Snail Slime the Next Big Thing in Skincare?

The French have long regarded snails on a plate with butter and garlic. But one breast rural farmers believe the humble molluscs have to offer more alive than dead.

Said Louis-Marie Guedon the mucus secreted by the snails are full of collagen, glycolic acid, antibiotics and other compounds that regenerate skin cells and heal cut.

Guedon, Champagnolles from west-central region of Charente-Maritime, believe could presage a cosmetic revolution and has developed a secret way to reap the slime.

He was busy open innovation first industrial-scale snail mucus recovery operation France has a target to harvest 15 tonnes of it next year.

"I've been making slime for three years, but manually," said Guedon, 47, who raised snails for a quarter of a century.

He has secured three contracts to supply local cosmetics labs and a company that mixes Paris cosmetics for some of the biggest names in consumer beauty product.

"This client has arranged three tonnes of slime," said Guedon.

He sells 25 million baby snails a year to breast farmers in France and other countries from a breeding stock of 650,000 garden snails known by their scientific name, Helix aspersa Helix aspersa maxima and minima.

Guedon preferred not to give details of its industrial process of getting slime . But he said the system , developed by an independent engineer , involved placing the snails in two large containers .

After the mucus is derivative , sensitive filters purify the product , which is then refrigerated . Salt is used , but the snails did not die .

€ 130,000 ( $ 170,200 ) investment Guedon the project is partly financed by small business subsidies from the French government and the European Union .

This snail mucus crop up in beauty products sold in Asia and South America , but not yet to catch on in Europe . For the really adventurous , Tokyo spa offers facial with real live snails .

Earlier this year Katie Holmes attested even use snail mucus - laced skincare products , and reports say that breast creams elements triple their sales in the past few months .

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