bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

Foamy slime bubbles on Damien Desrocher’s hand as he lightly rubs one of the thousands of snails he keeps in an enclosure in his backyard.
The 28-year-old French artisan uses the gastropod fluid to make soap bars, which he sells in local markets.
“It’s all in the dexterity of how you tickle,” Desrocher says as he extracts 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.”
A former air force computer technician, Desrocher decided to start farming snails in the northern French town of Wahagnies as a form of “returning to nature”.


“Once you observe and see how snails behave, they’re actually very endearing,” he says. “It’s really an animal that I love.”
He has raised a total of 60,000 snails. As they enter their reproductive season, most are transferred to a larger site, while around 4,000 are kept in an enclosure at his home to harvest the slime.


A single snail will yield about two grams of slime, so he needs around 40 snails to produce 80 grams of slime – enough to manufacture 15 100g soap bars. “We need quite a lot of snails,” he says.
Although quite uncommon in Western cosmetics, snail mucus has become a more common ingredient elsewhere, including in Korean beauty products, noted for its anti-ageing properties.
Desrocher says slime contained molecules of collagen and elastin, which have anti-ageing and skin-healing properties. Snails also naturally use their slime to repair their shells if damaged, he says.

Desrocher says he aims to produce 3,000 snail slime soap bars in his first year of production.


Style Edit: Henry Jacques’ first In All Intimacy collection was inspired by Rafael Nadal and his wife Maria Perello, now artists Heron Preston and Sabrina Albarello are the muses

Style Edit: Reimagining N°5 for the modern Chanel woman – master perfumer Olivier Polge explains the concept behind L’Eau, his latest fragrance, at an event attended by Hong Kong singer Hins Cheung

Why K-beauty tourists are flocking to Seoul’s make-up studios

5 can’t-miss shopping opportunities in Hong Kong this weekend, November 15-17

Beauty

Snail slime soap promoted for its anti-ageing properties – French artisan soap maker hopes to clean up with his magical mollusc mucus

French artisan Damien Desrocher uses snail slime to make soap bars. Photo: Reuters/Ardee Napolitano

French snail grower and soap maker Damien Desrocher opens a snail shelter in Wahagnies, near Lille, France, May 11, 2021. Picture taken May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ardee Napolitano

Bars of snail slime soap, made by French snail grower and soap maker Damien Desrocher, are seen for sale in his shop in Wahagnies, near Lille, France, May 11, 2021. Picture taken May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ardee Napolitano

French snail grower and soap maker Damien Desrocher cuts a block of snail slime soap into portions in his lab in Wahagnies, near Lille, France, May 11, 2021. Picture taken May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Ardee Napolitano

French snail farmer and soap maker Damien Desrocher feeds a snail with a lettuce leaf before extracting slime that he uses to make soap bars. Photo: Reuters/Ardee Napolitano

The Honest Company IPO makes Jessica Alba US$122 million – actress ‘clean beauty’ company sees stock soar 44 per cent on debut

Jessica Alba has made US$122 million after The Honest Company went public. It’s now valued at almost US$2.1 billion. Photo: Bloomberg

Honest Co. brand beauty cleanser and shampoo + body wash arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The Honest Co., co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, has filed to list on the Nasdaq in an initial public offering. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

FILE - Jessica Alba arrives at the 5th annual InStyle Awards on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019, at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Shares of Honest Co., the diaper and baby-wipe seller founded by Alba, soared 44% in their stock market debut, Wednesday, May 5, 2021, valuing the company at nearly $2.1 billion. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Few have seen how Tibetan yak milk soap is made. Here’s a rare look

A worker at Kadhak Organics stamps soap bars with the company’s logo. Photo: Guo Yong

Soap made from yak milk. Photo: Guo Yong

Recycling India’s floral waste: how flowers left as temple offerings are being made into soap, dyes and incense sticks

Flowers sit on and around a Buddhist statue at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. Small companies are recycling some of the flowers left at India’s temples once they die. Photo: Getty Images

Maya Vivek & Minal Dalmia (right) the founders of Holywaste at Hyderabad, Telangana.[FEATURES] Photo / Courtesy of Holywaste

Praveen Chauhan with the dyed clothes at Gaya, Bihar.[FEATURES] Photo / Courtesy of Praveen Chauhan

Nikhil and Preetham Gampa (right) founders of Greenwave in Mumbai, Maharashtra.[FEATURES] Photo / Courtesy of  Greenwave

Vasuki Iyengar (right) founder of Soil and Health  with a family who installed a mesh composter at their house in Bengaluru, Karnataka.[FEATURES] Photo / Courtesy of Vasuki Iyengar

buddhist enlightened footmarks at bodh gaya called chankamana decorated with flowers image is taken at mahabodhi temple bodh gaya bihar india.

Kathy Williams standing in the center and training the women and overseeing the dyeing process at Gaya, Bihar.[FEATURES] Photo / Courtesy of Cathy Williams

Dyed samples of Khadi cloth at Gaya, Bihar.[FEATURES] Photo / Courtesy of Gaya

Karanrastogi at Kanpur, Uttarpradesh.[FEATURES] Photo / Courtesy of Karanrastogi

Lifestyle

Fashion & Beauty


Snail slime contains molecules of collagen and elastin and has skin-healing and hydrating properties
French artisan Damien Desrocher uses it in his soap, and plans on making 3,000 bars in his first year. It’s a slow process, though



Snail slime contains collagen and elastin, and has skin healing and hydrating properties. French artisan Damien Desrocher is using the slime to make soap, and expects to make 3,000 bars in his first year.


Skincare

France

Snail slime soap promoted for its anti-ageing properties – French artisan soap maker hopes to clean up with his magical mollusc mucus

Snail slime contains molecules of collagen and elastin and has skin-healing and hydrating properties French artisan Damien Desrocher uses it in his soap, and plans on making 3,000 bars in his first year. It’s a slow process, though

Snail slime contains molecules of collagen and elastin and has skin-healing and hydrating properties

French artisan Damien Desrocher uses it in his soap, and plans on making 3,000 bars in his first year. It’s a slow process, though