THE TRUTH ABOUT COLLAGEN

We investigate the buzz behind the biggest comeback in beauty

Like blue eyeshadow and kitten heels, trends have a funny way of re-emerging if we’re around for long enough. So, if the current excitement about the latest anti-ageing must-have feels remarkably familiar, you’re not going mad: we’ve been here before. Yes, collagen is making a comeback… or should we say bounce-back? You may have owned a skin-firming collagen cream in the past or dabbled in first-generation collagen supplements before their popularity quietly waned. It has been under the radar for quite some time, but market researcher Mintel recently singled out collagen as ‘a hero ingredient of the moment’, and Boots decided that a 1,570% increase in searches for collagen on its website warranted the development of a collagen-based skincare range.

Dozens of other brands have had the same idea, once again giving the plumping protein pride of place in both product names and formulations. Meanwhile, in the ever-growing world of ingestibles, collagen drinks, gummies and powders are leading the charge, with Cult Beauty reporting a whopping 290% sales uplift between January 2020 and January 2021. But does that mean that collagen should once again be among your skincare staples?

The plumping protein is a hero ingredient of the moment

WHY EVERYONE NEEDS A COLLAGEN BOOST

Collagen is the body’s main structural protein, providing tissues with cushioning, bulk and support. It makes up 30% of the body’s protein and up to 80% of the skin’s, but internal production of the stuff slows down from our mid-20s, with skin losing at least 1% a year and a whopping 30% in the first five years post-menopause. Little wonder, then, that skin becomes increasingly slack and lined as the years go by. Joints get creakier, too, so maintaining our collagen stores is also important for an agile old age. How that is best undertaken, however, is a matter of debate, especially when it comes to skin.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

A protein-rich diet is the undisputed first port of call, with amino acids found in meat, fish, dairy and eggs, and in plant sources, such as soy, beans, nuts, seeds and fungi, supplying the building blocks the body needs to create its own proteins, including collagen. Also essential are the co-factors that play a part in collagen production: vitamin C, silica (oats, cereals, bananas), copper (cocoa, mushrooms) and sulphur (garlic). Keeping sweet stuff to a minimum and eating a balanced diet of proteins, veg and hi-fibre grains has even more potential for keeping tissues supple; excess sugar turns juicy grape-like collagen cells into stiff, atrophied raisins through a process called glycation.

MORE THAN SKIN DEEP?

As for putting back lost bounce with collagen-enriched serums and creams? For most skin experts, that’s a categorical ‘no’.

‘The claim that large collagen molecules could absorb into the skin and reinforce your own has been shown to be sheer fantasy,’ says renowned myth-buster Paula Begoun of Paula’s Choice Skincare. Cosmetic scientist Jen Novakovich, of investigative beauty podcast The Eco Well, points out that while collagen is a ‘useful moisturising agent’ that can boost the skin’s general health, there is no direct effect on collagen production.

Jen and Paula are both talking about soluble collagen, derived from animal cartilage and skins. One viable alternative, however, could be the relatively newer ‘hydrolysed collagen’, also seen on labels as ‘collagen peptides’ or ‘collagen hydrolysate’. This is usually from marine sources (specifically fish offal), though it can also be bovine in origin, and is broken down into tinier fragments that are more available to the surface layers of the skin, explains Marisa Dufort, head of research and development at Exuviance and Neostrata skincare. Within those fragments are amino acids (building blocks needed

Lab-engineered peptides can rev up collagen production

by the body to make its own protein) and also collagen peptides: chains of amino acids that, when detected by the body, signal a need to make more collagen, thus kick-starting internal production. It’s traditionally used in collagen drinks but has been making its way into topically applied products. So impressed is Exuviance with its efficacy that it now appears in an updated version of its Collagen Triple Boost Serum [1], £56.50 (skincity.com). For Jen, though, more research is needed: ‘I haven’t seen much evidence to show hydrolysation would confer additional benefits to collagen’s moisturising ones,’ she says.

As for vegetarian or vegan collagen, nature makes no such thing, since true collagen is produced only by animal organisms. Plant-based ‘collagen’ is engineered in biotech labs from plant-derived amino acids, peptides and protein fibres. Algenist Genius

Liquid Collagen [2], £90, is an example in which plant proteins have been used to make vegan amino acids. Whether these perform better than animal collagen, says Jen, would also require objective clinical studies.

