I Tried The Salmon-Sperm Facial Jennifer Aniston & Kim Kardashian Love

I’m really not fazed by anything people put on their skin in the name of a better glow. Still, one genre of out-there complexion-boosting ingredients makes me pause: the slimy stuff secreted from rather icky creatures. You know, like snail mucin and jellyfish goop. Now, salmon sperm — or polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN), to be scientific about it — is joining the beauty ranks as a must-try skin care hero. (Are you surprised?)

This stuff is newly garnering buzz in the United States thanks to some A-listers — including Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Aniston — who have recently touted the benefits of salmon-semen facials. Like many other great skin care ingredients and treatments, however, this fishy concept has long been a thing in South Korea, aka the motherland of beauty innovations.

To be less crass, the salmon sperm in question is PDRN — the DNA fragments extracted from salmon sperm. Similar to growth factors and exosomes, PDRN helps stimulate collagen and elastin, resulting in a better overall appearance of your skin. So it’s not quite as out-there as it might sound.

Obviously, I had to try it. Read on for everything you need to know about the increasingly popular salmon-sperm facial, including what it’s done for my complexion.

What Is A Salmon-Sperm Facial, Exactly?

Research has found PDRN to have a slew of benefits: It has wound-healing and anti-inflammatory properties, can help with hyperpigmentation, stimulates collagen and elastin, and promotes skin rejuvenation.

It’s important to note that though PDRN is traditionally injected into the skin in South Korea, it’s not Food and Drug Administration-approved for that here. Instead, it’s applied topically in conjunction with another treatment — one that allows it to better penetrate the skin to work its magic.

“People [here] are using it after microneedling or a laser, after which you can apply [PDRN] topically, and then it’s absorbed,” says Dr. Jennifer Levine, M.D., a board-certified plastic surgeon based in New York City. (Also, BTW, the ingredient isn’t being used as a stand-alone injectable in South Korea, notes Levine — rather, it’s used in a cocktail along with other ingredients for the best results.)

Applied topically after a more penetrative treatment, PDRN helps improve your overall skin health, Levine says. But the main benefits are coming from the laser or microneedling. “Basically, we’re creating some sort of injury to the skin to stimulate the skin to produce collagen and elastin, and then applying the PDRN afterward helps it heal up faster and to magnify the results,” she explains.

In that sense, then, you can think of salmon sperm as more of a skin booster than a facial star on its own.

What My Treatment Was Like

When I met with Levine at her Upper East Side office for the treatment, she determined I was a better candidate for the laser versus microneedling. (She prefers it for better results since it’s precise.) In her office, she uses the Sciton NanoLaserPeel, a gentle ablative (read: removes the top layer of skin) laser that diminishes the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots.

Since this laser is so light, no numbing cream was required — I simply removed my makeup and lay down for the treatment. My esthetician turned on the device and began going over sections of my face (she went over each area twice), which wasn’t painful at all. It felt like my skin was being zapped by tiny rods of lightning; though that sounds intense, I just felt a tiny amount of heat, but it didn’t hurt or feel uncomfortable. It was over in less than 10 minutes.

After the laser, my esthetician put the PDRN in a syringe and applied some all over my face. It was very watery in consistency, almost like a very light hyaluronic acid serum, and my skin drank it right up. Once that was absorbed, she applied a sheet mask to my face so it would cool down. Ten minutes later, I was done.

Results & After Care

Right after the treatment, my skin looked brighter and had a glow to it, with just a hint of redness. Levine said my face would be a little red for a couple of days, and she instructed me to avoid actives (like retinol and exfoliants) for a week and use gentle moisturizers instead. The evening after my treatment, I was to skip washing my face and apply a rich face cream to keep my skin hydrated. My skin was redder than earlier, but the moisturizer calmed it down.

When I woke up the next morning, some (but not all) of the redness had faded, and my complexion already looked more even and smooth. Five days afterward, however, the results were more noticeable: smaller-looking pores, lighter post-acne spots, and an overall healthier texture. After previous laser treatments, my skin stayed red for nearly a week — but thanks to the PDRN, my recovery was faster and glowier. That’s a real perk in my book

The Bottom Line

I’m happy with what salmon sperm has done to my skin, and it’s certainly fun to tell my friends I tried the buzzy treatment. That said, I’ve gotten similar (if not better) results from other facials, like Sofwave. Still, don’t expect this treatment to go away anytime soon.

As Levine puts it: “I think that [salmon-sperm facials] are going to be a big thing because celebrities are doing it,” she says. “But I think as they become more popular, we’ll see more people creating these cocktails, mixing PDRN with exosomes or hyaluronic acid, for example. So think of it as a booster — and if you’re doing a treatment, why wouldn’t you want a booster that makes your skin more glowy and heal faster?”

If you can get past the idea of fish DNA on your face, you might just find the glow worth the gross-out.