Does Snail Slime Improve Your Skin? [VIDEO]

We’ve heard our fair share of incredible beauty fads – from nipple tattoos to tissue paper – but a new slimmer trend seems to be taking the world by storm. The media has reported on a “snail facial” which is exactly what it sounds like: You let snails crawl over your face excreting their slime.

Although there is no concrete scientific evidence that snail slime benefits the skin, there is some logic behind the fad. In particular, the mucus (also known as slime) secreted by the snail contains powerful proteins, antioxidants and hyaluronic acid. This cocktail of ingredients is believed to help retain skin moisture, soothe inflammation, remove dead skin and fight skin damage.

The team back The Beauty Brainsa beauty blog that examines the science of beauty products, found that there is little scientific basis for using snail slime. the technical name for snail slime is “Helix Aspersa Müller Glycoconjugates”. They reveal that “snail mud is a complex mixture of proteoglycans, glycosaminoglycans, glycoprotein enzymes, hyaluronic acid, copper peptides, antimicrobial peptides, and trace elements, such as copper, zinc, and iron.”

“Snail slime can help regenerate skin cells on the face, so we expect the snail facial to help heal damaged skin,” claims Yoko Miniami, sales manager at Tokyo’s Clinical Salon which offersCelebrity Escargot” treatment, in the Sunday Telegraph. “We are interested in the fact that snails have a function that can help heal skin damaged by UV rays.”

The snail slime facial trend may be making headlines now, but the gastropod has long been used for beauty treatments. Records left by Hippocrates, the famous ancient Greek physician, show that crushed snails were mixed with sour milk to treat skin inflammation. However, the recent surge in products infused with snail slime can be attributed to Mount Fuji climbers using snail slime to treat skin damage caused by thinner air and intense sunlight.

And if you think this beauty trend started in Asia, think again! The trend has been rampant across South America for the past decade. In fact, Chilean farmers noticed smoother skin after handling snails in 2006. According to Christian Plaut, spokesperson for Andes Nature, the product is 100 percent pure and natural product.

The million dollar question (or in this case, the $234 question since that’s the cost of a snail facial) is, “Does the product work?” The jury is still out on how effective the treatment is, but according to the ladies at The Beauty Brains, there are studies that have seen the following results from snail slime: proliferation of fibroblasts, stimulation of new collagen and elastin fibers, increased production of fibronectin proteins, improving the condition of the skin by increasing the natural ability of the dermis to retain water and topical wound healing properties.