Health clinics in Dubai are no longer allowed to offer the so-called ‘vampire facial’ after the DHA (Dubai Health Authority) drew up fresh regulations against the treatment.

The mucky procedure, which was thrust into the public eye by reality TV ‘star’ Kim Kardashian last year when she underwent the treatment during broadcasting, involves removing blood from the arm of the patient, ‘spinning’ it and then re-injecting it into the face using tiny acupuncture-like needles. The result? Younger looking skin, apparently. The blood, once it has been placed in a centrifuge and manipulated, stimulates the growth of collagen in the skin cells of the face.

“Is it the panacea for aging? No, or a replacement for a facelift? No,” a surgeon at The Miami Institute for Age Management told CBS Miami, at the time of the KK controversy. “But, is it a good treatment for maintaining and looking fresh and new? It is.”

Bad news then, Dubai beauty queens, because earlier this month, Dr Layla Mohamed Al Marzouqi, assistant director of the DHA’s Health Regulation Department and Head of Clinical Governance Office revealed a block on the procedure had been put in place.

She said: “This procedure that is used for cosmetic or therapeutic purposes is presently stopped because we are putting new regulations in place.” However, she added: “After that  licensed centres will be free to conduct this procedure.”

The news, which was reported by Gulf News in March, received a mixed response from industry insiders. In the same newspaper, Dermalase Clinic operations manager Natasha Bennett revealed she would no longer be offering the service, which lasts one hour and costs between Dhs4,000 and Dhs5,000.