Slap your face to perfection for $425

Pay and get slapped. Watch the wrinkles vanish from your face and you can look young. Skeptical?

A Thai natural health practitioner has introduced a "face-slapping" technique in San Francisco which she claims can shrink pores and tighten the skin without surgery.

Ms Tata Sombuntham, who was trained in Thailand, said she is the first face-slapping beauty therapist in the Western Hemisphere. She charges US$350 (S$425) for a 15-minute session, the Daily Mail reported.

While there is no medical evidence to prove the slapping works as an anti-ageing treatment, doctors have said it could "improve circulation and bring on a healthy flush", ABC News reported.

Ms Tata said in an on-line video: "Face slapping brings out your hidden beauty potential, without invasive procedures. And it's 100 per cent chemical free. I am proud to be the only one to bring the face slapping knowledge... to the Western Hemisphere."

She and her husband, Mr Mawan, who co-owns the salon, claim that the results can be seen immediately.

"This is definitely not rubbish, this is very serious," said Mr Mawan, after opening Tata Massage on Tuesday.

The procedure involves Ms Tata, donning a hat adorned with plastic flowers, dancing around to Thai pop music and delivering a few quick slaps.

She then pinches her client's cheeks, followed by a few more hard slaps.

Training

Training

Mr Mawan told ABC News that his wife had a month's training with professional face-slapper Kung Khemika, who runs her own clinic in Bangkok.

"It's very closely guarded knowledge. Tata is only one of 10 students that the teacher wants in her lifetime," Mr Mawan said.

Clients can ask for a particular area of the face to be slapped and Mr Mawan said the results of a single session can last up to six months.

And if clients are willing to be slapped on a regular basis, the couple are offering a package of four slapping sessions a month for about US$1,000.

He said: "How long it lasts depends on the treatments. Customers must follow rules in terms of taking care of themselves. If you gain weight, it's not going to last."

An official with the US Institute of Thai Message in New Jersey told ABC News that she has not heard of this treatment, but said that it is similar to tapotement, a technique of rhythmic tapping on the body used in Swedish massage.

Said Ms Rose Griscom: "I do know that tapotement does actually bring blood to the surface and increase blood flow as it stimulates the nerves.

"I've never heard of this just for the face, or a focus on the face. But I suppose there is possibly a grain of therapy."

Fancy butt punching and breast slapping?

Fancy butt punching and breast slapping?

Also popular in Thailand is butt punching and breast slapping.

The first firms up your rear while the second increases the size without the help of silicone, Daily Mail reported.

Ms Khunying Tobnom, 44, claims that her breast-slapping treatment skills are in high demand.

"Ancient people didn't share it much because back then people didn't care about breast size," she told the Bangkok Post.

Also known as Khemmikka Na Songkhla, she claims that the slapping works by shifting fat from one area to another, kneading excess fat towards the breasts.

The Independent reported that a study by the Thai health ministry found that vigorous massage left volunteers' breasts measurably bigger.

The ministry even sponsored a programme that saw women learning to slap their breasts to enhance their size as an alternative to surgery.

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