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Would You Slather Your Face with Snail Gel in the Name of Beauty?

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Gross and ewww! Add this to the weird beauty product files — De Tuinen Snail Gel, a skincare product made from the slime of Chilean snails (!), supposedly softens, smooths and supports skin elasticity for a more youthful-looking you.

Apparently, these snails ooze a slime high in allantoin, a compound found naturally in most mammals (but not in humans). It’s an active ingredient in many over-the-counter beauty products for its purported moisturizing and exfoliating properties (it’s said to help loosen and shed the outer layers of skin).

Chilean snail farmers (now there’s a phrase you don’t hear often) first discovered the moisturizing power of the slime, and clinical tests have shown that snail secretions high in allantoin can, in fact, plump the skin.

For a mere £20.45 (about $32 US dollars), Britain’s Holland and Barrett, specialists in natural supplements and herbs, will send you your very own jar of snail goo. 🙂

Sorry, US babes — at least for the now, the company only ships to countries in Europe.

For the record, I am totally grossed out by snails, slugs and other slimy things, but I’d probably try almost anything in the name of beauty science.

Well, I don’t know about that. I keep picturing snail butts…

Would you slather your face with snail gel in the name of beauty?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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Comments

  1. It’s sooo gross! But I already have lol.

    My mom used to buy a cream made from snail slime, it wasnt this brand, but I used it for a while. Not as horrible as it sounds, but I probably wouldn’t do it again…I’ll stick to Aveeno 🙂
    Vanessa H recently posted … Haute Red NOTD

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  4. Eeeeeew!! EEEEEEEEWWWW snail slime!!!!!!! 😮

    *breathes*

    Okay, I think I’m good. But still — that sounds incredibly icky! I don’t think I’d have the guts to even pick up a container once I knew what was in it :p
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  5. And to think, I set out buckets of beer to rid my gardens of snails! If only I’d have known! Seriously, I cannot eat certain egg recipes or prepare chicken because of the slime/goo factor. and I do not eat snails I guess the lower life forms have much to offer us, but I’ll stick to, or uh, enjoy the use of Nivea. And if you wiki “allantoin,” the entire idea gets really gross.

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  6. Snail skincare is all the rage here in Korea, at least according to tv shopping channels here. And no, I do not use it. I stick to me beloved SK-II. Although I think I can get over the gross factor if it really works. It is “processed” slime so I am not touching or handling snails or slimes directly 🙂 I am doubtful though, because snail slime must come cheap and it looks like people are trying to make money out of cheap ingredients.

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  14. I would do it. We put so many other horrible chemicals all over our bodies daily so what’s a little snail slime. As long as there aren’t other bad things in the mix like parabens, SLS, fragrance etc. I try to use as many natural and organic products with as few ingredients as possible. Who knows maybe snail slime actually works 🙂

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  15. Mebbe not. 😀

    Unrelated but those interested in Rock & Republic cosmetics (blush is awesome!) — they have 50% off + 99cents shipping going on now.

    Code is ROCKCOSMETICS.

    Just a lil sumfinsumfin for us girls! 🙂

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  16. seriously? i’m all for beauty, but..*hack*…that’s gross…and how exactly did those Chilean snail farmers discover the slime’s beauty props? “Hmmm…hey, so whatda think about the slime? You go first…”

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  18. Yummy! Sign me up for some snail slime! OK, not really. Though, like Margaret and Deathica said, if it’s processed and not actually marketed as “snail slime”, I’d definitely give it a whirl. I’m sure if we knew the origin of everything we ingested or put on our skin, we’d be gagging non-stop! 🙂

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  20. I’m not really squeamish, but I think it all depends on the presentation… if it’s actually slimy, rather than a gel-like consistency that I’m picturing in my head (like aloe gel or something), then no. Also, smell is a huge factor. If it smelled like snails (even though I don’t know what that smells like), I wouldn’t use it. But if it smelled, looked, and felt like any average beauty treatment, then sure. Honestly, the fact that it’s $32 a jar is more of a deterrent at the moment haha.

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  22. I don’t consider myself squeamish, but slugs and snails are a bit of a button for me! I just don’t think I could bring myself to use it knowing what was in it! Eeeeeeeeerrrrgh!

