What You Should Know About Snail Masks
What Are Snail Masks?
Snail masks are face masks that are infused with snail mucin. Snail mucin is the slime that snails produce. The snail mucin is harvested from the snail and blended with other key ingredients in order to make beauty products, such as face masks. Snail mucin is in other skincare products, such as moisturizer, serums, and even face wash.
What You Should Know About Snail Masks
If you were not yet aware of this, then Nicole’s Notable Nook is here to spill the tea. Yes, snail masks are a thing. It’s a thing that’s been sweeping through the beauty world for awhile now. It’s apparently been in the Korean & Italian beauty community for even longer.
You see that’s where snail masks actually gained their popularity. They apparently have been putting snail mucin in their beauty products for some time now, and attribute a lot of the glass skin look to stemming from snail mucin. There are even apparently spas in Asia that the snails actually crawl directly on your face. Ehh…
How Snail Mucin Within Skincare Came About
Snail mucin is also harvested in areas in France, and is used in circles of Italian women as one of their many secrets to beauty and youth. In ancient Greece, snails were even used as topical treatments for various types of inflammation.
Snail mucin became an ingredient in multiple skincare lines and products after Chilean farmers who were harvesting snails for France’s highly regarded Escargot dishes, had noticed how much softer their hands had become after handling the slimy snails. Also, cuts and scrapes on their hands were noted to begin healing quicker than usual. They attributed it to the snails slime, and they were actually onto something.
Snails Within Korean Beauty
Korean Beauty using snail mucin in many of their products is in large part because snails are actually a major part of their diet and culture already. So, why not use snails in beauty products as well? There were already so many snail farms in Korea due to their culture of eating snails.
Therefore, it was rather easy to transition the farms from food industry to beauty industry. In case your thinking that gathering the snail mucin means killing the snails, then nope. That’s not the case. The snails actually have to be kept alive in order to collect the mucin. That’s a relief!
The Benefits Of Snail Mucin
Apparently, there was clinical research done on snail mucin, and it’s skin benefits. According to Dr. Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York states that snail slime has been shown to have many benefits for the anti-aging process, as it’s rich in hyaluronic acid and glycolic acid.
It also promotes collagen, and the more collagen your skin has the more moisture it has. The fact that it promotes collagen means that it would help in diminishing fine lines and wrinkles. As mentioned above, it helps aid in healing and regeneration of the skin. Snail mucin can be used on all types of skin too!
However, the fact that it’s so moisturizing makes it especially good for dry skin types. Lastly, it helps in giving your skin a radiant glow due to all the skin healing qualities it has. Although some may be leary of using it, many dermatologists approve the use of snail mucin in skin regimens because of all the benefits it has for skin health.
Can You Use Snail Mucin Everyday?
Snail mucin comes in endless types of skincare products, such as but not limited to, daytime and nighttime moisturizers and creams, serums, eye creams, masks, and face wash. Most snail mucin moisturizer and/or creams can be applied once or twice a day. You can also use the majority of snail mucin infused face washes daily as well.
Snail mucin serums and masks are to be used as needed of course. However, you should always follow the directions on any individual product, and its also usually best to ask your dermatologist or physician before making any major change(s) to your skin regimen, especially if you have sensitive skin. If you’ve already had the chance to get some snail mucin products, or if you’re interested in trying one or some of them.
Then, I would try keeping the product(s) in a skincare fridge because the coolness of the fridge keeps all of its natural properties, and other natural additives and ingredients fresh, and have a much longer shelf life. Plus, the coolness of the creams or serums feels really nice on your face. It’s also good to keep your jade rollers or gua sha stone devices in a skincare fridge as well.
Conclusion
At first I was slightly taken aback when I first heard of snail slime (mucin) being used in beauty products. The thought of putting snail slime on my face made me queasy. However, I’m a total skin freak, and love trying anything that my skin can benefit from. I do want to age gracefully you know?
Anyways, after all the research I did on the snail mucin topic, I am not ashamed to say that I am looking at different snail mucin products. I will obviously write an article about any and all changes to my skin that I notice, along with taking a before and after picture.
-Nicole’s Notable Nook
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