Is Snail Mucin Good For The Skin?

The Surprising Benefits Of Snail Mucin For Radiant And Youthful Skin

 If you are on social media and are a skincare enthusiast, you must have heard about ‘snail mucin’ too much for quite some time now. And if you are thinking that what would that be – well, yes, it is that only – snail slime or mucus that the world is going wild about which are being used for skin care. 

Why the craze?

Well, why not? The whole world is going wild about snail mucin, and why won’t they be? After all, people, especially women, are obsessed with the Korean Beauty skincare routine and its ‘glass skin’ effects.

And a vast amount of credit was given to using the ‘snail mucin’ in South Korea for decades. That ingredient, what the world is going gaga for now, is a staple in the Korean skincare routine. It is also famous in many Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. 

Famous for its anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and hydrating benefits on the skin if used in the right proportion, here is everything you need to know from components, advantages, and disadvantages about the ‘snail mucin’ in this article. 

What is Snail Mucin?

Snail mucin secretes mucus when it crawls. The lubricating substance allows snails to stick to the ground more efficiently and travel more smoothly. Making movement easy and smooth protects their sensitive skin from damage, keeps them hydrated, and prevents inflammation.

These benefits are taken from humans and thus used in skincare products. The more specific species of snail used in most skin care today is the garden snail (Cryptomphalus aspersa). Snail mucus is a by-product of the snails.

A common technique used to collect this snail mucin for skincare involves having snails roam around in a dark room on top of a surface like mesh or net, which will be scraped out for the slime later and sent back home. Then, this is processed into a filtrate before being added to skin care products. 

Components of Snail Mucin

Research has shown that snail mucus contains different beneficial compounds, many of which are needed in skin care products for optimum results. Some of these potent components found in snail mucin are –

1. Allantoin is a chemical compound with many benefits for skin care as it soothes and hydrates the skin, reducing itchiness, healing minor injuries, and improving the overall texture and appearance of the skin. For dry skin people, it is quite beneficial.
2. Collagen- it keeps your skin from sagging. It gives a plump and youthful appearance to the skin, providing elasticity. 
3. Elastin- it is what gives elasticity to the skin, keeping it youthful and plump. 
4. Glycolic acid- it reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It exfoliates the top layer of the skin, accelerates skin renewal, increases collagen production, and maintains the skin’s natural ability to retain hydration. 
5. Hyaluronic acid increases the moisture content in your skin, which has enormous skincare benefits, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and healing wounds. 
6. Copper Peptides- it makes your skin plump and bouncy. It diminishes fine lines. It supports collagen and elastin production and helps repair damaged tissue with huge anti-aging benefits. 

Benefits of Snail Mucin for the Skin

Snail mucin benefits are still under process and research material. But due to its extensive use for an extended period, some of its key benefits are stated below:

1. Hydration 

Hyaluronic acid provides a massive amount of hydration, and snail mucin happens to have it a lot. It hydrates your skin from the inside by promoting water retention. It even prevents water loss from the skin. That is why it keeps the skin firmer, plumper, and younger, specifically on dry skin. 

So, when you use a snail mucin essence in your skin care products, it protects your skin barrier. It shields the skin from getting damaged by drying out due to heat, humidity, pollution, bacteria, UV rays, dirt, and whatnot. This promotes healing and regeneration of the tissues. Hydrated skin is the key to achieving the famous Korean beauty’ glass skin’.  

2. Anti-aging  

Snail mucin benefits the skin in boosting collagen production. Collagen is the key to preventing early aging. Snail mucin also has glycolic acid, a naturally occurring alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), and copper peptides, which are critical in controlling premature aging. Glycolic acid stimulates collagen production, which leads to cell regeneration. 

Snail mucin also has antioxidant effects, which prevent cell damage. Studies have found proof that snail mucin has reduced wrinkles and fine lines, improving skin elasticity, brightness, texture, barrier function, and firmness. 