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  23. I think this is fine. Its natural and as long as it wasnt hurting the slugs I think it would be fine and if it worked… Even better.

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  24. Obviously this product isn’t considered vegan and I know many would not use it on that factor alone. So many cosmetics and skincare have used by-products from other industries anyway… fishscales in lipsticks to add sparkle ring a bell? I wouldn’t be totally against it if it was a purified form, and yes, didn’t smell funny. It’s the knowledge of the source factor that gets to most. Remember that uber-expensive-must-be-the-best coffee harvested from primate poop? Yeah, blow it up all you want, I ain’t drinkin.

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  26. Hey! I’m Chilean and snail skincare stuff is not gross…
    it’s actually really good and doesn’t hurt snails 🙂
    it’s really common here..and people use it for scars. I would def. give it a go!
    its expensive though…but cmon…we use tons of products with “heaven knows” it contains…so why not snails? lol

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  27. Considering the miraculous biophysics involved with snail goo to allow them to move I can totally see its possible benefits for someones skin. And it doesn’t sound like they’re crushing up the snails or anything (i.e. it’s not hurting them) so I don’t see why not. Heck it can’t be worse than some of the things we put on our skin lol.
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  28. I’m in the UK and there’s a Holland and Barrett up the street from where I live. But I somehow can’t imagine that I would purchase this product – I can picture myself smoothing it on, and then having a sudden reality check and racing for the bathroom to wash it off again! £20 is quite pricey too, although it’s nice to know that the snails aren’t harmed.
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  29. I used this because my dermatologist recommended it and it works like a charm especially on scars and for me it was acne scars from pickin my face and you notice the difference in like two weeks.

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  30. Really Wendy? I have hyperpigmentation from acne too. I like the results I get from the Ivo Pitangy lightening serum but it still takes about a month for the scar to go away. Is it gone in two weeks, or just starting to go away? How does it smell? Lots of questions I know haha.

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  31. I use Elicina, a snail cream, on my face every day. I have a keloid scar and a skin condition (that so far is untreatable via doctors) near my mouth. I have had it for about 6 or 7 years now and nothing, but Elicina, has done a thing to it. After a month of using the snail cream, the scar is smaller, less hard and the damaged skin due to the condition is slowly fading. The skin is repairing for the first time in YEARS. I am so thankful for this stuff. I am finally getting my confidence back!

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  32. Oh ladies, please don’t be such little girls about it. I’ve used Elicina before and I still have the jar in my bathroom. It actually completely cleared up my friend’s bacne!

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  33. Hmm…if it could make my sun-beaten 31 year-old skin look 19 again, I’d buy it in a hearbeat! Of course that would be highly unlikely so, no.

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  34. Tyra Banks spoke about this in her talk show not too long ago, apparently it really works, not too sure how I feel about putting it on my own skin though, I think if it wern’t advertised as “snail goo” I would have much easier time putting it on my skin

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  35. We put all kind of animal fats and bone powders, etc. on our skin, faces, and lips all the time. I think a little snail slime isn’t any worse than say, the animal fats found in most lipsticks…..And probably didn’t kill the snail to get the slime. If it works, I think it’s a great idea!

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  36. I previously used elicina after I had gotten over what it was.. And after I had tried everything else. A combination of dermalogica and elicina got rid of my severe acne scarring included those nasty pitted ones !! I think its the glycolic acid in the gel tht helps

    Unfortunately during recession my pockets aren’t quite as deep so I’m going to Start using vichy normaderm range and Holland n Barrat snail cream… Hope it works…

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  37. It actually isn’t bad…it looks like a clear gel and smells hella good O.o I used it for my legs to get rid of some scars. Now my legs are smooth and hydrated. People need to get over the whole “Omg! ew! SNAILS and SLIME” thing. People put honey on their face too O.o that’s almost as nasty.

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  38. The Snail Gel is brilliant! Great for scars, pigmentation problems and wrinkles. Have been using it for a month and a bit and can’t believe the difference in my skin. I’m 51 and I swear it’s the best my skin has ever looked. I purchased a 50 gram tube on eBay from Korea for $8.96, best money I ever spent. Give it a try, it is not gross just a gel. 🙂

    Reply

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