Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream

~ stashy

I finally cracked open my tube of Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream.  I’ve been itching to try this since purchasing it late last year, but wanted to wait until I finished my other serums first. Last month’s skincare empties paved the way for me to finally give this unusual product a go:
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I purchased this on eBay from a Korean seller and it cost me $8 for the 45g tube.

The tube comes with security features – first, a hologram sticker to ensure authenticity:
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Inside the box is a standard tube:
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Which is sealed for another layer of security:
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It contain 74% snail filtrate.  Just what IS snail filtrate?  It’s a nicer sounding name for snail slime, aka MUCUS.  From Wikipedia:

The foot mucus of a gastropod has some of the qualities of a glue and some of the qualities of a lubricant, allowing land snails to crawl up vertical surfaces without falling off.

Snail filtrate is mostly water with proteins and antioxidants.  It purports to promote formation of collagen to help repair the skin, as well as anti-aging properties.  This is my first time using any skincare containing snail filtrate…
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It’s a lightweight gel that’s not slimy as one might expect.  But I did find that it left a slightly tacky feeling to my face after application.  It’s odourless (what do snails smell like, anyway?) and colour / paraben free.  This gel also contains hyaluronic acid which is a key ingredient I look for in hydrating serums.  This product calls itself a gel cream but I don’t find it creamy at all – it’s best described as a silicone-y gel.  I used it the same way I would use any serum: applied after toner and before moisturizer.
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Here’s the thing, I’ve been using this on and off for the past 6 weeks but I waited to post a review on it because I just did not know how I felt about it!  Does that ever happen to you?  I didn’t know how it was benefiting my skin, if at all. It felt nice on the skin, but I saw no noticeable difference, either positive or negative.  My skin condition was in good shape when I started using the Snail Recovery Gel.  But then a couple of week ago, I experienced a break out (which I narrowed down to a BB cream I started using on a daily basis – Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream, and I suspect the offending ingredients were either Macadamia Ternifolia or Simmondsia Chinensis [Jojoba] Seed Oils). Anyway, I used my trusty BHA and Benzoyl Peroxide to combat the break out, and while they were effective in ridding the blemishes, my skin got irritated, dry, and flaky.  Enter Mizon Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream.  It helped to calm my skin and keep it hydrated, without exacerbating the existing blemishes.  Overall, I think this is a good product but I’m not sure if I need it all the time – unsure if I would repurchase.  7/10
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Another note: the date stamped on the box indicates its manufacture date, not the expiry date. I’ve found that many Korean and Japanese cosmetics indicate the manufacture rather than expiry date which I prefer.  I can do my own math of when I think a product will expire. 😛

Have you tried any skincare containing snail filtrate?

35 thoughts on “Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream”

  3. Wow what an interesting product! This post came at just the right time because I’ve been using mostly Korean skincare products these last few weeks (my skin has been freaking out lately ever since the weather changed) and snail products seem to be pretty popular. I’m pretty sure I saw this same product in my local Korean beauty store too (but it cost more than $8 haha). Thanks for the honest review. I am still curious about snail products but I’ll probably do more research and try a different brand instead.

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    1. I was prepared to be WOW’d but I wasn’t… it was just a nice hydrating gel. I guess maybe for people who problematic skin, it could be a lifesaver? Or maybe just the novelty factor of using snail on your face… I likely wouldn’t repurchase and I’m not sure if snail filtrate is an ingredient that I’ll go out of my way to find.

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  5. What sounds worse than snail slime is “foot mucus” as described by Wikipedia!

    I’ve always wondered if skincare made from natural animal…fluids (?) actually do anything. Have never tried snail mucus, but I bought a couple of bee venom sheet masks in Asia and it didn’t seem to be any different from other sheet masks.

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    1. I know… foot mucus – ick! I guess snail filtrate sounds more sanitary, lol.
      Not sure about the bee venom – I know that the royal jelly is popular as well as SNAKE venom! I’m really not sure about the efficacy of ANY of those ingredients…

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  6. Whaaaaaaat!!! Lol snail slime!!😷😜😜😜😜I’ve never tried it! But seems very interesting! Seeing as it was very inexpensive I might try this out. It just makes me very curious lol. I mean I used to love playing with snails when I was little so.. why not?😜

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  8. I have a few products with snail gel I think also from Korea, maybe Dr. Jart’s Premium BB Cream? Maybe something else too. It’s supposed to be great for skin, and it sounds like you had good luck with it too

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  9. Have I tried any skincare containing snail filtrate? Nope! Will I ever? Nope! Why won’t I? Because I am a firm believer in snail secretions staying strictly on snails and not on humans. Do snails get harmed in this? #antisnailcruelty ? 😛
    I wonder who comes up with putting snail slime into skincare products….like do you just one day ponder upon life and then think “aha! snail secretions! the answer to the meaning of life!” XD

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    1. I haven’t a CLUE how they harvest the secretion from the snails! I’d image they just scrap the bottoms of their cages?
      Apparently the benefits of snail secretion has been touted for a long time – they used it as cough syrup before! Humans are weird.

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      1. I used to collect snails in jars when I was a little kid. I named one Charlie, and I decided to let him out so he could ‘take a walk and get some fresh air’ (because snails can walk XD)…I let him out on our window, and I had meant to come back in a couple minutes, but 9 year old me got distracted and forgot about poor Charlie, and returned for him after an hour, and he was long gone, all that was left was his slimey secreted trail on the freshly washed window 😦

        ALSO. Who was the guinea pig to figure out snail slime was a cough remedy!? WHO in their right mind would by choice swallow snail secretions… humans are so strange.

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  10. Never heard of it but it sounds wonderful. Wasn’t there a snail gel craze a couple of years ago? Hasn’t stuck around here but the Asian market is sometimes a lot better at what they do.
    I do know what you mean when you say sometimes you just can’t figure out if a product is working or not. Can be rather irritating if you want to write a review 😉
    xx Anne

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    1. I think the snail secretion thing will get more wide spread – I’ve seen so many Asian trends make their way around the world like BB creams, oil cleansing, essences.
      Yes, I didn’t want to be lukewarm about the product. It didn’t do anything bad… or good. Ah well, I guess it could be worse, I could be allergic to snails or something lol.

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