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It may not be the secret to eternal youth, but one Italian company claims to have found a unique way to make people's skin look younger, healthier and even lighter using, of all things, a truffle.
The invention, TruffleTherapy, adds to a collection of gourmet products by the Dafla Skincare Institute made from wine and chocolate.
A growing desire to look and feel good is fuelling a boom in the health and beauty industry worldwide, with companies forever inventing lotions, potions, techniques and gadgets to feed the frenzy.
Whether or not these products live up to their labels, the demand for beauty treatments means big business for manufacturers and therapists.
Anti-wrinkle lights, Indian massage oils and a vibrating couch for stress were just some of the products on display at a beauty exhibition in London this week, where more than 450 exhibitors were vying for a piece of the action.
The Professional Beauty Show, the second largest fair of its kind in Europe, has been growing in size since the annual event began 18 years ago.
Exhibition organiser Mark Moloney said this demonstrated just how much men and women were interested in their appearances.
"The professional beauty market is still growing," Moloney told AFP.
Jammed amid rows of beauty booths and massage beds at the exhibition, a towering chocolate fondue was attracting particular interest, although visitors appeared keener to taste the product than learn about its skincare qualities.
Ishi Elements, a label developed by the Dafla Skincare Institute, combines luxury food such as chocolate with scientific research to produce face and body treatments, said company president and scientific director David Antichi.
He was particularly excited about the firm's new truffle-based range that was unveiled at the fair after seven years of research.
"This is a completely new ingredient for the cosmetic field," Antichi told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the three-day exhibition at London's ExCel centre, which ended on Tuesday.
The Dafla group, a small family-run business based in Italy, found that white truffles contain a property that blocks the production of melanin in the skin, making it lighter.
Such a product is likely to be a big hit in Asia -- a vital market for the beauty industry -- where skin lightening is a huge craze.
Black truffles, for their part, contain a blend of amino acids that act like a natural botox and reduce wrinkles, said Antichi.
The Italian scientist claimed that his truffle products reduce the size of a spot caused by age, hormones or the sun by 60 percent within one month.
His company, which already stocks hotels and beauty salons in 15 countries largely in Europe, hopes to market the treatment across the planet.
The promise of younger, lighter skin, however, does not come cheap.
A single truffle facial costs about 75 pounds (130 dollars, 109 euros), while a do-it-yourself skin lightening kit is priced at 54.99 pounds.
Antichi was confident there was ample demand.
"In a world profile, anti-ageing, and anti-stress treatments are growing strongly," he said.
Away from the food theory, a mysterious blue, glowing couch was also drawing a crowd at the beauty exhibition.
The AlphaLounger -- a fibre glass contraption shaped like a wave -- was invented by an Austrian artist and scientist called sha.
It aims to relax people by taking them to the alpha stage, which comes just before sleep when a person is in a sort of hypnotic trance.
The lounger is fitted with music and other sounds to simulate the noise a fetus would hear inside the womb. It also vibrates and rocks, to relax the body and free up the mind.
Launched just half a year ago in Austria and Germany, the AlphaLounger has already attracted business executives and athletes, said Bob Bork, sales development manager for sha. Vertrieb GmbH, which produces the handmade device.
"We hope to sell it across the world," Bork said.
Priced at about 7,000 euros a piece, the firm has already sold 30 loungers, and aims to sell at least 100 by the end of the year.
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AFPLifestyle-Britain-Italy-health-beauty-fashion
AFP 081158 GMT 03 06
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