BUILD YOUR OWN

Another way to rev up collagen production is to supply skin with lab-engineered peptides and amino acids that have been specifically created to reach the deeper dermal layers and collaborate to improve cell regeneration. It’s an established strategy in wrinkle-fighting skincare, whether it has the word ‘collagen’ in its name or not. ‘There are a few peptides with compelling data; chief among them is Matrixyl 3000,’ says Jen. Olay Regenerist Collagen Peptide 24 Eye Cream [3], £34.99, packs high doses of Matrixyl,

while Mádara Derma Collagen Hydra-fill Firming

Serum [4], £37.95, has hexapeptide-11, which is made of six collagen-building amino acids. Q+A

Collagen Anti-age Face Cream [5], £12, employs tripeptide-29, another promising collagen signaller. The mysterious ‘collagen AA fractions’ in L’oréal Paris Age Perfect 7 Day Cure Collagen Expert Retightening Ampoules [6], £19.99, turn out to be a multi-peptide and amino acid complex.

SUPPORTING ACTS

Probably the most reliable ingredients of all for plumper-looking skin are those long noted for either kick-starting collagen production, preventing its degradation or protecting cells so they can devote their energy to creating fresh ones. Retinoids (vitamin A derivatives) are proven collagen boosters, while the botanical ingredient bakuchiol is increasingly prized for its ‘retinol-like’ cell-regenerating effects. Vitamin C shields cells from environmental damage and helps spawn new ones, while algae extracts support collagen renewal in many ways, including suppressing collagen-degrading enzymes. Elemis Pro-collagen

Renewal Serum [1], £70, uses ‘retinol-like’ botanicals alongside a cocktail of algae,

while Arbonne Agewell

Collagen Nurturing Serum [2], £57, has bakuchiol at a potent level of 2%, alongside

vitamin C. Green People Age Defy+ Collagen

Boost Vitamin C Serum [3], £39, uses the same power couple but with the emphasis on vitamin C. Boots Collagen Youth Activating Serum [4],

£12, meanwhile, proudly advertises soluble collagen but keeps its true collagen booster, bakuchiol, relatively quiet.

WHAT ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS?

If diet is key to collagen-plumped skin, what about swallowing the stuff? Both Jennifer Aniston and Khloé Kardashian recently put their names to ranges of collagen peptide powders (called Vital Proteins and Dose & Co, respectively) to be added to smoothies, sprinkled over food and even stirred into coffee. The theory is that the sudden influx of collagen peptides tricks the body into believing that tissue damage has occurred and new collagen needs generating fast. But for this process to happen, the peptides have to pass through the stomach without being broken down by stomach acid into their composite amino acids, a process deemed by some to be virtually impossible. Even if collagen peptides did make it into the bloodstream in one piece, there is no guarantee they will precision-target the skin, says nutritionist and author Ian Marber. He believes we would do just as well with other sources of ingestible amino acids (such as bone broth, protein shakes or jelly made with gelatin). Again, they won’t necessarily favour the skin over any other tissues that the body needs to repair, but they will be ‘just as effective’ at doing that as the collagen peptides and ‘probably at a more reasonable price’.

A SHORT CUT

But there are ways, some insist, to get collagen peptides through the stomach in one piece. Ingenious Beauty Ultimate Collagen

[5], £54.99 for a 30-day supply, comes in special ‘enteric’ capsules: acid-proof vessels that have been shown can make it safely through the sea of digestive juices.

Another strategy is to ramp up the hydrolysed collagen content in your supplement; the thinking being that if you flood the system with peptides, enough will survive to reach the bloodstream. ‘I get real results for my patients with ZENII Skin Fusion [6],

[£85 for a month’s supply],’ says Dr Sophie Shotter, medical director at Illuminate Skin Clinic. ‘It provides 10g (10,000mg) of collagen peptides a day, which is a dose backed up by clinical evidence. And it also supplies other micronutrients that are key for enabling the body to produce its own collagen; vitamin C and sulphur-rich MSM are particularly crucial.’

Ann-louise Holland of Kansha Alchemy agrees that hydrolysed collagen only plays a small part in a good collagen supplement; akin to what we have seen in skincare. ‘It is the delicate balance of many nutrients and co-factors that activates the collagen-generating process,’ she says. ‘This must be central to the formula.’ Her Advanced Super

Skin Nutrition collagen [7], £32.99 for 60 tablets (kanshaalchemy.co.uk), has key activator vitamin C, but also hyaluronic acid (HA) and MSM, COQ10 and a host of other ‘enablers’.

THE SKIN-PLUMPING TAKEAWAY

Whether you go topical or ingestible, the thing to remember is this: it takes a village to truly create more collagen in the skin. Whatever collagen-boosting product you choose, our advice is to make sure it doesn’t base its promises on the presence of collagen alone.

Ingeborg van Lotringen is author of Great Skin: Secrets The Beauty Industry Doesn’t Tell You (Gibson Square, £12.99)

Algae extracts support collagen renewal in many ways