Snail Slime for Beauty: Real or Just a Gimmick?
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New and Bold cosmetic solutions ranging from placenta-based skin creams to vampire blood facials prop up every year with a promise of younger-looking you. One trending ingredient has been the snail mucus secretion which is touted to reduce scarring, promote wound healing, reduce pigmentation and wrinkles. At first, it might seem odd due to the lack of robust studies; however, the use of snail secretions is not new to mankind!
When was Snail Slime first used?
The earliest use of snail mucus secretions dates back to the Ancient Greeks era when Hippocrates reported having used crushed snails for alleviating skin inflammatory conditions. In small rural communities of Southern Italy, snail secretions have a deep-rooted history of use in folk medical treatment to alleviate dermatological conditions like acne, calluses, and warts. So, why is snail ingredient becoming popular just now?
The resurgence of snail popularity began when about 25 years ago, Chilean farmers discovered that their skin lesions healed quickly without scars after handling snails. The first commercial patent for snail cream was granted in 1993 and subsequently in 1995, the Elicina brand was the first one to bring snail creams to the cosmetic market. Today, there are numerous snail cream products in the market which are growing in popularity beyond just K-beauty.
What is Snail Slime?
The snail slime is listed as snail secretion filtrate in the ingredient declaration list of the beauty products and usually comes from Cryptomphalus Aspersa (formerly known as Helix aspersa Müller), a type of harmless garden snail and African giant land snail (Mollusks Achatina Fulica). The use of snail slime by K-beauty cosmeceutical products has brought it to the “Slimelight”.
How is Snail Slime produced? Do snails get killed in the process?
No, the recent processes are much more slime-friendly. Snails produce slime under three conditions – when they move, when they are under stress and out of pleasure! The earlier days of extracting slime used to result in snail’s death. But now more gentler processes have emerged. The slime can be commercially obtained by stressing the cultivated snails by saltwater or other friendlier means which creates a conducive environment for snails to produce slime out of ‘happiness’. The slime thus produced is later purified by filtration and is then called snail secretion filtrate. Check out this great video on how snail slime harvesting is performed for beauty products.
What is Snail Slime made of?
The slime produced by snails consists of a complex mixture of glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, allantoin, glycoprotein enzymes, copper peptides, zinc, iron, hyaluronic acid, collagen, elastin, allantoin, and antimicrobial peptides which helps snails’ in various aspects of movement and regeneration after an injury or stressed condition. Many of these molecules are well known to have numerous skin benefits.
Does it really have skin benefits or is it all fluff?
Perhaps not a million-dollar question, but still a big one to know before you have buyer’s remorse. To answer the question directly, it’s a draw!. Taking cues from the composition of the snail slime, it is for certain that it is moisturizing! There are not too many robust clinical studies which point in the direction of validation of slime’s skin benefits. A limited number of in-vitro and clinical studies have indicated that it stimulates collagen production by enhancing fibroblast proliferation, reduces expression of stress biomarker (metalloproteinase) in dermal fibroblasts, and improvement in skin texture and wrinkles around the eyes (fancy name -periocular rhytides). The restorative qualities of snail slime are possibly explained by their antioxidant effects. There are also some reports that slime creams were effective in open wound management treatment of partial-thickness burns.
Conclusion:
Even though the mechanism of action of snail slime and its clinical benefits await a strong scientific validation, the use of snail secretions for treating various skin conditions has been documented for centuries. So, it’s certainly not a gimmick but at the same time, we cannot rate it a solid 5-star. As the discovery of new dermatological benefits of snail secretions continue to be explored, they are slowly but certainly moving to the mainstream beauty conversations. We will keep an eye out for more science on this for you!
If you are still curious (or confused), check out a full product review of COSRX Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence. There are many other snail slime products in the market if you would like to try. The COSRX was the one we picked out of many! So no bias here, just a random pick!
References:
1. Tsoutsos D, Kakagia D, Tamparopoulos K. The efficacy of Helix aspersa Müller extract in the healing of partial-thickness burns: a novel treatment for open burn management protocols. J Dermatolog Treat. 2009;20(4):219-22. [Pubmed]
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9. Thomas S. Medicinal use of terrestrial molluscs (slugs and snails) with particular reference to their role in the treatment of wounds and other skin lesions. World Wide Wounds. Accessed May 19, 2021.
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