Why Are Celebrities Injecting Salmon Sperm?

It's being touted as a cutting edge beauty treatment that Kim Kardashian touted in an episode of her Hulu series when she casually dropped the line: "I got a salmon sperm facial with salmon sperm injected into my face."

The 43-year-old influencer didn't go into details about how effective injecting milt, which is extracted from fish testicles, was for producing firmer skin. But she isn't the only Hollywood darling who said they have tried it.

Jennifer Aniston also said she had sperm injected into her face, telling Vanity Fair that she is willing to experiment with all the crazy beauty fads. “First of all, I said, ‘Are you serious? How do you get salmon’s sperm?’”

Good question. According to a NatGeo Wild episode with Bertie Gregory where he tagged along with some scientists from Tofino Salmon Enhancement Society who were harvesting sperm and eggs from Chinook salmon to cultivate at a hatchery, it's not easy and it takes some, well, gentle massaging of the fish's abdomen until the sperm is released naturally.

Of course the Chinook Salmon were being cultivated to offset experienced a drastic in the species decline due to overfishing and other threats, not to stave off aging for Hollywood starlets and influencers.

Either way the new beauty craze came from South Korea is now offered by a slew of Beverly Hills plastic surgeons under the name Rejuran SkinBooster, which, is explained as injectables that harness the "bio-revitalising" powers of fish, post abdominal massage, essentially DNA obtained from the nucleus of the salmon's sperm cells. Typically the best results come from chum salmon or salmon trout, experts say.

Dr. William Harris, a renowned plastic surgeon with a new practice Beverly Hills , said he is a believer. "You have to break the surface of the skin to get the ultimate tightening results, injection or micro-needling to get to the deepest levels of the skin." Which means topical serums being sold online are primarily a gimmick. But overall, the procedure works.

"I do think it's going to gain traction. There is minimal downtime, and there is pigment improvement especially with the use of Rejuran, which is a serum combination of salmon DNA and Vitamin C with hyaluronic and tranexamic acids," Harris said. "It's a natural way to boost your collagen which everyone loves."

The procedure, which doesn't come cheap at around $500 a shot, promises to boost skin regeneration and stimulate new collagen production because the polynucleotides in the salmon sperm act as stimulators of skin molecules that can mirror human DNA.