At a time when consumers are going back to basics and turning to earth’s natural resources, where “Go Green” is a slogan deemed worthy of being printed on T-shirts, sadly perhaps, it’s not surprising that the inherent benefits possessed by animals are being extracted and added to skin care products – done in the hopes of eradicating fine lines, smoothing skin and even freezing your face.

Fresh Beauty Market Wrinkle Butter, a product formulated to reduce wrinkles the very first time one uses it, contains extract made from earthworm excrement – yes, that’s right.Poop.Masque*ology, a mask-based skin-care line developed in South Korea, utilizes snail secretion in its Cell Renewal Mask, sold at Sephora, until recently when it slowly inched its way into Bloomingdale’s, as well.

Perhaps in an effort to rationalize beauty’s strange turn, celebrities have been using products like these for years.The Duchess of Cornwall, Gwyneth Paltrow, Dannii Minogue and Michelle Pfeiffer are just a few who have reportedly used products by Deborah Mitchell, a beauty specialist based in the U.K., whose line of skin care products includes Heaven Bee Venom Mask, which freezes muscles creating a Botox-like effect.

Rodial, another U.K.-based company, also has a line made with bee venom and snake serum.This past July the company added Dragon’s Blood Hyaluronic Night Cream to their Dragon’s Blood range, which was launched last year.The product is sourced from the red sap of the ‘sangre de drago’ tree in South America, and works to form a second skin-like film that protects against environmental damage and contains anti-inflammatory properties.

In July, Wei East also joined the dragon wagon by releasing Dragon Tree Dramatic Lift Face Concentrate.This month they’re adding Dragon Blood Eye Lifting Pads to the nature’s skin care lot.Soaked in a firming solution of Dragon Blood extract, the pads claim to provide invisible support, firming, lifting and tightening the skin around the delicate eye area.

Indeed, as long as women dream of new creams, companies will be there to produce them.