Snail Extract for Skin Care Review

Snail Extract, or mucin, is one of the hottest new trends in skin care. You can now buy mucin skin creams online and in-store.

What is Snail Extract?

The Snail Extract used in skin creams is called Helix aspersa Müller glycoconjugates. That’s a weird, long, and complicated name, so most people refer to it by its common names: snail slime or mucin.

Snail slime is now used to make snail cream beauty products. The cream is thought to reduce inflammation, eliminate redness, stimulate the growth of new skin cells, and encourage moisture retention – basically, all of the things you want a good skin cream to do.

History of Snail Cream

Snail cream may sound like some crazy new invention from modern science, but it actually traces its origins back to ancient Greece. Hippocrates would reportedly crush snails into sour milk and prescribe it to cure inflammation.

Snail cream was actually “rediscovered” in Chile just a few decades ago. France sources many of its snails from Chile (for escargot). The Chilean farmers who harvested the snails began to notice that the skin on their hands was visibly smoother.

Eventually, researchers determined that it wasn’t crushed up snails causing these benefits: it was the slime secreted by the snails.

How Does Snail Cream Work?

Snail cream relies on the power of snail slime, which is the slime secreted by the snails when they’re agitated. It’s a thick fluid designed to protect the snail.

Not grossed out yet?

That’s good.

Remember: even the human body secrets oils to moisturize the skin, so snail cream isn’t nearly as weird as you might think.

Scientific examination of snail slime has identified certain active ingredients within the slime, including:

— Hyaluronic acid
— Glycoprotein
— Enzymes
— Antimicrobial and copper peptides
— Proteoglycans

You may recognize a few of those ingredients: they’re commonly found in many modern beauty products. Hyaluronic acid is particularly popular and is the active ingredient in many topical lotions.

In various studies, snail slime has been tested on cell cultures. In these cultures, the slime was observed to stimulate the production of elastin and collagen – two compounds which are vital for skin elasticity and firmness.

To date, there have been no major clinical studies on snail slime’s effect on human skin. However, there’s a good reason: different snail slime has different concentrations of different compounds. Skin cream manufacturers actually keep their snail supplies a tightly guarded secret, as some snails are considered better than others.

Surprisingly, beauty manufacturers don’t actually harm the snail during the extraction process: in many cases, they simply collect the mucin from live snails. The process is harmless and the snails live a (presumably) happy life.

How to Use Snail Cream

Dermatologists recommend using a small amount of snail cream if you’re using it for the first time. Put a pea-sized amount on a small area of your skin – like your forearm or the back of your hand – and test to see if you have any allergies or skin reactions.

You may or may not be allergic to snail extract: unless you handle snails on a regular basis, most people haven’t come into contact with snails since they were children, which means you probably don’t know whether or not you’re allergic

In any case, snail cream can be harmful to people with allergies or even people who just have sensitive skin.

If you don’t experience any allergic reactions or other visible problems, consider using the cream for at least 2 weeks to see the full benefits. Different snail creams come with different instructions, but most are applied topically to clean skin just like you would apply a regular moisturizer.

Conclusion

Using a snail extract skin cream sounds weird. But it’s not quite as weird as you might think: lipstick contains fish scales and spa facials contain bird droppings. Is it really weird that skin creams contain snail slime?

If mucin-based skin cream doesn’t freak you out, then you may be able to enjoy powerful anti-aging benefits from using this skin cream on a daily basis.