Birds, Bees, and Botox

     During a recent, brief business trip to Merry Old England, Beauty Wonkette became very familiar with what is apparently an age-old British maxim "If a royal has it, everyone wants it."  Beauty Wonkette wasn't exactly sure why.  Sure, she thinks Kate M is cute enough, but frankly, the Queen looks like one of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz (no offense, Queenie).

     Anyway, after British beauty guru Deborah Mitchell revealed  that the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla, the gal who replaced Princess Diana and kind of looks like a horse) had been using her bee venom anti-aging treatments, inquiries about the product exploded.  Today, bee venom masks have become the beauty treatment du jour.  In fact, demand for what is called the "organic face lift" has drawn Mitchell to China, where the Daily Mail reports she has signed a contract for approximately $164 million to offer the bee venom treatment and other Deborah Mitchell products in 2,500 Chinese stores and salons. 

     According to the Heaven by Deborah Mitchell website, the beauty treatment, cited as "nature's alternative to Botox," uses the paralyzing power of bee venom to lift, tighten and firm the face muscles and reduce wrinkles.  You can also buy a 15 ml. pot of bee venom mask to use at home for $31.84.

     Now, for the $64 million question:  does it really work? A look at the website of the American Apitherapy Society, an organization devoted to bee venom therapy research and education, shows that apitoxin (bee venom's less sexy name) does have a strong anti-inflammatory property that helps rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis and gout, among other ailments.  However,  there is no mention of apitoxin's anti-aging properties.  Then again, all one needs is to take a look at Camilla these days.  She is REALLY glowing for a woman of 64!  (Yeah, yeah - she still looks like a horse, but a much younger horse than she looked like BEFORE the bee venom treatment.)  

     Nevertheless, just to be sure, since Beauty Wonkette was there, she decided to try the bee venom treatment herself.  We have to admit that afterwards, she looked pretty damn excellent!