This snail gel has a pretty huge following, for good reason: It’s inexpensive, mimics the redness-reducing properties of aloe vera, and it works well as an occlusive or moisturizer. Unfortunately, my acne-prone skin does not love this product.

This comes in a cute, pink plastic bottle — small, but, a little squeeze of this colorless, odorless gel-cream goes a long way. From personal experience, this product is great to travel with — it’s small enough to chuck in your bag without taking too much room, and could also, hypothetically, replace a larger-sized occlusive or moisturizer product in your routine while you’re out of the house.

I used this, typically, as the last step in my routine — primarily when my heavier oils or occlusives weren’t in reach. I’ve used it as just a moisturizer as well, and put other products over it. However, this product is NOT heavy. You should absolutely stack other products with it because it’s not super moisturizing on it’s own. My word of caution is that it does still have a slightly longer dry time and it’s a bit tacky even after drying, so try to leave some time in between adding the other layer.

As for overall effect… I stand by what I wrote in the first paragraph, it works “well”, but it’s not GREAT. It’s definitely better to use it than to not use anything at all. My skin felt some relief immediately after use, and it might have retained a bit of moisture overnight. But I wasn’t wowed by the effects over a long period of time.

While I feel like this made my overall skin condition, at minimum, “ok”, I think it was also causing break outs. Nothing major, but after using the product for 3 days in a row, I noticed an increase in whiteheads and pore congestion. Like anything else, there could have been a myriad of other factors influencing this, but all other products remaining the same in my routine and the snail gel being the addition, I would suspect the snail gel. I had a similar reaction to CosRX’s snail gel. Is there such thing as being sensitive to snail secretion filtrate? Or perhaps it’s the olive oil. At any rate, there’s no drying alcohol in this product, so I know it’s not that.

For sensitive skin users, I ultimately wouldn’t recommend this, but only due to my own reaction. It may be worth a shot regardless, because it is a decent, portable “extra layer” you can add in. It’s also pretty cheap ($6, although it looks like Mizon’s either raised the price or price gouging is in play. I see it for $10 or $11 today!). I might be doomed to never experiencing the skin benefits of… a snail. Although if I’m being honest, I never envisioned putting anything related to a snail on my face until last year, so I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing… ~A

Still want to give this snail gel a shot? Click here: https://amzn.to/2JRDzx8

Perceived efficacy: 2.5/5

Longevity: 3.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 2/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: No