I did a thing
Which actually occured months beforehand. Back in April on my first New York excursion I was in Skylake which is the TINIEST store in any of the Korea towns. Now I ALWAYS stop by, since they carry more than just Skylake, they often carry some brands that are more popular in Korea like It’s Skin. There they had the Prestige Snail cream on sale for like 50 dollars I think. I tried it on my hand and it felt nice buuuuut I was in love with the packaging.
GAD just look at them @_@
Being a Global Interpark stalker I saw these on Sale
The Snail was $32 dollars and the Ginseng was only 5 dollars more, with free shipping
I think only my close friends could understand what type of psychological torment I was putting myself through. I always have enough creams to use, but this packaging tho. Omg.
IT’S HUGE. IT’S HEAVY. IT’S ACRYLIC.
I LIVE FOR PACKAGING. Anyone who visits my home can see that I will keep jars and bottles if their packing is unique… luxe and heavy. I don’t even feel the need to re-porpoise them most of the time. They’re just like, vanity art or in my case, shelf art.
So I finally bit the bullet and ordered both because I had a stress dream that they sold out on global interpark which meant I would have to pay more either through some other online retailer or trudging may way back up to NYC.
So let’s get into the review & comparison
What was the plan
I like to test creams if they have brightening claims for a month, but since these are from the same brand and line I figure this is going to be sufficient to use each one for two weeks straight. And since I use a cream in the AM/PM I’d say I had a pretty good sense of how each cream functions
- Weeks 1 & 2 use the white snail cream
- Weeks 3 & 4 use the red ginseng snail cream
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- Obligatory Packaging gallery
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- The Instructions in English are on the sides of the boxes
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- The claims are pretty much the same
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- While the instructions and descriptions in Korean are on the back
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- I noticed the ingredient order was different
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- But there is still quite a bit of overlap between the two products
Product Claims (from the boxes)
- Creme D’Escargot – you get 60ml
- Main points
- Firming Care Program
- Brightens & Wrinkle Care Program
- Soothing Care Program
- Smooth & Moisturizing Care Program
- Containing snail secretion filtrate (mucin) 21% is good skin management system and it gives moisture and soothing effect
- Prestige D’Escargot is the premium line and provides multi-solutins for beautiful skin by containing snail secretion filtrate (mucin) as a main ingredient. Prestige Creme D’Escargot makes your skin elastic, soft and healthy
- Main points
- Creme Ginseng D’Escargot you get 60ml
- Main points
- Firming Care Program
- Brightens & Wrinkle Care Program
- Soothing Care Program
- Smooth & Moisturizing Care Program
- Containing snail secretion filtrate (mucin) 21% is good skin management system and it gives moisture and soothing effect. Panax ginseng root extract makes its own natural skin healthy
- Prestige Ginseng D’Escargot is the premium line and provides multi-solutions for beautiful skin by containing snail secretion filtrate “mucin” and panax ginseng root extract as main ingredients. Prestige Creme Ginseng D’Escargot provides benefits of skincare with a nutrition formula of rich texture while giving intensive moisturizing effect
- Main points
Let this Giant Ruby provide you with mositure
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- A Pearl encased within a giant diamond
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- spatula included
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- This spatula doesn’t actually feel luxe. I was disappointed
Ingredients
I entered both ingredient lists from the boxes into CosDNA since I noticed there were some order differences in the submissions.
