Kitty Zhang swears by this shocking Empress Dowager Cixi's face mask

It's as elusive as Singapore Social's Singlish accent but the secret to looking young has finally been revealed by Chinese actress Kitty Zhang, otherwise known as Zhang Yuqi.

The 33-year-old, who snagged her first major role in 2008's CJ7, was on a Chinese variety show last month where she talked about the beauty benefits of pig's trotters and how she used it to create a face mask that has kept her skin feeling tight and looking fine.

One of the hosts picked up a bottle of the face mask and pointed out that it smells like soy sauce and the first ingredient listed was pig's trotters, prompting the others to gasp.

A female guest exclaimed: "Pig's trotters? This is the one that we eat?"

Turning to Kitty, the host asked her to explain how it works. She revealed that an elderly sinseh taught her a secret traditional recipe for a face mask which only uses pig's trotters. The sinseh even claimed that the late Empress Dowager Cixi used this formula.

According to the sinseh, Empress Dowager Cixi would use the "sow's front left trotter" to create a paste to apply on her face.

If you're curious as to why specifically the front left trotter, Kitty didn't have an answer either.

However, she did reveal the secret recipe.

One has to stew the pig's trotter in an iron pot, without a drop of water, and then freeze the mixture in the fridge until it congeals into a paste.

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Kitty said: "I remember stewing it for almost a day when I first tried (the recipe)... When you apply it on your face, it tightens the skin. It feels really tight. I feel that tightening sensation is more effective than going to numerous beauty salons."

Cue the shocked expressions from the panel of guests as Kitty swooned about the homemade face mask.

The downside, however, is the long preparation time. "You have to stew it for 10 over hours or even a day. It's too troublesome," she added.

Anyone keen to try this secret formula?

bryanlim@asiaone.com