Skin Repair for Rashes – Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream

Many of my male friends have always been squeamish about the idea of putting snail byproduct on their skin. Snail cream is essentially made up of snails’ slime, or mucus (eek! I know) However, beauty always come with a price to pay, and in this instance, putting yucky stuff on your face isn’t all that disgusting as you may think. First launched by Korean brand Missha, the snail cream is touted to soothe, regenerate and heal skin.  This magic wonder snail secretion, as it may sound, is said to reduce wrinkles, soothe acne prone skin, as well as heal scars and burns.

Using snails as a skin treatment is actually nothing new. It was dated back to the Ancient Greeks where it was reported that people crushed snails and used them to treat inflamed skin. Now, already into its third or fourth year since the initial launch of the first snail cream product, this is actually no longer a happening beauty fad.

SO, what makes this cream so ‘magical’ and highly raved? The slime of gastropods (the same species as what is served in your favourite French restaurant) contain a complex mix of proteins, glycolic acids and elastin, and they help to protect the snail’s skin from damage, infection and UV rays. Sounds like the shell doesn’t do any of those, this mucus also helps to keep the snail’s skin moisturised.  Online reviews from product testers have said their skin are visibly improved within days of usage – skin being softer, smoother, more moisturised, and overall improvement in the skin condition.

However, on a sadder note, in order to obtain maximum secretion of this slime, snails are stressed to encourage increased secretion. The byproduct is then put through multiple filtration process to ensure its purity, before being mixed into other chemicals to produce our skin creams. Perhaps strict environmentalist should think again?

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A couple of days ago, I developed a rash during my recent staycation holiday. My face started feeling rough with tiny bumps over my forehead, cheeks and jawline. I could not be certain of the cause, however, it certainly looked like contact dermatitis as it flared up during the first night of my stay. My gut feel points the cause to either donning the bathrobe from the hotel which was probably washed in a detergent that I was allergic to, or the travel size sachet of facial wash I had brought along for the trip.The outbreak caused me much distress as I was going to be in and out of the extreme sun, going along beaches and poolsides.

The initial few days were demoralising. It meant no makeup when I had my occasional dinners at posh dining places. I had to resist the urge to scratch, and kept myself from the over stress of what was potentially happening to my face. I popped an antihistamine tablet daily to keep the allergy at bay.

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On the 4th night after the initial onset of the rashes on my face, I recalled and picked up from my skincare stash, the Mizon Snail Repair Cream (which I have recently forgotten about after my recent purchase of SK-II Stempower Series). The last four days have seen v minimal improvement to my rashes. They were dry, scaly to the touch and somewhat itchy.

However, within 5 mins of applying a generous amount of the cream on my face, my skin immediately felt less dry! The itching feeling had reduced and within the next 15 mins I felt my skin immediately feeling normal like before (though they probably still looked a little red). I did not apply anything else.

The next morning I saw a dramatic improvement to my skin! It does not feel as scaly as the few days before, and it certainly looks better this morning. The little bumps seem to have tone down a good 60-70%! My face feels less dry as well, as I have tried applying other moisturisers in the last few days but my skin seems to react badly to them even though they were botanical products.

REVIEW –

How to use :

Instructions of use for this product recommends using it on clean skin, just immediately after cleansing.

What it is like :

The texture of Mizon’s All in One Snail Cream is relatively light. It does not feel heavy like some really rich moisturisers. The cream is white with a soft and slightly gluey consistency. There is a faint ‘almond essence-like’ smell but that doesn’t smell like any artificial fragrance intentionally added in. I believe what I am smelling is the ingredients in the product.

How it felt :

The All in One Snail Cream gets absorbed into the skin relatively quickly. There is hardly any stickiness or greasiness feel after applying it, leaving your skin feeling soft and matte. In the last few days since the onset of the skin rashes, after washing my face will leave it feeling dry and looking redder than before.  However, within minutes of applying the snail cream directly on after-cleansed face, the dryness feel seems to fade and after 15 minutes or so, the redness seems to have been soothed. You can literally feel the ‘heeling’ properties of this said magical wondrous cream.

Overall :

Prior to this, I have finished using one full jar and this on hand is my second tub. Having this bad habit of switching skincare products every so often, I have conveniently left this behind in my drawer and forgot about it for a while.

During the days when I had religiously used this product, my skin had been smooth and supple. I do have some lines and although they ain’t that prominent to be noticeable to others, I did remember being less aware of them when I was using this product. My skin felt nourished and it made me feel youthful and younger! (Maybe part of this is psychological!) What this cream does is it forms a smooth layer on your face, thus ‘sealing’ in the moisture and work its magic to heal, regenerate, and rejuvenate. This is noticeable after you wake up in the morning and water-wash your face. You can feel part of the cream coming off when in contact with water. It leaves you with skin feeling soft, supple and smooth. On occasional days when I get a spot pimple or two, the cream seems to aid in its inflammation and healing.

However baby soft you feel your skin is the next morning, I feel (it in my gut!) that this cream does not serve as well in terms of its moisturising properties. I believe what the cream does is to seal it the moisture, however, if you do not consume enough water to hydrate your system, your skin will still feel dry the next day. It treats the epidermis layer and heals surface skin, but it seems to be somewhat lacking in its promise as the ‘All in One’ cream. To counter that, I would use a lotion mask and leave it on my skin for 5-10 mins before removing and applying this cream.

Another disadvantage of this product is that  I do not like to use this with other products as piling too many layers of cream on top of my face seem to be redundant when this cream already sealed off your skin to do its own healing. My experience with putting more products end up with a face that feels more oily and ‘clogged’ the next morning.

To summarise, this cream does serve as an awesome healing cream. It is wonderful on recovery of post inflammation on skin, post sun exposure and acne outbreaks. However, do exercise caution if you have prolonged skin problems or ultra sensitive skin when using this product.

Pros :

• Heals affected epidermis of skin
• Refines skin texture
• Light on skin, absorbs quickly and leaves a non-greasy after feel
• Reduce acne inflammation
• Anti-aging properties which makes your skin feel younger and more youthful
• Affordable pricing

Cons :

• Not your best moisturiser if thats what you are after
• Not suitable to use with other products
• Not as hygienic as product is packed in a tub jar
• Only for isolated use, does not go well with usage of other products together

Recommended : This is definitely recommended to purchase and keep as a fast healing remedy. I will recommend buying yours direct from Korea if you make a trip there, or the easiest will be to purchase online via eBay from sellers located in Korea. They retail for approximately US$23 online and shipping is relatively cheap. Some of the sellers I follow include newcre8tive and iamlove-shop.

Or you may choose to shop from legitimate sites :

• W2Beauty.com
• Qoo10 Mizon Korea

If you have used this cream before, share with me how it fared for you!