Snail Secretion in Cosmetics
How its benefits were discovered...
In 1980, in Chile, the Bascunan family was breeding snails intended for the French culinary market. The workers employed in heliciculture realized that their hands were incredibly soft and that the cuts on them were healing very quickly, without incurring into any infections or scarring.
Snails can repair their own shell when damaged in the wild. Scientific studies confirmed that whatever restores a snail's shell could also help the regeneration of human skin.
The Loom snail secretion is rich in mucopolysaccharides, which give it the characteristic viscosity and film-forming, protective and moisturizing properties. Therefore the snail secretion is successfully used in anti-aging products with film-forming effect.
The chemical analysis of the qualitative snail secretion showed a combination of active substances quite complex, with the particular presence of:
Allantoin: a substance that stimulates tissue regeneration promotes the epidermal turnover and encourages the proliferation of keratinocytes (replacing the dead cells with new cells).
Elastin: the protein that makes the skin elastic.
Collagen: the essential constituent of the skin acts as a moisturizer and softener. Due to its elasticity, makes the skin toned and soft.
Glycolic acid: allows exfoliating the superficial layers of the skin and stimulates directly the formation of collagen in the dermis, making the skin more radiant.
Vitamins, essential amino acids and other proteins: encourage the peripheral vascularity and "oxygenate the skin," ensuring the supply of nutrients and the skin hydration. The vitamins play, also, an antioxidant and cicatrizing activity.