COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence (Review)

Why only two weeks? Because sensitive skin.

This entry is long over due, as I've received this along my other iHerb purchase in November of 2017. iHerb was having a Korean beauty sale, if I remember correct it was a 15% discount, so I got this for SGD17.35 instead of the usual SGD20.41 (it's now a little more expensive at SGD25 .43 though, for reasons unknown to me). It's a good deal!

I wanted to give this product a try because I read on reddit how it helped soothe redness in other users' skin. I have plenty of redness on my face, in fact, my entire face is red, except my nose. If this could bring down the redness, it'd be worth a try.




This snail mucin essence comes in a plastic pump bottle, very much different from the Mizon AIO Snail Repair Cream, which comes in a glass container. Price wise, after the discount, the COSRX is a little more affordable ($17+ vs $21+). Also, pump bottles are slightly more hygienic as there is no direct contact with the product within the bottle.



The official description of the product:

Formulated with 96% Snail Secretion Filtrate (Mucin), this essence protects the skin from moisture loss while keeping the skin texture smooth and healthy.

Compared to Mizon AIO which has 92% mucin, the COSRX contains a little bit more of that slimy goodness. Also, it contains lesser ingredients, which I thought would be a plus for my sensitive skin.



The pump is easy to use, but deposits a little too little product in one pump. Is it because I have a big face, that's why I require more product?



On the bottle, there's only Korean description. For English description, refer to the outer packaging (which I've thrown out before taking a photo).



This is how much one pump gives me. One tiny splooch. I need 2 pumps to comfortably cover my entire face and neck. It has a watery consistency, yet still a little viscous and slimy. I feel this is more slimy than Mizon's AIO. Then again, the COSRX is a in liquid form, while the AIO is in a gel form.

It spreads very easily and is absorbed almost instantly. It has no emollients as far as I can feel, because if i do not top up my normal face cream quick enough, my skin feels tight and taut again. Although it has sodium hyaluronate in the formula, that stuff alone is insufficient for my parched skin.

The COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence does an amazing job at giving my skin a surge of moisture, but doesn't nothing to keep it that way. With that said, it's meant as an essence that boosts the hydration of your skin when coupled with your other face creams. 

I've only tried it for 2 weeks because it started stinging my face. What I did not know is that whenever I clean my face in the shower, I create a lot of micro abrasions that I can't see with my eyes (I have a lot of dry flakes that I try to exfoliate while in the shower). While the product felt great on my skin the first week, it slowly began to sting starting from the second week.

:( This is a no for my sensitive skin. I have no idea what's going on with my face right now. I can only describe it as dry, red, and flaky. I do not have any before and after images, but if there were, it'd look a bit better at the end of the first week, then a little worse at the end of the 2nd week because it stung my face.

On the iHerb page, there is a list of warnings, one of which states

Do not use on damaged or broken skin

So.. That's me! I've since passed this on to my brother since he has dry skin, but his skin ain't broken like mine! But he didn't use it consistently enough for me to tell you it made a huge improvement to his dry and oily skin.

Should you try this? If you have pretty normal skin that needs a little boost of moisture, have tried other snail products before and like its effects, and if iHerb is running another promotion on Korean beauty, then yes you should! Otherwise, maybe you could skip this. No one really needs a 10 step skin care routine, for reals. Unless you have too much time on your hand, or too much money to spend?

Unrelated Note

Thanks for staying with me after almost 2 months of inactivity on this blog. I went back to HK in December to visit my family, I did not bring my laptop back consciously because I just wanted to have something like a digital detox. After I got back, I was busy with other stuff. Plus, I haven't been using much new stuff in my skin care so I have nothing to talk about. 

Also, photobucket (the photo hosting service I've been using forever) recently axed their old paid plans, so I'm left stranded in an awkward situation where if I do not pay their new plan price (USD599 a year), I can no longer host my images using photobucket. This just paralyzed me because it's like being held hostage. All of the past entries are built from photos hosted on photobucket. Heck, even parts of my blog skin are kept visible because I hosted on photobucket. Till now, I still do not dare to take a look at the plight of my blog. I would hate to see all the photos unavailable. I hate knowing it will take a tremendous amount of work to relocate all my photos, and then to relink every single one of them. FML. I'm just paralyzed by the amount of work it'd take to fix this silly issue, and I have yet to think of a better idea yet. So, in the mean time I'll just look forward and make sure I host my new images elsewhere. I don't even make 599 a year from the ads displayed on my blog, and to pay such a huge amount for a hobby blog just doesn't make sense to me. 

With that out of the way, I have been trying new skin care products for the past 2 months and I think I have something to write about soon! 

Once again, thank you so much for reading.

Karman.