[Review] BENTON Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream

After my long stay in South Korea, I came back to France with a few gifts (mostly cosmetics) for my friends and they were all excited to try “one of those snail things”.

I didn’t think that my friends were so motivated to spread snail muccin on the face so I was very surprised. Moreover, one of them made me a list of products with only snail muccin… and thanks to her, I tested and liked this magic ingredient.

What is it?

Legend has it that this magical ingredient was incorporated into our cosmetic products as a result of observing the hands of employees on a snail farm. They have super soft hands => it is the snail muccin that makes the hands soft => we will spread it on our face.

The strange thing is that we’ve already heard this “why and how” story about finding a magic ingredient, with SK-II (the employees of a sake factory have soft hands, so they discovered the Pitera bacteria – in sake and this ingredient is currently used for the SK-II brand).

Soon, if Caudalie runs out of marketing arguments, they’ll also be able to use the legend “one day, we noticed that the winegrowers’ feet were very soft, less wrinkled”… well, I’m done.

All this to tell you that I was suspicious of this ingredient from the very first moments, so much the marketing around all this seems suspicious to me.

Moreover, no brand can tell us exactly how the snail muccin is extracted. Do the snails walk quietly on windows and someone passes by to collect their muccin? or do they receive an electric shock to secrete more? or the radical method: are they crushed alive?

If the Korean Beauty Bible: Korean Beauty Secrets: A Practical Guide to Cutting-Edge Skincare & Makeup states that the snail muccin collection does not harm snails, then…

The other bible of Korean products: TheLittle Book of Skin Care: Korean Beauty Secrets for Healthy, Glowing Skin by Charlotte Cho says it’s just a very “yummy” mix of hyaluronic acid, glycoprotein enzymes etc. etc. etc. so our cosmetics would contain a chemical copy of snail muccin.

What’s it for?

But the very good reviews on the Internet confirm the benefits of snail muccin.

Indeed, the properties of snail muccin are multiple:

  • moisturize the skin
  • repair the skin
  • boost the production of collagen and elastin

Thus, it is particularly efficient for acne-prone skin and to those who are looking for a good anti-aging product

Products that I recommend to you

My friend asked me to bring her a pack of snail muccin masks and a snail muccin cream of any brand.

And believe me, it was harder than I thought. Because Korean products seem to have moved on to other things, snail muccin is no longer trendy in 2018 in South Korea.

One still finds, in the physical stores, especially Tony Moly and Missha who sell snail drool products. But the good snail muccin products are harder to find, namely COSRX, Mizon and Benton. You either have to search all over Seoul or order online.

After a disastrous test of CosrxAdvanced Snail Mucin 96 Power Essence (it was giving me too many pimples), I thought this ingredient was not suitable for me, until I read a lot of reviews and my two Korean product bibles to come across :

TonyMoly Intense Care Snail Hydro-Gel Mask

I bought them only because of the very positive reviews and because there was a 50% discount (because at 5,000won the mask is 4€, you think a little bit – when you have a lot of Korean masks next to it for 4 times less).

But I was bluffed by its results from the first use. The next day, the skin was soothed, radiant, it was as if repaired…

In South Korea, Tony Moly products can be found in Tony Moly boutiques.

I still think these masks are expensive, but for the results they give me, I’ll buy them back, we only have one life! Note: You can save by buying packs of 5 from France

On the other hand, on a good skin (tested on a girlfriend with perfect skin), it has little effect, normal what:D

BENTON Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream

There are very few opinions on this cream. From the BENTON brand, toners and essences seem to be more appreciated. But I don’t want to pay $50 for the snail cream at Tony Moly’s so I bought this cream ($20) to try.

And I had like a revelation! My Japanese-Korean routine was fine so far, but with the introduction of this new cream, let’s just say it made things go faster. If the dry air in South Korea made my skin very uncomfortable, this cream was able to calm, protect and repair it. And even during my period, I have a lot fewer pimples thanks to this cream – and pimples heal faster too, leaving no spots (well, I use other anti-blemish products on the side). The skin is well hydrated and doesn’t shine. Small miracle: it helped me get rid of all the pimples on my neck in a week. That’s right!

When you look at the compo, it’s not organic…

But this cream contains no water, no parabens, no irritating agents, no denat alcohol etc. which is very surprising for a Korean product. Moreover, water vapor is used as an ingredient to mix all the other ingredients (hence “steam” in the name of the product), and this is quite surprising as a manufacturing process.

  • The 1st ingredient being snail muccin (fortunately), it was said earlier that it boosts the production of collagen and elastin, in addition to being very moisturizing.
  • A small ingredient slipped into the composition: bee venom. So, bee venom (bee or snake venom) is an on-new-more-normal ingredient in Korean products. Apparently, it would have the effect of boosting collagen production. Again, the method of collecting bee venom is questionable because the bee receives an electric shock to sting a piece of glass. Here it is

Benton products are sold in Aland stores, but not just any Aland store. You will be more likely to find them at Aland in Myeongdong in Seoul. If you are in France, you can buy it on Amazon for example or on Yesstyle (use the code K7BPCF to get -10% on the 1st order)

Another brand very appreciated for the quality of their products with snail muccin is Mizon. But some products contain dimethicone and aren’t as moisturizing as Benton, so I didn’t try it. Especially since in South Korea, this brand can only be bought online.

Conclusion

I really think it’s a miracle ingredient. The products aren’t very expensive (< 20€) for a more than spectacular result. I particularly recommend to those who have tried everything without success, and who need the softness to repair their skin (if you don’t want BHA, AHA, Tretinol in high doses, it will suit you perfectly).

On the other hand, as the information isn’t transparent on the method of collecting snail muccin, those who are sensitive to cruelty-free products will not be 100% reassured.

Anh est toujours très occupée à profiter de jolies choses, et à fabriquer de petites bricoles de ses propres mains. **** Hi, my name is Anh. I am a Vietnamese-French DIY passionate, beauty lover and cosmetic tester.

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