This product is my first real Korean skincare *love*.  I was planning on using it for a full month before writing a review, since I normally don’t see results from a product until at least several weeks.  But unbelievably I saw results by day 2 and after only 3 weeks I’m a true believer in the power of snail extract!

Before Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream, I’ve never used a product that delivered so many of its promises so quickly!  This cream definitely made me a believer in the magic of Korean skincare.  Ok, enough gushing; let’s get to the actual details…

I first read about this product on http://www.peachandlily.com.  After the initial “Ew… Snail slime?!” reaction, the description and promises intrigued me.  Made of a whopping 92% snail secretion filtrate, this product promises to help with trouble marks (whatever that means), fine wrinkles, pore tightening, smooth skin, resilience and strengthen. (See below for Mizon’s product sheets.) All this from snail slime?! Sign me up!

So after some searching on Amazon, eBay, Koreadepart, etc… I found this product for super cheap on Amazon, sold by TOKTOK (an American seller) and it only cost me $17! For the price, the quality of this product is really nice – comes in a dark, heavy glass bottle with a plastic scoop for hygienic purposes (which I promptly lost).

The texture of the cream is nothing that I’ve ever felt before.  At first kinda slimy and sticky, but it absorbs super quickly into the skin.  There’s no smell at all – thankfully there’s no fragrance added like so many other Korean products. Even though it’s a cream, you’re supposed to use this before applying any ampoules or creams, almost like an essence.  It’s very light, absorbs right into the skin and makes my skin plump and dewy right away.  It’s not as moisturizing as I would like, but despite using the name “cream” it’s not meant to be the only moisturizer in your skincare regime.  I tested the product, and the pH is set around 5.5.

Ingredients: Snail secretion filtrate, cetearyl olivate, sorbitan olivate, cetearyl alcohol, stearic acid, glyceryl stearate, hydrogenate vegetable oil, dimethicone, triethanolamine, carbomer, butylene glycol, PEG/ppg-17/6 copolymer, polyacrylate-13, polyisobutene, polysorbate 20, sodium polyacrylate, caprylyl glyocol, ethylhexyglycerin, tropolone, adenosine, sodium hyaluronate, portulaca oleracea extract, betula platyphylla japonica juice, amica Montana flower extract, Artemisia absinthium extract, achillea milefolium extract, gentian lutea root extract, alcohol, camellia sinensis leaf extract, centella asiatica extract, copper tripeptide-1, human oligopeptide-1, propylene glycol, rubus idaeus (raspberry) fruit xtract, beta-glucan, palmitoyl pentapeptide-4, disodium edta

As you can see, snail extract is the #1 ingredient in this product, which is fantastic in my book!  92% of an active star ingredient is amazing, especially for how cheap this product is.  Mizon also added some other great antioxidants and extracts that protect the skin and boost collagen.

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Closer look into some of the star ingredients:

Snail secretion filtrate: AKA snail mucin, is what snail secretion is made out of.  Through their mucus, snails have an amazing ability to recover themselves quickly when their skin or shell gets hurts or broken.  Snail mucin has an array of proteins and antioxidants, and it is also antimicrobial.  On human skin, snail mucin has the ability to heal acne and other skin blemishes, tighten pores, smooth skin, improve fine wrinkles, and improve skin’s resilience.

Adenosine: Penetrating deep into the skin, this ingredient is particularly good at helping reduce wrinkles and sagginess.  It increases the production of elastin and collagen in the skin, and it also increases blood flow to the outer layers of the skin to repair damage to the skin.

Sodium Hyaluronate: aka hyaluronic acid, is a very effective humectant moisturizer.  It does a great job attracting and maintaining water in the skin, holding 1,000 times its weight in water.  It also promotes blood circulation and nutrient absorption.

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BUT – there are a couple of fillers in here that made me really question whether or not I should buy it: according to http://www.cosdna.com, cetearyl alcohol, stearic acid, triethanolamine each rates a 2 for potential acne triggers, and hydrogenate vegetable oil rates a 3 as a potential acne trigger.  But after I read more on http://www.peachandlily.com about how this product actually helped clear acne, I decided to take the plunge.

And I am SO glad I did! I started seeing results from day 2 and I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The rosacea on my cheeks was less red, the acne that I had started to disappear faster than normal.  By the first week, I noticed that I didn’t have any of my normal white heads or little pimples that I get in between my periods.  I will give an update on how my skin does during my period (which is usually when I get my hormonal cystic acne).  But I’m hopeful that this product will help my skin during that time too!

In the last couple days I’ve been dealing with a few cystic acne that came up while using a sample size of Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA liquid.  It’s a really good exfoliant (which I will write a full review of later) and I expected my skin to go through a purging period.  Surprisingly, I didn’t get any little white heads or little zits, but I did breakout in 3 big cystic acne along the jawline.  Normally, it takes about 1 week for any of my cystic acne to clear up, but mine cleared in 3 days, which I’m convinced is because of the snail cream that I’ve been using!

So far the cream has lived up to most of its promises – it’s definitely helped with my acne, my skin is overall smoother and less irritated, and my skin definitely feels stronger!  I wish I saw more tightening of my pores, but hopefully over time I’ll see some results in my pores too.

Overall:

I am in love with this cream!  Snail extract has definitely made a visible difference in the condition of my skin and I am so excited to see how my skin improves in the long run!  However, because of the multiple acne-triggering ingredients in this cream, when I’m finished with this tub I think I will try Mizon’s Snail Repair Intensive Ampoule, which has much less irritating ingredients in it.  BUT if I don’t see similar results from the ampoule, I’m coming back to this cream, acne-triggers be damned!

Pros: 92% of its *star* ingredient, soothing, some hydration, no fragrance, almost immediate improvement in skin condition, lived up to most of its promises!

Cons: not moisturizing enough, some acne-triggering ingredients

Total score: 9.5/10

Ingredients: 8/10 (despite having an amazing amount of snail extract in it, I had to reduce it a couple points for the addition of several acne irritants rated 2-3 on cosdna)

Quality: 10/10 (Really impressed with the quantity and quality of its *star* ingredients and how it lives up to its promises!)

Wear: 10/10 (felt soothing and absorbed well into the skin.)

Price: 10/10 (really great value!)