A few months ago, I finally reached the Mizon snail care portion of my very long list of skincare products I want to try. I was pretty excited about it since I’ve heard so many good things about the line. I decided to try everything in the range with the exception of the BB Cream. I find the recommended order of usage for this line interesting – it’s very different from the usual convention of starting with the lightest product and building to the heaviest. Instead, Mizon designed the line to begin with the All in One Repair Cream, followed by the Snail Repair Intensive Ampoule, then the Snail Repair Eye Cream, the Snail Repair Gel, the BB Cream and finally, the Snail Repair Hydro Mist. I’ll be reviewing the products in Mizon’s recommended order of use (except for the Snail Repair Hydro Mist, which I’ve already reviewed); today I’ll be talking about Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream.

What is it?

Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream ($19) is a skin cream that claims to help heal damaged skin, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, brighten skin tone, reduce acne marks (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation), moisturize, protect skin from environmental damage, and increase elasticity. That’s a lot of claims for a single product!

I am unsure whether this product is considered a moisturizer or a treatment. I’ll talk more about why I’m confused about it in just a bit, but for now, let’s just say I’m not sure what type of product this is.

Ingredients:

Snail Secretion Filtrate, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Dimethicone, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Butylene Glycol, PEG/PPG-17/6 Coploymer, Polyacrylate-13, Polyisobutene, Polysorbate 20, Sodium Polyacrylate, Caprylyl Glyocol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tropolone, Adenosine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Betula Platyphylla Japonica Juice, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Artemesia Absinthium Extract, Achillea Millefolium Extract, Gentiana Lutea Root Extract, Alcohol, Camellia Sinesis Leaf Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Copper Tripeptide-1, Human Ogliopeptide-1, Propylene Glycol, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Extract, Beta-glucan, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Disodium EDTA

There are lots of plant extracts in this formula, all of which provide either antioxidant or anti-inflammatory benefits, and in some instances, both. The extracts are nice, but here are the active ingredients that really stood out for me:

Snail Secretion Filtrate – It’s worth noting that this product is comprised of a whopping 92% snail mucin. Snail mucin might still be icky to some, but there is no denying the power of the exciting, skin-friendly antioxidants, proteins, elastin, and glycolic acids. It’s also antimicrobial, and in addition to being shown to effectively promote wound healing in a couple of in-vitro studies, there was a newer study released in April of this year that showed snail secretion to be effective when it comes to repairing photodamage. It’s especially helpful for acne, overall skin tone, and reducing acne scarring. (Study: Effects of Snail Secretion Filtrate on Photoaged Skin)

Sodium Hyaluronate – Often referred to as hyaluronic acid, this ingredient is able to hold up 1,000 times its weight in water. This humectant also does a great job attracting and maintaining water in the skin, and promotes blood circulation and nutrient absorption.

Copper Tripeptide-1 – Promotes skin regeneration and possesses antioxidant activity. Copper Trieptide-1 has been proven to increase collagen and elastin production. In one study, it was shown to be more effective than Vitamin C and retinoic acid for skin regeneration. It’s also a potent anti-inflammatory ingredient. There have been numerous studies conducted on the efficacy of this ingredient. For further reading, here’s a great summary of the anti-aging benefits of Copper Tripeptide from the Journal of Aging Research & Clinical Practice (PDF).

Human Ogliopeptide-1 – Often called EGF (an acronym for Epidermal Growth Factor) in skincare products, Ogliopeptides are molecules that are used in medicine to help treat wounds and burns, assisting in the regrowth of skin. They work by increasing cell growth, and in addition to helping with cell and blood vessel growth, they also play a role in collagen and elastin production. I had a hard time locating any studies that are specifically focused on Ogliopeptide-1 (that doesn’t mean they don’t exist – it just means I couldn’t find one), but this is a very interesting study concerning the efficacy of Ogliopeptide-10 (PDF), which showed it to effectively stimulate collagen production without any serious side effects.

Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 – This is an especially interesting ingredient – you might already be familiar with it under its occasional trade name, Matrixyl. Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 is a cell-communicating, chain protein that has been scientifically proven to stimulate the production of both collagen and elastin. There is even one study that concluded Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 was just as effective as retinol for repairing UV damaged skin. For more information, check out this 2005 study: Topical Palmitoyl Pentapeptide Provides Improvement in Photoaged Human Facial Skin

According to COSDNA, this ingredient list does have a few potential acne triggers. Obviously Cetearyl Alcohol is one, which ranks a 4 out 5 as a potential acne trigger and a 3 out of 5 as a potential irritant. The other red flag is the Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, which ranks a 3 out of 5 as a potential acne trigger.

