Slimy and Fabulous!

As a kid, I loved playing with snails in the idyllic country side of Hue, Viet Nam. As an adult, I kept a more “admiration-from-a-distance” attitude towards my shelled gastropodic friends. But after falling deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that is (Asian) skincare and using questionable ingredients like horse oil, starfish extract or donkey milk, snail secretion barely raised a hair on my neck.

All's fair in love and the pursuit of soft, glowing skin, right?

So what is it exactly about snail mucin that keeps it from being a quick-burning fad and makes it a staple powerhouse in so many brands?

Their secretion is actually chockfull of healthy and hydrating goodness such as hyaluronic acid, that was designed to protect their bodies from cuts and water loss. All those nutrients found in their mucin can do a world of wonders to your face such as targeting fine lines, dryness and redness and there are actually a good number of studies to back it up! *Although, like everything in skincare to makeup, YMMV so please do your due diligence and patch test everything before incorporating it fully into your daily routine.

I've tried a ton of snail products in search for my "holy grail" including a few like Mizon's Snail Repair Intensive Ampoule, All-In-One Snail Cream, and their highly praised Snail Recovery Gel cream, Benton's Snail Bee (exactly what is a snail bee anyway?) High Content Essence and Steam Cream, but nothing beats out COSRX and their snail products for me. Without fail, I always have at least 2-3 replacement bottles of COSRX's Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence because for me, it's just that good. 

With a relatively short ingredient list and snail mucin being the very first one listed--and it's 96% at that--I was sold from the start. COSRX is known for their no-nonsense approach to skincare and they do try their best not to add in crazy amounts of filler and fragrance. The texture is a bit sticky but with more than enough give to slide across your face almost like a thick toner would and it's virtually scentless with a quick drying finish. Within the first month of bringing this essence into my routine, I noticed the dry, flaky spots on my cheeks disappeared and the texture of my skin was genuinely softer than it's ever been. This essence didn't do much for my hyper pigmentation/brightening concerns, and I didn't expect it to, but it did and still does, leave me with an "internal, moisturized glow" every morning with regular use.  And on top of it, it's one of the few products that don't feel painful and helps heal my skin if I over do it with the acids and end up a red, burning mess!

The price point is also something to write home about; at $15.00 on Amazon or $15.20 on Jolse, for 3.4 ounces of (almost) pure snail-y goodness? I'll take 10 please.