Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt...

January 06, 2010, 2:09am

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34577526/ns/today-today_fashion_and_beauty/

Is that poo on your face?

The ’00s were no different from any other decade: Women (and let’s be honest, some men) scoured the globe searching for the Fountain of Youth. Exotic facials were one way to turn back the hands of time, to help uncover that baby face hidden under the wrinkles and acne. But desperate times did indeed call for desperate measures. From human placenta and snail secretion to bird poo and spermine (a substance discovered in human sperm – hold the dirty jokes), people were ready to put anything and everything on their faces in the name of beauty. But these treatments didn’t come cheap. Spermine facials can cost up to $250 and a little nightingale excretion will set you back $115 to $150.

De-stressing snakes

For most people, snakes elicit a sense of panic. But the owner of Ada Barak’s Carnivorous Plant Farm near Tel Aviv, Israel, believes she’s harnessed the relaxing power of the slithering creatures. In 2007, she made headlines for her new spa offering: For $70, spa-goers can get a massage from six non-venomous serpents, which are placed on different surfaces of the body.

Feet-feeding fish

Salon owners found a whole new use for fish, making a splash with fish pedicures in 2008. Customers plunge their tootsies into a tank filled with tiny fish that nibble off dead skin, resulting in softer feet. This pedicure, which uses fish imported from Asia, costs between $40 and $60 for 15 to 30-minute treatments. Unfortunately, cosmetology regulators were not so enthusiastic about the treatment, and at least 14 states have banned the procedure for being unsanitary, since the fish are re-used by different customers.

You smell like lunch

Vanilla, cocoa, fruit – the essences of sweet foods have long been present in personal care product fragrances. But this decade, some companies have looked to the savory scents of our favorite processed foods for inspiration. In 2008, Burger King came out with “Flame,” which they describe as a “scent of seduction, with a hint of flame-broiled meat.” Craving a snack? Cheetos has a scented lip balm, or if you’re looking for something more substantial, Etsy.com sells a pizza fragrance oil.

‘Baby got back’

Sir Mix-A-Lot was way ahead of his time when he wrote his ode to the big booty. It wasn’t until the combined forces of Jennifer Lopez’s ample behind and Beyonce’s “Bootylicious” anthem that the butt got off the back burner (the word “bootylicious” was even inducted into the Oxford English dictionary in 2002).

While curvy women rejoiced, those with flat backsides scrambled to join the club. The solution? Butt augmentation, or butt implants, which is exactly what it sounds like. There’s also the Brazilian butt lift, which involves transferring fat into the butt. The number of people surgically enhancing their derrieres is very small when compared to more popular procedures like breast implants, but according to the American Society of Plastic Surgery, butt enhancement was one of the few procedures that increased in popularity, even with the bad economy. Between 2000 and 2008, butt lift procedures increased by 162 percent.

Nips, tucks … down there

The ’00s ushered in the $2.5 billion boom of the Internet porn industry as well as the “leaking” of celebrity sex tapes (Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Screech from “Saved by the Bell” – eek, let’s try to forget that one), and of course, the pantyless crotch shot (Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears). For the everyday woman, that brought a whole new consciousness about how they measured up down there, and plastic surgeons were quick to provide a solution: “designer vaginas.” Labiaplasty, the most established of the vaginal plastic surgery procedures, is the reduction of the vaginal lips. The procedure was even highlighted on the reality show “Dr. 90210” in 2007. Though it’s still not a very common surgery, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, which started keeping statistics on vaginal rejuvenation in 2005, saw a 30 percent increase in the number of patients by 2006. Depending on what the patient is looking for, a designer vagina can cost $3,500 to $18,000.

Bathing drunk

Plain water is sooo ’90s. For those with money, the options are endless. Soak in a sake bath or one of several other options, including green tea, red wine or coffee, at the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Hot Springs Amusement Park and Spa Resort in south-central Japan. Beer more your thing? No problem! Beer spas in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic offer baths in lagers and Pilsners, starting at about $52.

Wrinkle reduction

Frozen foreheads barely raise eyebrows (literally) these days, but there was once a time when injecting a toxin produced by bacteria into one’s face would have been considered odd. The Botox trend didn’t gain traction until 2002, when it was approved to be used for cosmetic purposes. Botulinum toxin (trade name Botox) injections work by weakening or paralyzing certain muscles or by blocking certain nerves, reducing the appearance of wrinkles. The treatment wasn’t a tough sell: By 2006, it was the most popular cosmetic procedure in the United States. In 2002, 1 million people went under the needle, and by 2008, 5 million people got ’toxed, as women around the country (and the world) tossed the Tupperware in favor of Botox parties.

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