Performance

Packaging

Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream comes packaged in a tub. The tub is made of thick, sturdy plastic that has the look of amber glass.

Smell

There is no added fragrance in this formula, so this cream doesn’t smell like much of anything.

Application

Mizon’s suggested use for this is to apply it as the first step in your skincare routine on a cleaned face, which is how I used it. I used a generous pearl sized amount to cover my whole face. Applying this product first seems counterintuitive, since I would normally apply my products in order from the lightest consistency to heaviest, but I trust Mizon’s instruction.

The All in One Snail Repair Cream absorbs quickly – within a couple minutes or so of application. I expected this product to feel like a moisturizer, but I was surprised to find that it really doesn’t behave like one at all. My skin did not feel especially hydrated with this product, and on it’s own, it certainly wouldn’t be enough to moisturize my dry skin type. This leads to believe that even though it’s a cream, it should be thought of as more of a treatment than a moisturizer. I find this confusing because I generally associate the word “cream” with moisturizer, and also because of the inclusion of the phrase “All in One” in the product name.

To me, “All in One” indicates that this product is meant to take the place of multiple products in a skincare routine, but the fact that it isn’t moisturizing, and that it’s only the first step in a multiple product skincare line suggests otherwise.

Results

I used Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream for a nearly 2 months. For most of that time, I used it in conjunction with the rest of the Mizon snail repair line, and I found that even with the rest of the products, I needed additional moisture for my skin. I even tried doubling up on the amount of Snail Repair Cream I was using to see if that would moisturize better, but it didn’t. Eventually, I began adding additional moisture in the form of aloe mixed with Baobob Oil just after applying the Snail Repair Ampoule, which did the job perfectly. I think someone looking specifically for a snail-based moisturizer would be disappointed in the All in One Snail Repair Cream’s lack of moisturizing properties. It could, perhaps, be enough for someone who has very oily skin, but even then, I would worry that the lack of moisture would further cause the skin to overproduce sebum.

As a treatment, however, I did see some positive results. My skin felt and looked smoother after just a couple of days of use, and those effects continued throughout the entire testing period. I don’t really have a lot of wrinkles or fine lines, but I noticed a small improvement in the slight smile lines in my upper cheek area. I imagine this was probably a result of the subtle skin-plumping effect I was getting from the hyaluronic acid content. The All in One Snail Repair Cream also seemed to help accelerate the lightening of my post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation marks a bit. I have used other products that did the job better, but this cream is still a notable performer.

The Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream did not break me out, but when my monthly hormonal acne flare-ups came along, it didn’t do a lot to stop it. To be fair, nothing really does (not even my prescription retinoid) – my hormonal breakouts are brutal! I also had a pretty gross cystic breakout from a reaction to a different product I was testing at one point, and the All in One Cream didn’t do much for that either. However, it did not make it worse, which is worth something, I suppose. There are only a couple of products I’ve ever tried that help with those reactive breakouts; unfortunately, this one was not one of them.

Overall, I thought the Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream was okay. The lack of moisture was a turn-off for me, but if I disregard that aspect and think of this more of treatment, it’s an alright performer. I like that it wasn’t irritating, and that the active ingredients in this formula have a lot of anti-aging potential. As mentioned previously, someone with extremely oily skin might appreciate this product more, but as for me – I just need more.

Pros:

+ Contains a nice array of proven anti-aging ingredients

+ Absorbs quickly, non-greasy

+ Made my skin appear smoother

+ Somewhat brightening

+ Helped with post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation marks

+ Didn’t have any positive or negative effect on active acne

Cons:

– Not moisturizing

– Didn’t have any positive or negative effect on active acne

– Didn’t brighten as much as other products with similar claims I’ve tried at this price point

Skin & Tonics Rating:

Performance: 3/5 – Okay anti-aging effects in terms of making skin feel smoother and firmer, but it’s lack of moisturizing properties was disappointing.

Quality: 4/5 – Nice, solid packaging. Ingredient list includes many great anti-aging actives, as well as a couple of potential acne triggers.

Value: 4/5 – You get a lot of product for the money, and a little goes a long way.

Overall: 3.7/5

Where to Buy

I bought mine from Ruby Ruby Shop on eBay for $18 plus free shipping. Mizon All in One Snail Repair Cream is also available from the following Skin & Tonics approved sellers:

W2Beauty – ($20 + free shipping, get a $5 voucher by entering my sponsor code at sign-up: 025605)

F2Plus1 (eBay Seller, $19 + $2.50 shipping)

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