You don’t eat the escargot in this facial treatment
They have long been regarded as garden pests. But snails, it seems, have a use after all — crawling across faces as part of a new beauty treatment in Japan.
Live snails, hailed as an elixir for youthful, beautiful skin, take centre stage in an unusual “snail facial” launching in Tokyo.
Snails are placed directly onto the faces of reclining clients, leaving trails of slime, a sort of mucus, in their wake.
The secreted mucus is key to the facial, as it reportedly contains a beauty-boosting cocktail of proteins, antioxidants and hyaluronic acid that helps 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,” said Yoko Minami, sales manager at Clinical Salon, the flagship outlet of the Japanese spa operator, Ci:z.Labo.
It is currently home to five snails, kept in a small clear container where they are fed organic vegetables, including carrots, Japanese “komatsuna” greens, spinach and Swiss chard.
Spa staff said the snails were bought from an organic snail breeder in Japan and are fed organically to ensure they are clean and healthy before being placed on customers’ faces.
The live snails are the central part of a 60-minute treatment called the Celebrity Escargot Course, costing just over $240.
It starts with faces being washed before the snails are gently placed on the cheeks and forehead and allowed to move around as they please.
This is followed by a series of massages, masks and electrical pulse machines using creams infused with snail mucus to ensure that the live secretions fully penetrate the skin.
“We have one beauty product called Lift Keep Cream which contains snail slime.
“We started selling it in May last year and it has been very popular,” Kinami said.
It was as long ago as 400 BC that snails were first highlighted for medicinal uses, with records of Hippocrates mixing crushed mollusks with sour milk as a treatment for skin inflammation.
Today, snails appear to be making a comeback in the beauty industry, with a string of international skin products containing snail mucus and high-profile aficionados reportedly including actress Katie Holmes.
Over the past two years, snail face creams, serums and masks have surged in popularity, in particular in Japan and South Korea.
Sunday Telegraph correspondent Danielle Demetriou was brave enough to test the treatment.
She said: “The snails feel slow, heavy and cool — and slightly ticklish. The assistant lifts the snails whenever they go too near the mouth, nostrils or eyes.
“Many people would probably choose to undergo the snail facial with their eyes closed.
“There is little in life more unsettling than spying the rearing tentacles of an approaching snail on your cheek out of the corner of your eye.
“However afterwards, the face definitely feels cooler and plumper.”