Recently, I’ve been trying out some of my face products on my body.
Cleanser is one thing but using a serum on my body is kind of outrageous…
If you just need light body skin barrier boosting and your skin isn’t too dry, the Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Blue Serum is an excellent choice because it’ll add hydration and all the benefits of centella.
It has a lovely gel texture that’s easy to spread and absorbs almost instantly for my very dry skin.
When I was using it as my sole neck hydrator (plus a lotion), it worked great! My skin was perfectly hydrated.
I also found it helped with irritable skin all over. I initially bought it for my irritable neck, because I found the sunscreen from this line, so calming.
I then started using it on my body because I was noticing that my skin wasn’t feeling quite right. This was a great move: I have never used serum on my body before because, I like said, it seems to be an expensive way to use serum.
However, if your skin needs a boost and you’ve tried a few different body products that aren’t caring for your skin properly, then it’s worth a try!
I was already using a 20% shea butter lotion and it wasn’t always doing the job.
I think my body skin was crying out for something different, something with extra body skin barrier repair ingredients, as well.
We support our barrier on our face properly, so why not our bodies too? Of course, your skin may not be as dry or grumpy as mine – which is great! – but if it is feeling a bit off, a barrier serum might be something to consider.
But if you need extra power and want to deal with creasing skin, the Cosrx Advanced Snail Radiance Dual Essence might be the answer!
Every time I write about snail I note that we love snail here at UNBLEMISH! Cue the overuse of exclamation marks….
Ingredients
Of course you have lovely snail. But there’s a twist! Literally!
The dual chamber pump dispenses two products that you then mix together in your hand: super snaily serum goodness and also a milky serum with oil and 5% niacinamide.
5% niacinamide isn’t a super common concentration. I’ve written about it before so you can read this but the highlights are not only will it be body skin barrier repairing but also acts on fine lines and pigment. Win!
Of course, if you’re just looking for snail, you’ll want the Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence Serum, it’s the most snaily thing I’ve tried.
And don’t get me wrong – this essence is a classic for a very good reason.
However, if you’d like something to boost the well-aging benefits of snail as well as adding an extra moisturising effect, this is the product to try.
The only thing to be aware of is that the oil might make it a challenge for oily skin in the morning – although it may not, not everyone with oily skin has an issue with oil and it could replace a light emulsion, for example. Or just be an evening product!
Texture
Whilst the ingredients are amazing, this might be my favourite bit: it’s snail but elevated and refined.
It’s still snail so it’ll always feel a bit gloopy but it go on super smooth and absorbs perfectly.
It does come with a higher price tag than its sister, the 96 Essence, but that’s for a very good reason because, in my opinion, it’s the superior product in terms of texture and effects.
Experience
I can’t sing the praises of this enough and keep reading for why.
As I said the texture and absorption properties are excellent. Whilst I have no issue with how the OG essence absorbs, this sinks in fully in no time but also allows my next product to glide across my skin.
Like the Skin1004, I’ve seen improvements in my barrier and I’ve noticed less dry, itchy skin – I can use that cheap lotion on my body with no issues.
It’s also extremely good for my chest acne – i just don’t get spots at all when using it. Which is so odd because it may have broken out my face – but I have a cold at the time so it could have been that.
However, my neck needs the most love because I am, as I’ve said plenty times before, cautious about using acids or retinol on my neck, even when I haven’t had problems so my neck deserves this product!
Although speaking of acids, my neck doesn’t react to even daily use of the Isntree Chestnut PHA 5% Clear Cream but I’ll save the details for my upcoming review. I stopped using it to fully test out the snail.
All snail is great for plumping lines, although this essence is in a class of its own.
I immediately saw results with the deep creases I get from sleeping on my side and each day they are less deep. The Cosrx is helping my skin recover and bounce back.
Naturally I’ve been using it as my only hydrating product and my hydration levels are great.
I’d argue the effects on lines are more noticeable and improved more quickly than any other product I’ve tried for my neck and chest. And I think the benefits would stack with other well-aging products that I’ve tried for sensitive skin.
You could built a significant well-aging routine for sensitive if you paired it with the HaruHaru Black Rice range, read more about those products here and here.
I’d argue, though, if you sometimes get acne and you want hydration as well as well-aging and skin brightening, the Cosrx is the best all-rounder. Yep, it brightens too!
Now I just to need to retest it on my face now I don’t have a cold!!
The last thing to mention is that the pump may not be perfect in terms how much it dispenses – there’s less of the creamy serum than the snail serum in my bottle. However, I’ve done a bit of googling and it looks like user error: so just be sure to press the pump down evenly right in the middle.
Final Word
All in all, I’ve always loved snail and this is another product I seriously regret not trying earlier!