It’s Skin Prestige D’Escargot manufactured 01/14/2016
| Ingredient | Function | Acne | Irritant | Safety  |
| Water ▼ | ‧Solvent |
1
|
||
| Snail Secretion Filtrate ▼ |
1
|
|||
| Phenyl Trimethicone ▼ | ‧Antistatic |
1
|
||
| Sodium Hyaluronate ▼ | ‧Moisturizer | 0 | 0 |
1
|
| Dimethicone ▼ | ‧Emollient | 1 | 0 |
1
|
| Glycereth-26 ▼ | ‧Moisturizer |
1
|
||
| Cetearyl Alcohol ▼ | ‧Surfactant ‧Viscosity Control ‧Emulsifier |
2 | 2 |
1
|
| Butyrospermum Parkii ▼ | ‧Moisturizer ‧Emollient |
1
|
||
| Arbutin ▼ | ‧Whitening |
1
|
||
| Hydrogenated polyisobutene ▼ | ‧Emollient |
1
|
||
| Cetearyl Glucoside ▼ | ‧Viscosity Control ‧Moisturizer ‧Emulsifier |
1
|
||
| PEG-100 Stearate ▼ | ‧Surfactant | 1 | 0 |
3
|
| Tocopheryl Acetate ▼ | ‧Moisturizer ‧Antioxidant |
0 | 0 |
3
|
| Sodium Polyacrylate ▼ | ‧Viscosity Control |
3
|
||
| Betula Alba Bark Extract ▼ | ‧Fragrance |
2
|
||
| Tricholoma Matsutake Extract ▼ | ‧Plant extract |
1
|
||
| Ethylhexyl stearate ▼ | ‧Emollient |
1
|
||
| Opuntia Tuna Fruit Extract ▼ |
1
|
|||
| Carbomer ▼ | ‧Viscosity Control | 0 | 1 |
1
|
| Porphyra Yezoensis Extract ▼ |
1
|
|||
| Malt Extract ▼ |
1
|
|||
| Adenosine ▼ |
1
|
|||
| Caramel ▼ | ‧Pigment |
1
|
||
| BHT ▼ | ‧Preservative |
6
|
||
| Disodium EDTA ▼ |
1
|
|||
| Trideceth-6 ▼ | ‧Surfactant ‧Emulsifier |
1
|
||
| Yellow 5 ▼ | ‧Pigment |
3
|
||
| Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 ▼ | ‧Moisturizer |
1
|
||
| Chlorphenesin ▼ | ‧Preservative |
2
|
||
| Pseudoalteromonas Ferment Extract ▼ | ‧Moisturizer |
1
|
Figure I could break up the spreadsheets with some product butts
It’s Skin Prestige Creme Ginseng D’Escargot manufactured 02/17/2016
| Ingredient | Function | Acne | Irritant | Safety |
| Panax Ginseng Root Extract | ‧Emollient ‧Plant extract |
1
|
||
| Snail Secretion Filtrate |
1
|
|||
| Water | ‧Solvent |
1
|
||
| Glycerin | ‧Solvent ‧Moisturizer |
0 | 0 |
2
|
| Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride | ‧Fragrance |
1
|
||
| Pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate | ‧Surfactant ‧Emollient ‧Emulsifier |
1
|
||
| Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil | ‧Moisturizer ‧Emollient |
1
|
||
| Butyrospermum Parkii | ‧Moisturizer ‧Emollient |
1
|
||
| Butylene Glycol | ‧Solvent ‧Moisturizer |
1 | 0 |
1
|
| Cetearyl Alcohol | ‧Surfactant ‧Viscosity Control ‧Emulsifier |
2 | 2 |
1
|
| Cetyl palmitate | ‧Emollient |
1
|
||
| Dimethicone | ‧Emollient | 1 | 0 |
1
|
| Niacinamide |
1
|
|||
| Octyldodecanol | ‧Solvent ‧Fragrance ‧Emulsifier |
1
|
||
| Glyceryl Stearate | ‧Emollient ‧Emulsifier |
|||
| PEG-100 Stearate | ‧Surfactant | 1 | 0 |
3
|
| Sodium Hyaluronate | ‧Moisturizer | 0 | 0 |
1
|
| Betaine | ‧Viscosity Control ‧Antistatic ‧Moisturizer |
1
|
||
| Cetearyl Glucoside | ‧Viscosity Control ‧Moisturizer ‧Emulsifier |
1
|
||
| Tricholoma Matsutake Extract | ‧Plant extract |
1
|
||
| Ethyl Hexanediol | ‧Solvent ‧Fragrance |
3
|
||
| Polyacrylate-13 |
2
|
|||
| Opuntia tuna | ||||
| Fragrance | ‧Fragrance |
1
~
4
|
||
| Malt Extract |
1
|
|||
| Polyisobutene | ‧Viscosity Control |
1
|
||
| Cetyl Alcohol | ‧Surfactant ‧Viscosity Control ‧Emollient |
2 | 2 |
1
|
| Glyceryl caprylate | ‧Emollient ‧Emulsifier |
1
|
||
| Xanthan Gum | ‧Viscosity Control |
1
|
||
| Porphyra Yezoensis Extract |
1
|
|||
| Tocopheryl Acetate | ‧Moisturizer ‧Antioxidant |
0 | 0 |
3
|
| Caramel | ‧Pigment |
1
|
||
| Adenosine |
1
|
|||
| Polysorbate 20 | ‧Surfactant ‧Emulsifier |
0 | 0 |
3
|
| BHT | ‧Preservative |
6
|
||
| Disodium EDTA |
1
|
|||
| Red 33 | ‧Pigment | 1 | 0 |
2
|
| Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 | ‧Moisturizer |
1
|
||
| Pseudoalteromonas Ferment Extract | ‧Moisturizer |
1
|
moar butts
And when we compare the two
| Crème D’Escargot | Crème Ginseng D’Escargot |
| Water | panax ginseng root extract |
