BATTLE OF THE SNAILS: COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence VS MIZON Snail Recovery Gel Cream

April 7, 2015

Hey There!


I have been incredibly busy with working – I got a bullshit part time job, yaaay! Moneyyyy! It’s just cashier stuff at the supermarket but my colleagues are nice and it’s actually pretty fun. I only work 6-10hrs a week so I still have enough time to graduate this year – however, I did work 11hrs/day for a few days and helped out at my boyfriend’s parents business. They sell gourmet fish and meat so when Easter approached it was SUPER busy all day long and I almost collapsed into my bed immediately because I was so incredibly tired. Money though! ๐Ÿ˜€

Today is a serious topic – BATTLE OF THE SNAILS! I had the idea for this post in my mind for the longest time, but I needed to test out the COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence long enough in order to be able to fairly compare it to the Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream (as fairly as you can compare it as both products are not exactly in the same product category.)


The lovely warrior snail was created by Ammonite-Amy!
Are you ready for battle? Let’s get started!

Why snails? 
Being a not-so-common skincare ingredient from a Western point of view, snail secretion filtrate is an ingredient with great healing powers. In contrast to the widely known „snail slime“ a snail leaves behind when moving, the snail mucin is produced  by the snail when feeling attacked to speed up the healing of wounds. Therefore, it is widely used in acne or anti-ageing products because it helps heal redness and acne scars as well as plumping up fine lines.

               COSRX ADVANCED SNAIL 96 MUCIN POWER ESSENCE (100ml)               

(I did mark ingredients that both formulas have in common in green to make comparison a bit easier and see at which place which ingredient falls in.)



Ingredients:
Snail Secretion Filtrate, Betaine, Butylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Arginine, Allantoin, Ethyl Hexanediol, Sodium Polyacrylate, Carbomer, Phenoxyethanol


The COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence contains -as the name suggest- 96% snail mucin and 11 other ingredients which is stellar in my book – almost only snail secretion filtrate?! Gimme! I was super excited when COSRX came out with this line and purchased it as soon as I had the chance. With 100ml, it is more than double the amount than the Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream, although both are in the same price range (Mizon 6$ for 45ml, COSRX 13-15$ for 100ml). It has a pump which I love and a packaging made out of plastic (not my favorite but at least travel friendly.)

According to cosdna (albeit easily visible from the minimalistic ingredients list) the only low-grade acne trigger in this formula is Butylene Glycol which is present in both formulas and scores a 1 out of 5 as a potential acne trigger.


                              MIZON SNAIL RECOVERY GEL CREAM (45ml)                             

(I unfortunately don’t have my Mizon Snail Gel anymore hence no pictures, I’m sorry :/ )

Ingredients:
Snail Secretion Filtrate, Butylene Glycol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether, Dimethylsilane, Polysorbate2-, Sodium Hyaluronate, Carbomer, Glycosyl Trehalose, Hydrogenated Starch Hydolsyate, Triethanolamine, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Caprylyl Glyocol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Polyacrylate, Centella Asiatica Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Camellias Sinensis Leaf Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera Flower Extract, Betula Platylphylla Japonica Juice, Tropolone, Copper Tripeptide-1, Allantoin, Panthenol, Olea Europaea (olive) Fruit Oil, Helianthus Annuus (sunflower) Seed Oil, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Adenosine, Disodium EDTA


The Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream contains 74% snail mucin and 34 other ingredients. It has some low-grade potential acne triggers in its formula according to cosdna; Triethanol amine and Olea Europaea Fruit Oil (olive oil) both score a 2 out of 5 as a possible acne trigger. It is a light gel-type moisturizer that felt very silicone-y to me when I used it and not moisturizing at all :/ I did use it to treat my acne but I definitely had to pile other things on top as I didn’t find it moisturizing at all.

Sodium Hyaluronate, which is existent in both, is often referred to as Hyaluronic Acid and does a great job as a humectant. Both products have a solid (and similar) formulation though I must say that I would always reach more for the product with a more minimal ingredients list – if you have acne, you can’t be cautious enough for any possible irritants. 

Which brings us to the important part: Which one worked better for me? In terms of formula, I liked both. The light gel-type that is Mizon gets absorbed very fast and works well under make-up. I hated that it didn’t feel moisturizing at all (not even a tiny little bit? The sadness.) If I had to chose, I would prefer the light liquid formula of COSRX though. It’s a bit thicker than water, is easy to spread and feels like love on my skin, It absorbs very fast and I sometimes do a second layer when I feel like it. Both made my face incredibly soft but….. my skin just hated Mizon. So. Much. I broke out in cysts and it did nothing in terms of moisture or acne for me ๐Ÿ™ Which made me super sad because the Mizon Recovery Gel is a steal if your skin loves it. 

With COSRX however, my skin can’t even get enough of this stuff. I use it twice a day for a month now and I’m maybe a quarter or third through the bottle; you don’t need much because of the liquid formula. Also, this product survived my hardest test: After my aesthetician extracted all the crap in my skin it was very sensitive to the touch and inflamed for days. I had no problem using this right after the treatment and it helped calm down the redness – also, I didn’t break out in the month that I used this so I can safely say that this doesn’t break me out at all which makes me so happy ๐Ÿ™‚ 

Final thoughts: In my books, COSRX is the winner by far; Minimal ingredients list, maximum snail mucin content and didn’t break me out.  Mizon is a nice cheap alternative if you’re on a budget and your skin likes it; if you are in need of more hydration however, I would definitely recommend the COSRX – so far not a single of their products have let me down! Seems as if I have a lucky streak with this brand from the start.

Have you tried either Mizon or COSRX or any snail product at all? 
Have a nice week everyone!

Lots of love,

Sam


P.S. I just recorded a haul video and the next post will be the video + post about my updated skincare routine as I got quite some impatient readers requesting those – it’s coming, fear not! ๐Ÿ™‚
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