Take a gander at the back of your moisturiser and you'll probably see a list of ingredients that will blind you with science: butylene glycol, glyceryl stearate and dimethicone are all likely to be there.

But beauty's not just about boring chemical-tastic ingredients, whipped up by white-coated lab assistants. Throughout history, weird, wonderful, and sometimes downright dangerous bits and bobs have been used in cosmetics -- and right now we're in interesting times.

In the last few years, competition has been fierce and brands have been falling over themselves to sell us the latest, greatest ingredient. Want to know what might be lurking in your face cream? Here are a few of the freakiest...

Oysters

No, it is not something fishy (pun absolutely intended) but a buzz in beauty right now is nutricosmetics. Already big in countries like Japan, these are quite literally edible beauty buys that aim to give you great skin and hair from the inside. Wicklow-based Gaia Biotechnology have just launched their first foray into the market with Dermarine, €50, a shellfish-packed supplement you can buy online at www.gaiabiotech.com. Irish-grown oysters are the mollusc of choice here and, while the company says taking the pills will help with problems such as weak, flaking nails and slow hair growth, what we want the lowdown on is whether they'll act as an aphrodisiac, too?

Cock's combs

Rein in your imaginations ladies, it's the avian type of cock I'm referring to. The materials used in facial fillers are often derived from animal sources: purified porcine collagen is commonly used in injectibles such as Evolence and generally well accepted by the body, because, genetically, pigs are similar to humans.

Likewise, a popular source of hyaluronic acid -- a molecule that's capable of holding many times its own weight in water -- is the humble comb of a rooster. You might recognise it as Restylane, probably the world's most popular facial filler, giving plumping benefits with little downtime.

Snake venom

Increasingly popular over the past couple of years, brands such as Planet Skincare have been using Syn-ake, a man-made version of the venom from the Temple viper snake in their moisturisers. But, eh, why?

The venom contains peptides that are said to have a similar effect to Botox, and while it's disingenuous of any skincare product to claim that it will give the effect of an injectible, what is true is that creams containing the ingredient will treat the whole skin, and not just selected areas.

Normally an expensive prospect, budget supermarket Aldi have just made Syn-ake technology available to all with the launch of WrinkleStop, a bargain at €9.99.

Snail slime

Fancy a little gastropod goo with that? You might when you hear what it does: the secretions of the De Tuinen snail are what the little fellas use to repair damage to their shells, and it can help human skin, too. Containing a mix of glycolic acid, allantoine, elastane, vitamins and collagen, you can buy a pot of your very own Snail Gel for €29.98, at Holland & Barrett stores. That is, if you want to.

Dinosaurs

Fancy a Stegosaurus with that? Okay, you got me, and there isn't a beauty brand out there harvesting fossils from the Jurassic period.

But there is a dinosaur plant, and it's another name for Rose of Jericho, a resurrection flower.

It can go dormant for years on end, but it won't die. Once rain returns, the plant unfurls and comes back to life. Its abilities to retain moisture have now been harnessed in facial skincare by naturals brand Origins, and you can check it out in their Make a Difference cream, €43.50. It's a super-duper hydrating moisturiser that's perfect for dehydrated skins -- plus it also smells delicious.

Ambergris

This almost romantic-sounding ingredient is hiding a horrible secret: it's actually whale sick, or more specifically, a by-product of the digestive system of the sperm whale. Yes, delightful, I know. Prized in ye olden days as an essential fragrance fixative, the advent of chemical equivalents has seen it fall from grace and it's very unlikely that you'll find it in your perfume these days. And thank God for that, eh?

Urea

There's a bit of an urban myth about this one, and yes, while urea really is found in wee as a by-product of the human excretion process, the beauty industry isn't engaged in some horrible conspiracy to relieve itself in your products. It would be vastly expensive -- not to mention completely unhygenic -- for urine to be used in cosmetics. Instead, urea is synthetically made in chemical reactors and from there gets included in the products you buy. But why is it used at all? There are two reasons: it's a moisturising, skin-softening ingredient, and it can be used as a preservative to keep products fresh. Phew!

Muck

Not just any old muck, you understand, but special mud with beneficial properties is often used in beauty products, especially those with a purifying function. You'll most often find it in things such as face masques for oily skin, but Israeli brand Yes to Carrots broke the mould a couple of years ago by using Dead Sea mud across their product range. Containing lots of nutrients and minerals, you can reap the benefits in products as diverse as shampoo and moisturiser, but I plump for Carrot Rich Moisturising Body Scrub, €8.95, a great product for daily use.

Emu oil

Poor old birds, giving up their body fat to make an oil that's prized for its very high unsaturated fatty acid content. Originally discovered by Australian Aborigines who traditionally used it for burns and bruises, it's still popular today as a skin softener. It has anti-fungal abilities and often turns up in foot remedies too, such as Margaret Dabbs' Intensive Treatment Foot Oil, €27, at Brown Thomas.

- Kirstie McDermott