| Snail Secretion Filtrate | snail secretion filtrate |
| Phenyl Trimethicone | water |
| Sodium Hyaluronate | glycerin |
| Dimethicone | caprylic/capric triglyceride |
| Glycereth-26 | pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate |
| Cetearyl Alcohol | limnanthesalbaseedoil |
| Butyrospermum parkii | butyrospermum parkii |
| arbutin | butylene glycol |
| hydrogenated polyisobutene | cetearyl alcohol |
| cetearyl glucoside | cetyl palmitate |
| PEG-100 Stearate | dimethicone |
| Tocopheryl Acetate | niacinamide |
| Sodium polyacrylate | octyldodecanol |
| Betula Alba Bark Extract | glyceryl stearate |
| Tricholoma matsutake extract | PEG-100 stearate |
| ethylhexyl stearate | sodium hyaluronate |
| opuntia tuna fruit extract | betaine |
| carbomer | cetearyl glucoside |
| porphyra yezoensis extract | tricholoma matsutake extract |
| malt extract | ethyl hexanediol |
| adenosine | polyacrylate-13 |
| caramel | optuntia tuna fruit extract |
| bht | fragrance |
| disodium edta | malt extract |
| trideceth-6 | polyisobutene |
| yellow 5 | cetyl alcohol |
| acetyl hexapeptide-8 | glyceryl caprylate |
| chlorphenesin | xanthan gum |
| pseudoalteromonas ferment extract | porphyra yezoensis extract |
| tocopheryl acetate | |
| caramel | |
| adenosine | |
| polysorbate 20 | |
| bht | |
| disodium edta | |
| red 33 | |
| acetyl hexapeptide-8 | |
| pseudoalteromonas ferment extract |
What did we learn
- There are 19 ingredients that these two creams share
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Water Snail Secretion Filtrate Sodium Hyaluronate Dimethicone Cetearyl Alcohol Butyrospermum parkii cetearyl glucoside PEG-100 Stearate Tocopheryl Acetate Tricholoma matsutake extract opuntia tuna fruit extract porphyra yezoensis extract malt extract adenosine caramel bht disodium edta acetyl hexapeptide-8 Pseudoalteromonas Ferment extract
- The Snail Cream has 30 total ingredients
- These are the ingredients unique to it (11 total)
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Phenyl Trimethicone Glycereth-26 arbutin hydrogenated polyisobutene Sodium polyacrylate Betula Alba Bark Extract ethylhexyl stearate carbomer trideceth-6 yellow 5 chlorphenesin
- The Ginseng Snail Cream has 39 total ingredients
- These are the ingredients unique to it (20 total)
-
panax ginseng root extract glycerin caprylic/capric triglyceride pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate limnanthes alba seed oil butylene glycol cetyl palmitate niacinamide octyldodecanol glyceryl stearate betaine ethyl hexanediol polyacrylate-13 fragrance polyisobutene cetyl alcohol glyceryl caprylate xanthan gum polysorbate 20 red 33
If we ignore all the basic moisturizers/ingredients and focus on the extracts or what I see most people look to for brightening and other benefits on top of hydration we are left with:
- Snail Cream Star/Unique Ingredients
- Arbutin – brightening
- Betula alba bark extract – birch extract used topically as an anti-inflammatory
- Snail Ginseng Cream Star/Unique Ingredients
- Panax Ginseng Root Extract – for skin nutrition, I haven’t looked into research for it’s benefits skincare-wise but I eat it in food and teas since I’m Korean
- Limnanthes alba seed oil – meadowform seed oil, I think it’s mostly for skin conditioning
- Niacinamide – a B vitamin known to brighten
Not that different right? That is why I was okay testing these for only two weeks apiece since they’re formula isn’t that wildly different but there are some functional differences
I’ll be noting the the differences & similarities in the picture captions
Ok so there is a color difference
Scent: They both have a similar scent, that is kind of like Pantene/Finesse Shampoo/Conditioner Scent. Essentially a soft floral perfume. I will say that the white one is more scented than the red one.
