According to the founder; Venkatesh Abdeo, the use of gau mutra in skin care helps to clear up blemishes and ultimately give farmers more options to make use of the substance from a financial and sustainability standpoint.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad's products include Nandini beauty soap (aloe vera, almond oil and gau mutra), Lal Dant Manjan (pudina ka flower, cow dung ash, Snannadi Vilayan bathing liquid (gau mutra arka, hau maya bhasma), Nandini skin cream (gau mutra rasa, gau maya rasa, yellow beeswax).

“We even have medicines using various compositions which are useful for cancer, heart diseases and other ailments. We make 48 medicines and have taken eight international patents so far. It is just promoting Ayurveda in different form,​” says Abdeo.

Cow milk, dung and urine all make their way into cosmetics​

A Korean team of scientists have also been experimenting on Indian cows to determine if their hormones, milk etc. will be beneficial in beauty products.

Experts say the extract obtained from a cow’s placenta or umbilical cord is capable of re-growing hair and treating baldness.

Though baldness is an irreversible process, certain hormones present in the placenta of the cow can trigger hair growth on a bald head. A cow’s placental extract is a natural and cheap equivalent to the chemical minoxidil used widely by hair experts.

“The hormones and cytokins in a cow’s placenta promote hair growth not only by elongating the hair shaft but also by increasing the number of hair follicles,​” said Dr L. Mira, part of the Korean team involved in the research.

Quantec's skin care treatment derived from New Zealand cow’s milk is now gaining major interest from the US.

The team at Hamilton-based Quantec believe their product is a 'world first' in acne treatment, in that the formulation features the same substance that mammals produce to protect themselves from bacteria.

Managing director Dr Rod Claycomb breaks down the concept; "The bioactive enzymes and proteins in our Epiology anti-acne cream are essentially the same actives that all mammals produce to protect themselves from potentially harmful bacteria and other microorganisms." ​

Claycomb explains that it's these protective enzymes found in the saliva, tears, the gut and raw milk that this company chose as a key ingredient in a product that has taken his R&D team seven years to develop.