Forget supplements, the instant ways to boost collagen

Collagen is trending. However you get yours (bone broth, chicken feet, or via a powder you sprinkle in your morning cuppa) the theory is, the more you ingest, the younger you’ll look. Except when it comes to skin, a warming bowl of boiled bones will only get you so far. In fact, I’d argue that when it comes to boosting collagen there are smarter ways to replenish the body’s main structural protein. 

For the young and smooth-skinned, collagen is in abundance (hence the term baby face) but when we age, particularly as oestrogen depletes during the menopause transition, it’s harder to come by. Drinking or eating it is one way, as is taking a supplement (marine collagen with added vitamin C is best), but how much your body absorbs is another matter. After all, it has to survive the digestive tract before your body can assimilate its uses. 

“When taking collagen orally, it needs to be protected from your digestive system where it’s broken down. A typical collagen supplement can contain 10 per cent collagen peptides but in a liquid or powder form it’s uncertain how much of that 10 per cent makes it to the bloodstream,” explains Pupinder Ghatora, pharmacist and founder of Ingenious Collagen.

“We use a bioavailable vegetable cellulose capsule that’s not broken down by our stomach acid therefore, even though it contains a smaller amount of collagen peptides than your average supplement does, 100% of it gets absorbed by the bloodstream,” he says. “Once the body senses that elevated levels of collagen peptides are present, the body begins to produce more of its own collagen which, in our case, has been proven in randomised clinical trials to reduce fine lines and improve skin elasticity.” 

Collagen synthesis also happens when the body is under threat. When you graze your knee, for instance, skin cells go into high alert sending signals to the fibroblasts (the factory cells that secrete collagen proteins) to elicit an emergency uptake in collagen to repair the wound and form scar tissue. 

What does this have to do with facial firmness? Quite a lot, in fact. 

The same principle applies to certain facial treatments like chemical peels or lasers that work by creating a controlled injury in order to trick the skin into repairing itself and in the process spark collagen synthesis, naturally and powerfully. 

In certain cases, such as with skin boosting injectables, collagen and elastin production is triggered by flooding the skin with proteins and growth factors that, again, encourages the making of collagen and its cousin, elastin, the connective tissue that gives skin its bouncy elastic quality. 

Whichever treatment you choose, if it’s long term skin fitness you’re after, then these are the smarter ways to boost facial collagen naturally – without having to change your diet. 

Radiofrequency

Best for: Skin tightening 

The treatment favoured by Julianne Moore who spoke about its virtues in a Vogue beauty video earlier this year, radiofrequency tightens the skin by using a certain frequency of light to heat up the lower levels of the skin, causing the skin on the surface to contract.