Double Review: Secret Key Snail+EGF Prestige Ampoule & Prestige Repairing Cream

I was looking for some Snail products to help my skin heal my acne scars. While I was browsing my favourite e-Bay seller's shop I came across the Secret Key - it was affordable and I couldn't find any reviews about the cream, so I just decided to try it and make one myself ;)

 Snail+EGF Prestige Ampoule

Product description: Snail muscus filtrate acquired from nature keeps hydration and protects skin from outer harmful substances.
5 free system: no mineral oil, no benzophenone, no coloring, no animal oil, no animal test
 
Major ingredients:

• Arbutin - skin lightening
• Human Oilgo Peptide-1 (EGF) - known as a "beauty factor" - eliminating scars and speckles by improving the texture and condition of the skin, anti-wrinkle by rejuvenating skin by stimulating cell proliferation
• Adenosine - helps prevent wrinkles, reduces UVB sun damage, increases the production of elastin and collagen reducing skin sagginess and improving tone
• Snail Muscus Filtrate -  protects skin from infection, reduces inflammation, effective in treating acne and scarring, anti-wrinkle
• Imperata Cylindrica Root Extract - optimizes and reinforces collagen synthesis, rich in potassium and therefore regulates the intercellular pressure and retain the water content in the skin
• Viscum Album (Mistletoe) Leaf Extract - a powerful antioxidant 

The ampolue comes in a 30ml glass bottle with glass pipette applicator, packed in golden cardboard box. The packaging is quite simple yet elegant, making it look like a high end product.

The ampoule itself is a clear, runny liquid with nice, but very subtle smell, I literally have to stick my nose into the bottle to smell it. It's only a little bit sticky when we try it between two fingers and doesn't feel sticky on the face at all. It is very lightweight and well moisturising, absorbs into skin very quickly. I have an oily skin and this works well both as an only moisturiser and underneath some cream. I use it all over my face, including eye area and I noticed a big improvement in my skin, especially under my eyes. I have problem with bags under my eyes since like always, tear through is very visible. After approx. 3 weeks of using this under my eyes I noticed great improvement in my skin elasticity, skin is firmer, appearance of the tear through improved. Of course my bags didn't completely go away, but there is an improvement :)

Price: from £9 on e-Bay.

Pros:
+ lightweight
+ well moisturising
+ helps improve skin elasticity

Cons:
- the manufacturer doesn't say anywhere about how much snail muscus is actually in the product
- very opaque bottle, so we can't see how much of the product we got left

Snail + EGF Prestige Repairing Cream

Product description: Snail muscus filtrate acquired from nature keeps hydration and protects skin from outer harmful substances. Snail beauty ingredient penetrating through dermis, activating cell proliferation, reproducing damaged skin.
5 free system: no mineral oil, no benzophenone, no coloring, no animal oil, no animal test.

Key ingredients:

• Snail Secretion Filtrate - protects skin from infection, reduces inflammation, effective in treating acne and scarring, anti-wrinkle
• Human Oilgo Peptide-1 (EGF) - known as a "beauty factor" - eliminating scars and speckles by improving the texture and condition of the skin, anti-wrinkle by rejuvenating skin by stimulating cell proliferation
• Arbutin - skin lightening
• Adenosine - helps prevent wrinkles, reduces UVB sun damage, increases the production of elastin and collagen reducing skin sagginess and improving tone
• Macadamia Seed Oil - contains Palmitoleic acid that is vital for delaying skin and cell aging, Oleic acid that has regeneration and moisturizing properties, Linoleic acid that helps to prevent skin water loss and Plant phytosterols that are calming and healing
• Birch sap - traditional herbal medicine that is antiseptic, anti-parasitic, anti-inflammatory
• Shea butter - helps with dry skin, eczema, skin problems; deep moisturizing, skin regeneration, skin healing properties.

Full ingredients: Purified water, Snail Secretion Filtrate, Macadamia Seed Oil, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Arbutin, Microcrystalline wax, Beeswax, Birch sap, Sodium Hyaluronate, Shea Butter, PEG-100 Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, C14-22 Alcohol, C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Polysorbate 60, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Human Oligopeptide-1, Adenosine, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Anisate, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance
Ingredients analysis [HERE]

  
 The cream comes in glass 50ml jar, packed in golden cardboard box. Packaging altogether is simple yet elegant, making it look like a high end product. I really like the lid of the jar, that is smooth and glossy on the top and rough and matte on the side, easy to grab and open. I know that a lot of people consider jar packaging as a unsanitary, but I like jars the most - I can always use up the whole product without the struggle. Just make sure you apply the cream with clean hands and you will be fine.

The cream has rich consistency and lovely smell, same like ampoule but much stronger - we can smell it immediately after opening the jar. Smell is hard to describe, it's a combination of floral and herbal notes, a little bit medicinal, but my nose likes it ;)
The cream is super moisturising, rich, but not oily. I have an oily skin and rather use it at nightime, but I used it couple of times in the morning and it was fine, I just had to be careful with amount used. I think people with normal/dry skin could easily use it both AM & PM.
As for the performance - this cream is my cosmetical discovery of the year. The first effects I noticed were after a week of PM use, on my neck & neckline. I have sensitive skin and skin allergy that makes my whole upper body dry and itchy. I am taking antihistamine, that helped a lot, but my neck and neckline were still very dry, after every shower I was literally runing from the bathroom to the bedroom to apply some moisturiser on my itchy skin. After week of using this Repairing Cream my skin calmed down, became well moisturised and smooth again. I honestly can not belive how good my skin is - now I can even ocasionally skip my neck moisturising in the evening and it will be still good in the morning. Miracle! I also notice improvement on my face, skin is smooth and well moisturised, no breakouts at all. My acne scars are still there, but I realize that I will take a long time for them to fade - that's just the nature of the acne scars.

Price: from £8 on e-Bay.

Pros:
+ well moisturising
+ rich, but not greasy and not sticky
+ skin is so nice and smooth after it
+ lovely smell
+ a little goes a long way

Cons:
- for AM us on an oily skin I would recommend very little amount or just use some lighter product
- the manufacturer doesn't say how much of the snail secretion filtrate actually is in the product (in opposite to for example Mizon, where we can find percentage on the label)

Summing up: I really liked both of the products. I also use Secret Key Snail + EFG Cleansing Foam (review yet to come) and Secret Key Snail Repairing Gel, so I use ampoule + gel in the morning and foam + ampoule + cream in the evening. After couple of uses I noticed improvement in my skin moisture level, after couple of weeks elasticity of my skin improved. They are definitely good value for money - after I used them up I am planning to buy them again at least once, to see what they can do during long time use. I would strongly recommend them to anyone :)