There’s a deep ugliness and some slippery ethics behind the snail slime beauty boom | Catherine Bennett

The value of the snail beauty product market has been projected as $ 3.4bn by 2034 .

Gen Z consumers (aged under 28 ) have begun spending on anti-ageing while still young.

Industry assurances, duly recited by slime fans, that the slime makers are treated like kings, even when sprayed in their thousands with acidic solution.

Analysis by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center found that common methods of snail slime collection include, as well as allegedly low-stress techniques that deliver less product, electrical stimulation, salt solution and the application of salt solution.

The authors prioritise, in conclusion, the need for ethical extraction’.