts from such things as apricots and almonds may be included for the benefits that these additives can provide. Each company makes its own blend.
To make placenta cream, placentas are collected and taken to the manufacturing location for processing. The placentas are sterilized to remove any chance of disease transmission or other undesirable side effects. A special, live cell extraction technique is used to remove living placental cells for use in the cream, after which the cells are blended into the product.
There are no known side effects of using placenta cream, but side effects of other types of placenta therapy have been reported. The therapeutic injection of placental cells has caused incidences of gas gangrene and even death in some cases. For the best benefit to skin, people should stick with using placenta therapy topically, and never try to use such products, or similar products, in the form of injections.