Inside Thailand's Snail Spa where gastropods 'massage' your 直面する with their mucus in $30 acne-fighting facial

  • The 45-minute facial at Chiang Mai's Snail Spa sees six of the mollusks placed on the 顧客's 直面する
  • The 治療 is not painful, the reviewer 述べるing a 'balmy coolness'. The snails took a particular liking to his nose as they are fond of climbing?

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

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The last time I 遭遇（する）d escargots they were served up by a French waiter, sizzling in garlic and herb butter. Now, one is slithering up the 橋（渡しをする） of my nose while five others are 存在 stuck の上に other parts of my 直面する by a Thai beautician, all secreting snail わずかな／ほっそりした to hopefully smooth out some wrinkles and さもなければ give me a younger-than-my-age look.

That this 最新の 新規加入 to the 全世界の beauty and wellness craze ― snail facials ― should surface in the hills of northern Thailand is only natural. This Southeast Asian country 階級s の中で the world's 最高の，を越す spa 目的地s, with massage 治療s of every description 申し込む／申し出d around just about every corner. Other members of the animal kingdom are also enlisted, 含むing fish at some 4,000 pedicure spas.

単に another marketing 策略 or an 効果的な way to plump up 肌 in need of 修理 or rejuvenation? 専門家 opinions 異なる. The two young Thai women reclining next to me at Chiang Mai's Snail Spa sang the 賞賛するs of helix aspera muller glycoconjugates, snail mucus for short.

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Escargot-no! A customer at the Snail Spa in Chiang Mai, Thailand, endures its signature facial in which the gastropods slither over one's face

Escargot-no! A 顧客 at the Snail Spa in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 耐えるs its si gnature facial in which the gastropods slither over one's 直面する

A beauty high? The snails took a particular liking to the reviewer's nose since they are fond of climbing

A beauty high? The snails took a particular liking to the reviewer's nose since they are fond of climbing

And when I returned home, my wife 述べるd my 直面する as 'different,' but 拒絶する／低下するd to go into 詳細（に述べる）.

適切な, given the French passion for these gastropods, the spa was started last year by two Frenchmen who had 輸入するd 100 of them from home. The 植民地 now 誇るs more than 30,000, munching on chemically 解放する／自由な carrots, cabbage and aloe on a certified 有機の farm.

'We take care of the snails as if they were our family, our babies. You can see they look very good,' says Luc Champeyroux, one of the partners, gently 適用するing one to his forearm. He does 自白する to eating escargots ('but not 地雷'), 計画（する）s to 産む／飼育する some for the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and is 現在／一般に 実験ing to produce 'the perfect snail caviar.'

A chosen few get plucked from the farm for 義務 at the spa, where I 選ぶd for the 45-minute Snail Spa Celebrity Course. For $30, it's a 取引 compared to the $200 顧客s must 爆撃する out at Tokyo's Ci:z.Labo, a beauty salon where snail massage made its debut in 2013. Spas have also opened in 中国 and London, and the French 二人組 are 拡大するing to Bangkok n ext month.

Given its novelty, Chiang Mai public health 視察官s last month descended on the spa to 決定する whether the 治療 was 安全な and if 輸入するd snails ― 公式に 分類するd as '外国人 creatures' ― might 証明する harmful to 地元の 種類. Results of the 調査 have not yet been 解放（する）d.

Budget beauty: A 45-minute facial at the Snail Spa costs $30 - a bargain compared to the $200 customers must shell out at Tokyo's Ci:z.Labo, a beauty salon where snail massage made its debut in 2013

予算 beauty: A 45-minute facial at the Snail Spa costs $30 - a 取引 compared to the $200 顧客s must 爆撃する out at Tokyo's Ci:z.Labo, a beauty salon where snail massage made its debut in 2013

Tried and tested: While the facials are new, the use of snail mucus is said to date back to ancient Greece, when Hippocrates reportedly crushed snails and sour milk as a cure for skin inflammations

Tried and 実験（する）d: While the facials are new, the use of snail mucus is said to date 支援する to 古代の Greece, when Hippocrates 報道によれば 鎮圧するd snails and sour milk as a cure for 肌 inflammations

While the facials are new, concoctions made from snail mucus are said to date 支援する to 古代の Greece, when the 広大な／多数の／重要な 内科医 Hippocrates 報道によれば 鎮圧するd snails and sour mi lk as a cure for 肌 inflammations. In 最近の times, the French have turned this essence of escargot into assorted creams and lotions.

The fluid, exuded by snails when under 強調する／ストレス, is known to 含む／封じ込める 有益な nutrients and antioxidants, but Bangkok-based Dr. Dissapong Panithaporn and other dermatologists say that there has been no 重要な 科学の 研究 on how these 現実に work when 適用するd to the 肌.

Champeyroux, a 経営者／支配人 in フラン's 核の 力／強力にする 部門 before 落ちるing in love with Chiang Mai some years ago, says his all-natural line of snail 製品s, Coquille, 行為／法令／行動するs against 燃やすs, acne, stretch 示すs, scars and 高齢化. The two women next to me concurred.

Taksaphan na Pohn, a 22-year-old 最近の university 卒業生（する）, said she had earlier tried レーザー and other techno-治療s but after some 研究 decided that 'natural therapy' was better. She said snails helped （疑いを）晴らす her acne when she was 強調する／ストレスd during her 熟考する／考慮するs.

Lettuce help you... Helix aspera muller glycoconjugates, or snail mucus, is believed to contain antioxidants

Lettuce help you... Helix aspera muller glycoconjugates, or snail mucus, is believed to 含む／封じ込める antioxidants

Slimy business: Luc Champeyroux, co-owner of the Snail Spa, pictured on his gastropod farm in Chiang Mai

Slimy 商売／仕事: Luc Champeyroux, co-owner of the Snail Spa, pictured on his gastropod farm in Chiang Mai

'My 直面する is firmer and softer,' she said. 'But you don't get 即座の results. It shows 徐々に.'

Like for many, the prospect of having my 直面する はうing with slimy hermaphrodites (snails are unisex) did not すぐに 控訴，上告. Although from my own 研究 I decided it might be より望ましい to another natural therapy ― 'uguisu no fun,' or nightingale feces facial, which has been around in Japan for centuries.

So after 存在 slathered with one of Champeyroux's creams, the beautician plopped 負かす／撃墜する the first of half a dozen mollusks on my 直面する. A balmy coolness I sensed as they proceeded to slide over my cheeks, furrow through my eyebrows and tickle my lips, taking particular liking to my nose since snails are fond of climbing.

開始 my 注目する，もくろむs, I got a 大型の レンズ 見解（をとる） of one critter perched on my nose tip. Its twin, antennae-like feelers were weaving about, かもしれない 捜し出すing an escape 大勝する with its tiny 注目する，もくろむs. The snail's 14,000 microscopic teeth produced a slight, not unpleasant, scratching when it slid toward my nostrils.

So if truth be told, I sort of 行方不明になるd my 害のない, 感覚的な sextet when they were dislodged, 粘着するing to my 肌 with a gentle suction.

Maybe I won't eat another escargot again.

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