What is snail slime and why is it useful for perfect skin?

Controversial ingredient The snail slime will be the key ingredient for some, while for others an essential asset to avoid for its treatment of the animal.

By Alfonso Luna Soto

One more member joins the list of long-awaited star ingredients to achieve healthy and beautiful skin: snail slime, used for the first time in the Korean routine, is currently one of the world-renowned ingredients to improve the skin. In some it will sound strange -unpleasant- to spread this type of formulation, while for others it will be their source of elixir for eternal youth. Next, we tell you what you need to know about this magical and controversial ingredient.

What is snail slime?

That's right, as you imagine, it's the secretion of that little mollusk that lives in gardens. The snail generates this type of slime when it moves naturally, but the one used, mainly, in K-beauty products or any other skin care brand, is the secretion obtained when the animal is -in a natural way- under a stress situation, thus producing the highly valued snail slime. We know that here the subject becomes tense and opinions arise, later we will touch on the subject.

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The benefits of snail slime

The euphoria for this ingredient is due to the fact that it is a multitask extract, full of nutrients such as hyaluronic acid, glycolic acid and proteins (enzymes), which promote the production of collagen and elastin. That's the key! Snail slime is an excellent ally to prevent aging. In addition, skin repair properties have been found, and finally it is ideal for those men with dry skin type. Without a doubt, an ingredient valued by those experts in skin care.

Because two of its benefits focus on the production -of collagen- and skin repair, snail slime is recommended in night moisturizers or serums, since at that time -when sleeping- our body enters the process of Recovery.

The dark side of snail slime

If within the philosophy of life is to consume products free of animal testing, animal cruelty or vegan, clearly those of snail slime are not an option. Unlike other ingredients, such as retinol or squalane, also obtained from animal sources, but nowadays synthetically produced in a laboratory; snail slime has not yet reached that point (it is a recently used ingredient), and it would lose its meaning, since the active ingredient bears the name of the animal from which it is obtained.

As we mentioned before, the slime secretion is extracted when the snail is stressed. Worse still, as a result of the high quantities required to satisfy the demand for the brands, they create an excessive exploitation of the animal. It is true that many laboratories have stated that they use ways of extracting the slime that do not harm the snail, but, at the same time, most have not specified what those ways are, which leaves us questioning how ethical the methods used are.

As the phrase dictates, we seek to show both sides of the coin. It is clear that the beauty industry is singled out -if not the most- for the cruelty that is generated in animals when testing or formulating its products. We believe that in the times we live in, it is time to question what is more important: individual benefit or looking after the well-being of other living beings? Today there are many options, from certified animal cruelty-free brands (which are becoming more and more) that obtain the slime of the snail in a non-aggressive way towards the mollusk. Until opting for other alternatives where the snail extract is not included and is replaced by synthetically produced active ingredients, with the same or similar benefits, being able to rest assured that they did not test or harm any animal.

The decision will be totally yours, the ideas have been exposed.