``This is not an invention of mine,'' Aparna Ghosh, the woman behind this new technique, hastens to add. ``Although I am not an authority on Ayurveda, I have heard that a small quantity of gold is good for the body. Besides, I remember that when I was a child, my mother used to give me daily doses of swarna makar dhwaj (which, as the name implies, is gold).'' Though armed with a diploma from Shehnaz Hussain, the techniques and ingredients she uses have been learnt from her father, who was an Ayurvedic doctor.

Aparna has been in the beauty business for more than a decade now, curing anxious young things of pimples, blackheads, acne, hair-fall and premature greying through her methods that are both long-lasting and different. The current one being just a little more different than the others! ``The idea of using gold to enhance the beauty of a woman's skin occurred to me quite sometime ago. But I just couldn't find a way to break down the metal so that it could be absorbed by the skin.'' After trying several methods without success, it was the humble laddoo, covered with the chandi ka wark, that finally provided her with the solution. Why not use a 24-carat gold foil!

Using a special fruit juice and cream base, she carefully puts in the precious metal, which slowly breaks into numerous minute but visible pieces. But before this luminous mixture can be applied on the face, there are many stages of intricate cleansing required, for as Aparna explains, ``I have to be sure that your skin is absolutely clean and the pores are completely open before I apply the gold lotion.'' The entire process could well take more than an hour. The gold-filled emollient is gently massaged into the skin and followed up with an electronic device which ensures 100 per cent absorption. After this, she wraps up with a few more special pastes which seal in the incandescent mixture, giving the face a translucent radiance.``After this, one doesn't need to use any make up at all. A toner to bring out the lustre is all that is needed,'' insists Aparna.

And boy, has she found takers! Disha Barve, a computer specialist and one of her first clients, is so sold on the treatment that she plans to pamper herself with it at least three to four times a year, adding that she personally does not consider the price tag of Rs 600 the least bit prohibitive.

A few brides-to-be who also succumbed to this wonder treatment claimed that at the wedding, more than the designer jewellery that they had adorned, it was the gold under the skin that dazzled onlookers.

While not everyone may feel like dishing out Rs. 600 for a facial, there is nevertheless no dearth of the bold and the bootyful willing to give it a try, despite the deterring price tag. But then golden looks never did come cheap, did they?