Doctors say putting snails directly on the skin is not advisable. Why did the snails used for facial beauty treatments die? The "autopsy report" says they died from alcohol poisoning.
Reported by this station's reporter, Huang Yihan, with text and photos.
The snail has died, and Qingqing is very sad.
Qingqing, a beautiful post-80s woman, said that beauty and maintenance are the most important things in her life.
After hearing about snail cream for beauty, Qingqing had an idea to buy snails and put them directly on her face for beauty treatment. She noticed the results were pretty good, but yesterday, the snails died, which made Qingqing panic -
"How did the snails die? If it was due to poor snail constitution, would there be a problem with their mucus? Would my face then be in trouble? If there was a problem with my skin, did I kill the snails?"
A series of suspicions troubled Qingqing.
An unusual encounter with a pet doctor: a young lady brings snails for autopsy.
More than 10 snails were lined up on the operating table. The snails brought by Qingqing were completely different from what we usually see in the grass. Their shape was similar to a conch, but much larger, as big as a goose egg. The shell was dark brown, and the flesh was snow white.
Of these more than 10 snails, many were either dead or limp, with only a few lively ones left: some snails still had a little breath left, hiding inside their shells, refusing to come out no matter how they were teased; some were already dead, their flesh no longer white, dragging outside the shell, forming a soft pile.
There were also a few live snails adhering to the stainless steel operating table, revealing two antennae, looking around. "These two are ones I just bought. I specially brought them to Dr. Zhang Xu's pet hospital to investigate the cause of death of the snails, allowing a comparison between dead and live snails," Qingqing thoughtfully considered.
Dr. Zhang Xu said that the snails Qingqing used for beauty were White Jade Snails, which can be cooked and eaten. Many young people buy them as pets. Snails are easy to raise, so how could they have died?
Qingqing said she didn't mistreat the snails, she just let them crawl on her face, "for beauty, after a week, they died."
Used French snail cream, she suddenly had an idea
Last month, Qingqing visited her younger sister in France.
Her sister gave her a cosmetic product called snail cream. It is said to be made from snail mucus, which is very beneficial to the skin.
Qingqing tried it a few times and felt it was quite good. But it was too expensive for her to afford.
Back in Hangzhou, Qingqing couldn't stop thinking about the snail cream. Since the snail cream was made from snail mucus, Qingqing decided to try making her own DIY version.
Initially, Qingqing just wanted to try it out. She went to the flower and bird market and bought five White Jade Snails. They weren't expensive, only costing a dozen yuan each.
After buying the snails, she placed them in a fish tank and raised them for two days to clean out the snails' digestive systems.
At first, Qingqing was afraid of allergies, so she used a cotton swab to dip a bit of snail mucus and applied it to her wrist and behind her ear. Fortunately, there was no discomfort.
Later, she placed them on her legs and arms, and the feeling was all pretty good.
However, placing live snails on her face was something Qingqing struggled with.
"I'm not scared. I'm a grown-up, and I shouldn't be afraid of such a small snail. It's just a bit creepy, like 'goosebumps'. "
But for beauty, Qingqing decided to go all out and placed one on her forehead.
The skin on her face is relatively sensitive. As soon as the snail touched her forehead, Qingqing shivered, and the hair on her arms stood up.
Closing her eyes, Qingqing dared not look, gritted her teeth, and endured.
Later, every night before sleeping, Qingqing would do a snail mask. One on her forehead and one on each palm.
After a few days of snail beauty treatments, Qingqing claimed her skin had improved, becoming more hydrated.
Qingqing thought that snails were probably like humans; when humans sweat, snails secrete mucus. Every day, so much "beauty liquid" was secreted, and Qingqing worried the snails might not handle it, causing the mucus to become thin and affecting the beauty effect.
Since snails aren't expensive, Qingqing went back to the flower and bird market and bought another five, marking numbers on their shells. Each evening, she called out numbers, letting the snails take turns working, doing one day and resting one, ensuring the quality of the mucus.
Snails attached to the face suddenly met an untimely end.
Snails generally only eat carrots and vegetable leaves. To reward them, Qingqing specially went to the supermarket to buy vacuum-packed organic vegetables for the snails to eat.
With more snails, Qingqing’s demands increased. On her arms, legs, face, chest, back, neck... wherever the snails could adhere, Qingqing utilized the snail beauty method.
Not only did she use it herself, but she also recommended it to other sisters. However, no one was as bold as her; the sisters always felt uneasy imagining snails crawling on their faces.
Nevertheless, Qingqing continued enthusiastically. She planned to buy dozens more snails and give herself a full-body "snail bath".
However, the other night, when Qingqing took out snail number 7, 8, and 9 from the fish tank and placed them on her face, they barely stuck on for a long time.
Lying in bed, suddenly, three snails fell off. Qingqing picked up the snails and found that the snail's body was slowly retracting into its shell. When she poked its antennae with her finger, there was no response.
Maybe the snails were tired. Qingqing put snails number 7, 8, and 9 back into the fish tank, threw in some chopped carrots, and let snails number 4, 5, and 6 work overtime.
Early the next morning, Qingqing discovered that snails number 7, 8, and 9 had died, which frightened her.
Yesterday, Qingqing demonstrated the snail beauty process to the reporter. "I don't dare to let the snails crawl on my face anymore. Let them crawl on my calf instead." Initially, the snail stayed inside its shell, but once it touched the skin, it gradually became bolder, familiarized itself with the environment, crawled out of the shell, and adhered to Qingqing's calf. Its small antennae gently moved.
"There's a cool sensation on my leg, like applying wind oil and then blowing with a fan, quite comfortable." Qingqing spoke about the feeling of using live snails for beauty with a slight sense of indulgence.
The snail slowly moved on her calf, secreting more and more mucus, which looked like small droplets sticking to her skin. Qingqing spread it with her fingers, "This mucus is similar to silk essence, it seems quite moisturizing," Qingqing explained.
Indeed, there is snail cream abroad, but using live snails directly doesn't work.
Dr. Zhang Xu dissected the snail's corpse. The meat of the dead snail was slightly yellowish-black, and there was a strong odor. After testing, Dr. Zhang Xu preliminarily judged that the snails likely died from alcohol poisoning.
Alcohol poisoning? Qingqing was stunned, "I never gave the snails any alcohol."
Dr. Zhang Xu analyzed that it might be due to residual cosmetics on Qingqing's face, like toner, which contains alcohol. Upon contact, the snails were poisoned.
The reporter checked online and found that there is indeed a cosmetic product called snail cream, available for purchase on Taobao. The more expensive ones cost over 300 yuan, while the cheaper ones cost over 100 yuan. Compared to high-end cosmetics, this price isn't too expensive. It is said to help with skin regeneration and repair, such as removing scars after a wound has scabbed over.
However, snail cream extracts mucus from the snail's body, then combines it with technological processes to process it into snail cream. Foreign snail cream cosmetic companies kill countless snails each year, trading the lives of snails for human beauty, which has been opposed by many environmental organizations in Europe.
The reporter consulted experts in dermatology at the Third Municipal Hospital. The doctors found this situation amusing, saying that girls today will think of all sorts of strange ideas for the sake of beauty.
The doctors also confirmed that the mucus inside snails does indeed have certain beautifying effects. However, placing snails directly on the skin is not feasible. Firstly, it may lead to skin allergies, and secondly, live snails carry parasites.
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