Does Samantha's Face Mask from SATC 2 Really Work

Copyright (c) 2010 John Howell

Can a wild yam face mask really calm hot flashes? Witness the science behind Samantha's edible face mask from Sex and the City 2!

Much like everyone's favorite SATC cougar, some women will stop at nothing to find a cure for the more unpleasant symptoms that go along with menopause.

In the film, the character Samantha has a wild yam face mask applied to help combat hot flashes when customs seizes the prescription hormones she uses to keep the hot flashes at bay.

While the scene is purely for comic relief, many moviegoers have been left wondering: does Samantha's face mask from SATC really work?

The theory behind the yams-as-hormone-therapy legend lies within the vegetable's progesterone quotient.

Wild yams contain a steroid that helps artificially produce of this hormone, which is found naturally in the female body. Progesterone helps regulate the female menstrual cycle and levels of it drop during menopause.

Progesterone is often chemically manufactured from wild yams for pharmaceutical use. Recently, it's become popular among natural health enthusiasts to apply mashed wild yam to the body to naturally treat hot flashes.

You can find a number of wild yam creams online that claim to treat not only hot flashes but ovarian cysts, acne, premenstrual syndrome and dark spots on the face. It seems the most common and effective form is the wild yam root, which can be taken as an herbal supplement or in tea form.

So the question remains, does Samantha's face mask from SATC work? Not really, according to author and naturopathic doctor Holly Lucille.

Lucille recently told another beauty website that wild yam is effective as a hormone treatment because it contains a steroid called diosgenin. (In fact, in the 1950's, the first ever birth control pill was manufactured using this same hormone. Take that one to your next trivia party!)

Once that steroid is mixed with laboratory-manufactured progesterone, it becomes useful for dermal application. Without that process, you're simply smearing mashed veggies on your face.

According to Lucille, women interested in using wild yam as an alternative to hormone replacement therapy should look for a face cream that contains no less than 400 milligrams of progesterone.

Products containing just wild yam or have diosgenin listed on the label without progesterone won't help alleviate menopause symptoms.

Sounds like women interested in Samantha's Face Mask from SATC should just stick to eating yams instead. They're great with cinnamon and butter.