The Bizarre Ingredient Emily Ratajkowski Has In Her Skin Care Routine

Emily Ratajkowski is a natural beauty. If you've never heard of the model and actress, she made her name starring in Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" music video in 2013, and since then has starred in movies like Gone Girl, Entourage, I Feel Pretty, and We Are Your Friends (via IMDB). With shiny hair and flawless skin, whenever Ratajkowski reveals her beauty tips, we're always listening (and you should be, too). But you can imagine our surprise when she admitted her current skin care secret is snail?

Yes, you read that right. Answering her fans' questions on Instagram stories last month, the star admitted, "this amazing snail [product] – yes snail" is her skin savior (via Vogue). Ratajkowski then proceeded to hold up her bottle of Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence, which according to the Korean beauty brand's website contains 96.3 percent of snail secretion filtrate. But how exactly does snail secretion benefit skin?

According to Park Avenue plastic surgeon Dr. Matthew Schulman, "There is anecdotal evidence that proteins in snail slime have anti-aging benefits, and clinical trials have looked at that, as well as reversal of sun damage, and shown improvement." Speaking to The Cut, he continued, "Snail slime is not going to help deep folds, but it will improve skin texture and quality.” Dermatologist Francesca Fusco agreed, adding "The hyaluronic acid and peptides in snail mucin have been demonstrated on cell cultures to stimulate the production of elastin and collagen.” Sign us up!

While snail secretion does sound like a good option for anyone wanting to improve their skin, Russ Grandis, chemist and chief scientific officer of cosmetics consulting company Architectural Beauty, warned that you need to be extra careful when selecting a snail product. "The active components can differ depending upon the source,” he told The Cut. In other words, do your research and maybe you too can glow like Emily Ratajkowski!