What the heck is snail secretion filtrate?

[sandykat79]

I was thinking of trying the IT Cosmetics Your Skin but Better CC Cream, but the second listed ingredient is snail secretion filtrate and that squicked me out. Does anyone know what exactly it is and whether it involves killing snails?

[sutt]

It’s a miracle ingredient! So moisturizing but still light.

[Anonymous]

The things we do in the name of beauty...

[sandykat79]

I would love to meet the first person who looked at the slime trail left by a snail and thought "I should put that on my face"!

[BeckyGK]

Thank you for asking this question! I had no idea what the heck it was!

[Krysa13]

Snail secretion filtrate is basically snail mucus filtered not to be too gooey. There is actually a video of how this stuff is produced. Snail are not killed during production (in fact, the last thing a snail farmer wants is to kill his snails.) They are put in huge nets suspended over a pail. The nets are shaken lightly which causes the snails to get restless and secrete a lot of mucus. The mucus drips into the pails and the snails are released back to their feeding grounds until the next "milking" round. I tried multiple K-beauty products with snail secretion and they are just SO GOOD. The Snail Recovery Gel Cream by Mizon is my staple. One problem though is that if a product has a really high content (like 90%) of snail secretion it might be somewhat tricky to apply. If it's the second ingredient you need not worry anyways. 

[quspork]

Snail secretion filtrate is the mucous that snails produce when they move. It's been a popular product for millennia because it's packed with nutrients and helps with a variety of issues- acne, redness, soothing, hydration, anti-aging. The snails are not killed during the collection of the mucin. 

[MistBerry]

@sandykat79
For a while, I've heard about the magical benefits, even have samples some shops have sent me. For the life of me, I just can't bring myself to try it.

They say it's harmless, and I'm like "how?" And the thought of putting snail slime on my face...I just can't.

[lmi82]

Hi, @sandykat79.

Snail secretion filtrate is another name for snail slime. It's also a popular ingredient in Korean skincare products. From what I've read, the snails are not killed during the harvesting process. However, the snails are stimulated/agitated/stressed to induce the production of mucus. Snail secretion filtrate is definitely not a cruelty-free ingredient. 

I hope this helps!