It’s About Slime

This is hardly breaking news—in fact, the Greek physician Hippocrates (460 – 370 BC) was the first to herald the benefits, but did you know that snail-slime face cream is a hot beauty trend? Creams containing slug mucus have been flying off the shelves in far-flung places like Korea and South America.

According to this article (and many others), Chilean farmers noticed that after handling snails they were breeding for escargot, their hands felt noticeably smoother. The snail’s secretions protect its own skin from cuts and scrapes and UV rays.

And here I thought snails were only useful for food adulteration—snails were tossed into watered down milk in the 19th century to thicken it and add an attractive froth.

Snail slime facials are also a trend. You can watch a video here or see a charming picture here.

And while we’re on the subject: in this painting of the Holy Family by Baldassare Carrari (ca 1485), there are a number of religious symbols that might be lost upon a modern viewer, but here’s one you’ll know from now on. Look carefully at the lower right: you can see a snail trailing slime. Here’s a close-up. Snail slime was meant to represent sin. What a long way snails have come in the way of positive PR.

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