Skincare: MythBusters Edition
Every brand, especially skincare and makeup ones have an angle to sell millions if not billions of dollars of products every year. It seems like one of the biggest ones as of late is collagen. We know that collagen is great for increasing bone mass, relieving joint pain, reducing wrinkles and dryness in your skin and is also a protein that plays a vital role in maintaining the structure and elasticity of your skin. Ding, ding, ding! That had us sold from the start but can you really absorb collagen through the skin as all of these skincare brands have us thinking? Style Sonata investigated and here’s what we found.
Turns out the most effective way to absorb collagen is by ingesting it. Collagen powders are a great and easy way to do this but there’s also collagen found in lots of foods naturally that you may already have in your kitchen. Foods such as bone broth, fish, eggs and meats like lamb and pork are all collagen rich foods. These help support your body's natural collagen production and are fundamental in promoting firmness and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
It’s not surprising to us that skincare and makeup companies would want to exploit the many beneficial uses of collagen by promoting it in their products. So, why doesn’t collagen work when applied directly to the skin anyways?
Well, the collagen protein is simply too heavy to be absorbed and effectively processed by our skin that’s why eating collagen rich foods or even supplements and powders is simply much more effective. We don’t doubt that the other ingredients in many of these products are effective but we recommend not to be sold the next time you see “collagen” being brightly and boldly advertised on a shiny container. Consider this myth, busted. You’re welcome.