Damien Desrocher used to be an air force computer technician, until he decided to raise snails – 60,000 of them! – for their slime. Since December, the 28-year-old from France uses the snail mucous, which supposedly has anti-aging properties – to make snail slime bars for his new soap business, Les Escargots Desrocher. He extracts the slime by tickling the snails, which he says is harmless.
From Reuters:
"It's all in the dexterity of how you tickle," Desrocher said as he extracted the slime, noting that the process does not kill the animals. "I only touch it with my finger, you see it's not violent, it's simple." …
Although quite uncommon in Western cosmetics, snail mucus has become a more common ingredient elsewhere, including in Korean beauty products, noted for its anti-aging properties.
Desrocher said slime contained molecules of collagen and elastin, which have anti-aging and skin-healing properties. Snails also naturally use their slime to repair their shells if damaged, he said.
Desrocher said he aims to produce 3,000 snail slime soap bars in his first year of production.
