Snail Mucin Benefits and Best Products
Escarglow anyone? No seriously, the Roman snails we eat in French restaurants are the same ones that skincare companies harvest mucin from to put into cosmetic products! Thanks to K-beauty, snails have been promoted from appetizers to star skincare ingredients. If this totally grosses you out, you’re probably not alone but you are definitely missing out on some serious skin benefits.
Snail Mucin Benefits
The ingredient snail secretion filtrate (AKA snail mucin, snail mucus, snail goo or snail slime) is rich with humectants, collagen, elastin, and antioxidants. The benefits of snail mucin are it soothes irritation, combats aging, fades hyperpigmentation and can even enhance wound healing. Think about it, snails slither around all day on rough surfaces so doesn’t it make sense that they’re producing mucus to help protect their slimy undersides and heal themselves from any damage done?
Snail mucin products hydrate my skin like crazy and leave me supple and glowing, but my favorite part about snail mucin is it’s healing abilities. Whenever I pop zits (guilty!), I make sure to apply snail mucin in my routine that night and it has made a world of difference the next morning. I used to wake up, after going on a zit popping spree the night before, with red marks everywhere to tell the tale. But with snail mucin in my post-pop routine, I wake up with almost no residual redness and my zit areas are half the size.
How is Snail Mucin collected?
For those concerned about snail mucin and snail cruelty, don’t worry! The snails aren’t harmed in the snail mucin collection process. In fact, the snails have it pretty good. The live most of their lives in a natural habitat where they’re supplied with plenty of food, rest and time for snail relationships. In 30 minute increments, the snails are plucked out of their habitats and placed in dark, quiet rooms with mesh floors to crawl around and secret their mucus. The mucus seeps through the mesh and is then collected and pasteurized for cosmetic use while the snails are back at home scrolling Instagram on their shell phones. If you have a hard time believing this snail fairy tale, know that there’s an incentive for skincare companies to treat their snails well. Optimal snail mucin production only occurs when the snails are well rested, well fed and stress-free. Now that we don’t have the moral implications of snail cruelty holding us back, let's talk about the best snail mucin products.
COSRX Snail Mucin Power Essence Review
The COSRX Snail Essence was one of the first K-beauty products I had ever tried, and it still has its place in my routine today. The 96 in the name means that this snail essence ingredients contain 96% snail secretion filtrate and 4% of other various moisturizing ingredients and preservatives. So basically that's a lot of snail goo in one bottle which means you get all the snail benefits for your skin. This COSRX Snail Essence is a light-weight gooey essence that feels exactly like you’d imagine it would, coming from a snail. I apply this snail mucin essence after my hydrating toner and before my moisturizer. COSRX snail mucin products are 100% cruelty free, causing no harm to any animals in the process (as noted on their website).
COSRX Snail Cream Review
Yep, you guessed it - this COSRX snail cream is 92% pure snail. It’s very similar to the their 96 snail essence but this COSRX snail cream ingredient list also contains some oil derivatives, fatty alcohols, and other ingredients to thicken it into a creamy consistency. This was another one of the first K-beauty products I tried and it’s my holy-grail summer moisturizer to this day because, despite all the slime, it dries surprisingly matte. It’s best suited as a final moisturizer in humid climates or for normal/oily skin types but for those with dry skin or dry climates, you may need a more occlusive moisturizer on top.
Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream Review
The Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream is one of the most gentle creams in my skincare arsenal. I reach for it whenever my skin is going through a particularly problematic time and just needs some soothing. It’s really light-weight and is never my last moisturizing step because I have dry skin, but I bought it for my oily-skinned brother and he uses it as his everyday moisturizer. It has a gel-like feel, as expected, but also has silicones so it creates the perfect canvas for makeup.