Unusual beauty products containing substances like bird poop and bee venom have been hitting the market, and snail slime is next on the list.
A central Tokyo salon is launching a new "celebrity escargot course," the treatment costs close to $250 and uses snails to give skin a youthful appearance The Telegraph reported.
The snail slime contains "proteins, antioxidants and hyaluronic acid, which help skin retain moisture, reduce inflammation and remove dead skin."
"Snail slime can help the recovery of skin cells on the face, so we expect the snail facial to help heal damaged skin," Yoko Minami, sales manager at Clinical Salon, said.
The treatment is also recommended for sun damage. "'We are interested in the fact that snails have a function that can help heal skin damaged by ultraviolet rays," Ms. Kinami, a staff member of the spa, said.
The 60-minute-long treatment starts with a thorough face wash. Then snails are placed on the recipients face and left to crawl wherever they want. The spa has five snails, all of which are fed only organic vegetables to ensure their health.
After the snails are done, the treatment is finished off with a round of "massages, masks and electrical pulse machines using creams infused with snail mucus to ensure that the live secretions fully penetrate the skin."
Snail mucus infused face cream is climbing the ranks in the beauty world.
"We have one beauty product called Lift Keep Cream which contains snail slime," Kinami said. "We started selling it in May last year and it has been very popular."
The unusual ingredient is not a new discovery, snail mucus was first used as a skin treatment as far back as 400 bc. Hippocrates was rumored to have used crushed mollusks mixed with sour milk to treat skin problems such as inflammation.
The skin treatment was rediscovered after Chilean snail farmers who shipped the slimy critters to France noticed their hands looked more youthful after a day of work, Sylelist reported.
The first modern skin cream was introduced in Korea, the brand Missha released a line of snail cream, serum, and even sleeping masks.
A Russian spa started using large African snails as facial treatments in 2012, MSN reported.
"Snail mucin extract is a complex blend of proteins, glycolic acids and elastin. It has been recognized for many years-as far back as Ancient Greece-as an ingredient that reduces inflammation," dermatologist Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas, told Stylelist "The extract is renowned for its regenerative properties, and facilitates the restoration of damaged tissue and replenishes moisture in skin. It is also effective in treating acne and scarring."
Dr. Elizabeth Tanzi, the co-director of the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery noted there was no scientific evidence proving the treatments were actually effective.
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