Snails: The Latest Fountain Of Youth!
You might be wondering... what is she talking about snails for? That’s what I thought when I first heard of it too! Snails leave behind snail essence which is the goo you see when they are traveling. The snail essence (or mucous) is to deter dryness of their soft tissues on the outside of their bodies, for traveling, for protection or for pleasure!
In Asia it is said that they are a skincare obsessed culture however they tend to opt for the more natural remedies of everything. While snails create their mucous to repair or prevent cracks and dryness, protect from UV rays, and infection, people in Asia and Korea are using it because it supports cell regeneration. They also say it can help with scars, wrinkles and prevent aging!
What is in it?
The key nutrients in snail essence is hyaluronic acid, glycoproteins enzymes and peptides, proteoglycans, antimicrobial, and copper peptides. Dermatologists have said that most of these ingredients are already in a lot of your skincare products and that using snail essence directly is difficult as it is 97% water and must be filtered down to its purest form to be beneficial. However, a lot of brands make the claim that they are raising their own little snail farms and that their snail essence is the real deal! It sounds to me like a lot of work - like cooking down tomatoes to get tomato sauce, ugh!
I did find a small clinical trial reported from yesstyle.com that said had 25 people use snail essence over 12 weeks and they all experienced improved eye wrinkles (Huffingtonpost.com. I also found that in NYC “escarglow” facials are all the rage and in Thialand clients had facials with actual live snails crawling on their face! Who knew right?!
Where did this idea come from?
In Ancient Greece a famous physician by the name of Hippocrates prescribed crushed snails and sour milk to cure inflammation. It’s kind of amazing the things they did back then! Can you even imagine doing that?
Snail slime has been more recently discovered by Chilean farmers who were handling snails for the French market and they began to notice their skin was visibly smoother. Then the snail essence was sent off to scientists to find out what it was and BAM we have snail goo in our beauty products!
Today it is extremely common in Europe and they have become diligent in finding friendly ways to extract this golden fountain of youth! Below is a link to see just how they extract the slime! Very neat! https://youtu.be/ac_iW3iA01E
What does this have to do with hair?
Along with aging skin, hair ages just as rapidly. Typically around age 40 we begin to see the signs of aging hair. Typically 😉. The cells that form the outer layer of the hair (the cuticle) become fragile and a dip in keratin protein leaves the hair weak and less elastic. The diameter of the hair, or the thickness of the individual strands, becomes finer. Most people think they are losing hair but really it’s only becoming smaller in diameter thus, fine hair. You’ll also find that hair growth slows down and a loss of fatty acids leaves it looking dull and a lack of luster and shine. Then there is the obvious, grey hair. This is the hair losing melanin production which results in loss of pigment and protein.
What do we do about aging hair?
We put back in what’s missing. Protein, pigment, shine, and fullness. If you color your grey hair you probably already notice that it’s much more manageable when it’s colored which is true, it is! You can also use protein-containing styling products to make up for lost dimension and to fill in the gaps in the cuticle. Use an oil to restore the shine and an anti-aging shampoo and conditioner to restore the moisture and calm those wild greys 😜
Kenra Professional Snail Anti-Aging Collection
Kenra has recently launched a new collection with snail essence. Well of course they did, that was my inspiration for this blogpost! We had a Kenra educator come in for a class and she mentioned the snail collection so I had to do my research!
I can’t speak for the shampoo and conditioner as of yet but I have used the snail CC creme. It is a lightweight styling creme that smoothes, softens and fills in the cracks of the hair and skin for restoring and prolonging youth. I read a lot of reviews of clients that rave mostly about how this product fights frizz. I can think of a few guests I can’t wait to try this on!
Thank you so much for reading through my findings! If you are fighting frizz and all the other struggles that come along with aging hair I can’t wait to have a conversation with you about snails 🐌 🤓 until next time lovelies....
xoxoxo Linds
Sites of research:
www.huffpost.com
www.marieclaire.com
www.yesstyle.com
*to my knowledge no snails were harmed in the extraction of snail slime*
*these are my personal findings and opinions and should not be used for medical advice*
