Snail cream relies on the power of snail slime, which is the slime secreted by the snails when they’re agitated. It’s a thick fluid designed to protect the snail. In various studies, snail slime has been tested on cell cultures. In these cultures, the slime was observed to stimulate the production of elastin and collagen two compounds which are vital for skin elasticity and firmness. To date, there have been no major clinical studies on snail slime’s effect on human skin. However, there’s a good reason: different snail slime has different concentrations of different compounds. Skin cream manufacturers actually keep their snail supplies a tightly guarded secret, as some snails are considered better than others. Surprisingly, beauty manufacturers don’t actually harm the snail during the extraction process: in many cases, they simply collect the mucin from live snails. The process is harmless and the snails live a (presumably) happy life. Scientific examination of snail slime has identified certain active ingredients within the slime, including: Hyaluronic acid, Glycoprotein, Enzymes, Antimicrobial and copper peptides, Proteoglycans. 

When snails are agitated, they excrete a thick fluid as a means to protect themselves. It may sound odd to use something like that on your skin, but remember that humans and most other animals also excrete oils as a way to protect their skin. In fact, the oil your body excretes to moisturize your skin is made up of lipids, sebum oil, and dead skin cells. As a snail protects itself, the slime that is excreted from its body is packed with nutrients like hyaluronic acid, glycoprotein enzymes, antimicrobial and copper peptides, and proteoglycans. All of these nutrients are already commonly added to beauty products and are thought to provide many benefits to skin. The science behind snail slime as a viable beauty cream is mostly derived from lab studies where the effects of the slime have been tested on a variety of cell cultures. In these studies, research suggests that snail slime will stimulate the production of elastin and collagen, increase fibronectin protein production, and stimulate increased proliferation of fibroblasts. While all of these traits could be beneficial for skin, there have yet to be significant cosmetic trials or research into how snail slime actually affects the skin, and how long those effects last. In fact, there haven’t been any significant clinical trials on how a specific beauty product containing snail slime actually works on this skin, just the slime itself. One of the main difficulties in conducting clinical trials on the benefits of snail slime is that the market has not fully figured out how to guarantee the results of testing. After all, if snail creams are to be effective, then the slime has to have a consistent concentration of the various chemical compounds, but this is difficult to guarantee. Because the success of trials leans heavily on the quality of snail extract used, the concentration of slime and the way it is excreted and processed, test results can sometimes be misleading. Some companies that manufacture snail creams do choose to keep a steady supply of their own snails so they can better regulate the extraction and formulation of the slime.

In the light of the above considerations, Beauty of Italy formulate its EXTREME Eyes De-Puffing Treatment taking advantage from the snail secretion properties and using it as the main ingredient (60%). Moreover the addition of high and low molecular weight hyaluronic acid improves and completes the cosmetic action of the product.