Ingredient profile
- Japanese name
- 白きくらげ (Shiro kikurage)
- Botanical / INCI
- Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide
- Sustainability verification
Essential takeaways
- Snow mushroom is Tremella fuciformis, a white, gelatinous edible fungus; DAMDAM uses its polysaccharide fraction as a plant-derived, water-binding ingredient.
- Tremella has been characterised as a plant-derived source of a hyaluronic-acid-like polysaccharide; one commercial extract measured about 87.76% HA-comparable polysaccharide (Galla 2025).
- Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide has been studied in laboratory (cell) models for antioxidant activity.
- Tremella has documented use in Traditional Chinese Medicine since at least the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE); in Japan it appears mainly as a food (shiro kikurage).
Snow Mushroom (Tremella): What It Does for Your Skin
Snow mushroom is Tremella fuciformis, a translucent, gelatinous fungus long eaten across East Asia. In skincare it is used for a single, well-characterised reason: it carries a polysaccharide that behaves like hyaluronic acid.
What is snow mushroom?
DAMDAM uses the tremella fuciformis polysaccharide fraction in its Snow Mushroom Salt Cleanser. It is a plant-derived, water-binding ingredient, which is why it is often described as a botanical counterpart to hyaluronic acid.
Is snow mushroom really like hyaluronic acid?
In composition, there is a real basis for the comparison: Tremella has been characterised as a plant-derived source of a hyaluronic-acid-like polysaccharide, with one commercial extract measuring about 87.76% HA-comparable polysaccharide (Galla 2025). That is a similarity in structure, not a demonstrated skin outcome, and the widely repeated "holds 500 times its weight in water" figure is not traceable to a peer-reviewed source, so it is not used here. Tremella's polysaccharide has also been studied in laboratory (cell) models for antioxidant activity.
How is DAMDAM's snow mushroom cleanser made?
DAMDAM describes a vacuum-press process that binds silk salt and snow mushroom into a solid, nutrient-dense cleanser without added surfactant carriers. That is a formulation approach; the ingredient's role is as a plant-derived humectant in a rinse-off format.
Where does snow mushroom sit in tradition?
Tremella has documented use in Traditional Chinese Medicine since at least the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). In Japan it is primarily a culinary ingredient (shiro kikurage) rather than a skincare tradition, so its heritage story is best told honestly across both cultures.
The DAMDAM product
The Snow Mushroom Salt Cleanser is the only DAMDAM product carrying Tremella. It was named in Allure's Best of Beauty 2023 as a Face Cleanser Bar (Exfoliating), featured by Vanity Fair among summer cleansers, and reviewed by Who What Wear.
In the US, DAMDAM is available at Sephora, where it carries the Clean + Planet Aware seal, and on damdamtokyo.com; in Japan, you can also find DAMDAM at its Kyoto flagship and stockists including Isetan and Ron Herman.