3. Healing and Regeneration

Snail mucin possesses anti-inflammatory properties as it includes allantoin–a gentle natural chemical compound. It has a remarkable ability to fight inflammation, prevent infection, and increase cell turnover and regeneration. It speeds up wound healing and supports the skin’s natural recovery after trauma. With vitamins, minerals, and peptides, snail mucin heals skin faster. 

4. Acne and scar reduction

Snail mucin can be used on all skin types – dry, oily, sensitive, combination, aging, etc. It works best on acne-prone skin due to the compounds mentioned above found in snail mucin. Some of the things that snail mucin does for acne-prone skin–

• Prevents breakout 
• Antimicrobial properties decrease inflammation 
• Treats existing acne
• Glycolic acid unclogs the pores and prevents inflamed acne from forming
• Hyaluronic acid and glycolic acid help in fading acne scars 
• Snail mucin further helps in fading of any post-acne discoloration or dark spots

Choosing Snail Mucin Products

Snail mucin can be found in several over-the-counter skin care products, like creams, serums, and sheet masks. Studies suggest that creams have a lower concentration of snail mucin than serums and sheet masks.

While selecting a snail mucin essence or other skin care products, you should keep in mind a few points, like –

• Check the concentration of snail mucin
• Other ingredients that are also present in the product along with snail mucin
• Look for additional active ingredients, like retinol and vitamin C, to increase the effects of snail mucin
• 70 to 96% of snail mucin in a product is supposed to be effective.  

Types of snail mucin products available –

• Night creams 
• Repair creams
• Masks
• Serums
• Essence
• Under eye patches
• Moisturizers
• Cleansers 

Snail mucin is hugely used in Korean beauty skincare routines with multiple steps. But you don’t have to worry about all those steps. You can easily incorporate snail mucin through more effective products. Snail mucin is much safer to use at any time of the day, so you can use it as a serum, essence, or moisturizer. So basically, you can –

1. Double Cleanse your face with an oil followed by a gel or foam cleanser
2. Use a toner 
3. Then, you can apply the snail mucin skin essence on the wet skin to activate its key ingredients 
4. Use a serum 
5. Use a moisturizer with snail mucin to seal all the hydration in.

Potential Drawbacks or Concerns 

Not many studies show the risks and side effects of snail mucin. That is a big reason snail mucin is hugely used by people all over the globe. However, individuals and their skin differ. So, you could find some risks and concerns too. Some are –

• You might avoid it if you are allergic to snails, shellfish, seafood, or mollusks. These types of allergies could be hazardous. 
• If you are using snail mucin and are unaware of your allergies, then you must look out for incidents including itchiness, skin rash, redness, irritation, watery eyes, stuffy nose, hives, 

It is advised to do a patch test on your arm before using it on the skin if you are prone to allergy. Stop using it if you experience swelling, sneezing, itching, wheezing, nausea, cough, facial flushing, etc.  

Snail mucin is extracted commercially by stressing the snails, which is a contentious procedure. It is done either by prodding them with something sharp or feeding them salt water. The producers collect the slime and put it through filtrating and purification, making it suitable for skincare products. 

Conclusion

Snail mucin is a highly potent ingredient used in the skincare industry to provide plumper, younger, firmer, bouncier, acne-free, wrinkle-free & smooth skin.

With the goodness of hyaluronic acid, glycolic acid, copper peptides, collagen, elastin, allantoin, and some other vitamins and minerals – skin care products with snail mucin provide many visible benefits. It helps prevent early aging, heals scars, and promotes cell regeneration. 

But you should be aware of your skin and health issues. There are many snail essence review blogs available on the web that you can refer to.

You need to be mindful of the place you reside. Skin care products should be chosen based on your skin issues.

If you are facing acne breakouts consistently, check your routine to rule out the possibilities of ingredients that could cause it. Too much of anything could jeopardize your natural skin barrier.

Consult a dermatologist before jumping into the trends. Remember that healthy skin results from a good skincare routine and a disciplined lifestyle.