If you're after a beauty treatment with an unusual twist, how about a snail on your face?

At this salon in central Tokyo, beauticians this week rolled out a new facial based on snail slime - secreted by live molluscs as they slither slowly across your face.

The salon employs a team of five one-year-old Japanese native snails, but Takamura says they only have enough mucus to service a single customer each day.

When they're not crawling about on a customer's face, they live in a humid, temperature-controlled environment and dine on high-grade vegetables.

The salon offers a 5-minute session with the snails as an optional add-on for customers who apply for a 'Celeb Escargot Course', an hour-long mixture of massages and facials based around beauty products made from snail slime.

While the jury is out on the scientific effects of mollusc mucus, snails have been thought to contain therapeutic powers for millenia.

Ancient Greek and Roman medical theorists recommended snail preparations as a remedy for anything from burns to problems during pregnancy - although the snails were usually required to be first crushed or pulped.

The live snail treatment opened for reservations on Monday (July 15), and costs 10,500 yen (£68) in addition to a 24,150 yen fee for the basic escargot-extract experience.

Presented by Adam Justice