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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.


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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

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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