For snail creams these are very very not snaily. Most snail creams are stringy. These are more buttery. Like butter made from a cow’s milk that’s left at room temperature aka 25 degrees Celsius
They both apply the same
As you spread them out they both become more slippery/watery
The finishes I find a little different. I feel like the ginseng cream leaves a slightly more oily finish. Not super slippery, but very slightly tacky. The more you apply of each the more occlusive they become
TLDR
Before I give my final review
My skin type
- Dry Skin
- Non- Sensitive (literally have not reacted to hundreds of products over the course of my lifetime)
- Concerns
- blackheads around the chin and on nose
- The occasional pimple
- inhibiting wrinkle formation
- Having containers that match my swagger
***
- Main differences
- The snail cream and and ginseng cream have basically the same generic shampoo/conditioner scent but the snail cream is more fragranced
- They both have a similar buttery texture but the ginseng cream leaves a tackier finish
- I found the snail cream to hydrate just a touch better than the ginseng cream
- Did they live up to their claims?
- Firming Care Program
- I didn’t notice any additional firming
- Brightens & Wrinkle Care Program
- I didn’t notice any additional brightening and I don’t have wrinkles
- Soothing Care Program
- I had nothing to smooth
- Smooth & Moisturizing Care Program
- Still nothing to smooth, but I would say they’re both moisturizing
- Firming Care Program
- Do they live up to their packaging?
- I don’t think so. I didn’t find them any extra special or miss them after I switched to other moisturizers. They’re better than drug store creams and have a nice buttery texture but I don’t find them any more magical than other 20 dollar creams that I use.
- Ragrets?
- None. I bought these mostly for the packaging. #noragretshere Well, I do regret that the ginseng one doesn’t smell like ginseng.
- Which one do I like better?
- I prefer the plain snail. I know know, I’m losing Korean points here. It’s mostly the finish and that it just feels a tad more hydrating than the ginseng version.
So if you’re interested in purchasing these, you can sometimes find them in stores but they’ll usually run you somewhere around 50-80 dollars and you’ll have to go to a Korean market. The cheapest way to get this by ordering from Korea.
- As mentioned before I ordered mine via Global interpark, they are a little confusing/tedius since you order one item at a time. The shipping was also quite slow it took me about 3 weeks to get the one cream and 4 weeks to get the other (even though I ordered them on the same day) the tracking was also inconsistent, but once it hit the states things seemed to catch up
- The white cream was 32 and the red cream was 37
- The next shop which I have ordered from and they also offer free shipping is bbcosmetic.com the creams are a little bit more, but I have an 8% discount code here Y0T764O6CM you can use to bring the price down a few bucks aaand you can use this code as many times as you like (I don’t get money if you use this code). Also their shipping to the US is pretty fast my last order only took 4 days.
- The white cream is 40 and the red cream is 43 pre-discount
Even though I didn’t find these to be my skincare holy grail, maybe you will. Everyone has different skin and who knows, this could give you some boosted swagger. At least you’ll have a beautiful jar to show off
Cheers
Containers to match your swagger should be at the top of everyone’s product wish list! And they are super pretty, even if the insides didn’t match. At least you’ll be able to repurpose the containers into something useful.