It's been hailed as a beauty wonder product and Victoria Beckham loves it... but would you put bird poo on your face?

Add to My Stories From bull's semen to flesh-eating fish, women have endured some bizarre things in the name of beauty.But the latest treatment to hit high-end spas features what is perhaps the strangest ingredient to date.Nightingale excrement, collected from the Japanese island of Kyushu, is being hailed as the hottest beauty wonder product.

Bird-brained? Both David and Victoria Beckham are said to be fans of a unique facial that features nightingale poo as one of its ingredientsPart of the Bird Poop Facial at New York's Shizuka Spa, and the rather more romantic-sounding Geisha Facial at London's Hari's, the unique ingredient is said to leave skin with a healthy shine as it acts as an exfoliant.Dried under UV lights, the excrement is mixed with rice bran and water in the spa and applied as a face mask.The 135 treatment is nothing new to the A-list, however - David and Victoria Beckham have both long been fans.Speaking to a magazine, a friend said: 'When Victoria was in Japan she was admiring the local womens clear skin and discovered it was down to these facials.

Face value: Facialist Shizuka Bernstein applies the special mix of rice bran, water and nightingale excrement onto a customer's face'She was intrigued and when she got back to the US she found that some New York beauty salons now offer the treatment.'She tried it and loved how great her skin looked. She also uses a cream derived from nightingale poo at home.'

Unique experience: Mrs Bernstein's thrilled client shows off her glowing skin after the treatmentKnown in Japan as uguisu no fun, the facial was conceived in November 2007 by New York facialist Shizuka Bernstein, who was inspired by her mothe! r descri bing how geisha girls in feudal Japan removed their thick white lead make-up.Mrs Bernstein, 52 explained: 'The bird poop facial works because of an enzyme that breaks down the dead skin on the upper layers of the face.'The nightingale poo acts as an exfoliate that brings out the dirt and dust that builds up in the skin and leaves the customer feeling refreshed.'In addition, it is thought that the bird poo contains guanine, which actually occurs in pearls.'Because of this ingredient the bird poop facial leaves people feeling that their skin has a healthy shine to it.''I couldn't believe that a facial existed that contained bird poo,' said Rachel Marshall, 22, a client at the Shizuka Spa.'It didn't smell like poo, but had a musty rice smell and was quite refreshing and relaxing. It was a unique experience.'

Traditional: Nightingale excrement, collected from the Japanese island of Kyushu, contains guanine, which also occurs in pearls