Snail Secretion Filtrate

Snail secretion filtrate is the purified and filtered slime of garden snails.

It has been the object of the skincare boom in South Korea and other Southeast Asian countries in recent years, where manufacturers claim that it has miraculous moisturizing and soothing benefits, as well as other beneficial properties.

Let’s take a step back and look at what is actually known about snail secretion filtrate. Snail secretion for skincare purposes is most commonly harvested from garden snails, Cryptomphalus aspersa (or sometimes Cornu Aspersum – the same species).

The snail secretion is harvested from the snails by gently irritating them and then washing the secretion off with an isotonic solution. The snail secretion is then sterilized (to get rid of any harmful bacteria that might live in it) and filtered. The resulting mixture contains various proteins and polysaccharides, jointly called “mucin”.

When looking at the specific structures, the compounds found most often are glycosaminoglycans – big polysaccharides with sulfur and nitrogen groups (which make it different from the regular polysaccharides like starches). They are able to bind and retain huge amounts of water, which makes them moisturizing (humectant) agents. They might also have some interesting antibacterial and immunomodulatory activities.

When scientists used snail secretion filtrate in the experiments on skin, they found several interesting properties. Firstly, it had interesting antioxidant properties and was able to stimulate the growth of skin cells in test-tube experiments.

The protein fraction of the snail slime also displayed some antibacterial activity in a Petri dish. After testing the snail secretion filtrate on volunteers (with an average age of 54 years, so “mature skin”), the results showed improvements in skin firmness, elasticity, and hydration. It also improved skin redness, with the test subjects reporting less stinging and burning.

Additionally, based on the before/after photos, the skin after the treatment was also significantly brighter. Another study on volunteers reported improved skin texture and a reduction in fine lines.

Overall, snail secretion filtrate has displayed some very good results in studies, and so it seems that the hype is indeed justified (if you don't mind putting snail slime on your face, of course).