Skincare Basics – Lesson Two – What is Collagen?

Education doesn’t stop when you leave school! We are constantly striving to provide our patients with the best, most up-to-date information on their skin, bodies and overall health so they can make an informed decision on their treatments to make sure they look good, feel great and stay natural. This week we wanted to talk Collagen. What is collagen and how does it work? More importantly, how do we keep our levels up?!

WHAT IS COLLAGEN?

Collagen is the main structural protein found in skin and other connective tissues. Itreduces wrinkles, is found in your joints to keep them strong and flexible, and supports your bones. It also increases your skins hydration. Your body naturally produces this until your mid-twenties, then this production slows massively. It actually diminishes by 1-1.5% per year and even more with women after menopause. Add in some extra factors such as UV, smoking, sugar and environmental factors which can all slow collagen production, by your mid 30’s the drop is enough to be very visible leaving you with a dull complexion, thin and sagging skin and dreaded wrinkles!

DOES TAKING COLLAGEN REDUCE WRINKLES?

This is a big hot topic in our industry. The short answer is no. If you eat hair, it doesn’t mean you grow more hair, and collagen is very much the same. Just by taking a supplement doesn’t mean you increase collagen in your skin.

HOW CAN I INCREASE MY COLLAGEN LEVELS?

There are few ways to increase levels.

1. Create an injury – this is done in many of our treatments where we created a controlled injury. The body starts to heal these wounds and in the process, produces collagen and elastin creating a lifting effect, reducing wrinkles or improving the skins appearance.
2. Use Retinols – ZO Skin Health offers some great options for Retinol skincare in their cosmeceutical range. Retinol is derived from Vitamin A and increases the cell turnover of the skin. It encourages the skin to return to its natural 6 week cycle and improves the production of collagen. As an added extra, retinols improve the appearance of sun damage, lines, acne, scars, pigmentation and texture of skin. We aren’t saying it is a miracle, but it is as near as you can get!
3. Growth Factor Serum – Growth factors are groups of proteins that occur naturally in our bodies. In a nutshell, they command your cells to replicate, repair and rejuvenate. By adding these topically, they stimulate the production of collagen and elastin to improve the texture and thickness of your skin.

CAN I TAKE SUPPLEMENTS TO INCREASE COLLAGEN IN MY SKIN?

Yes and no. Much like our hair example, by simply eating collagen doesn’t mean you will retain this in your skin.

There are hundreds of supplements coming on the market touting their collagen-producing benefits or simply selling themselves as collagen. However, there is much more to this than simply taking a tablet to look younger!

Firstly, as soon as we see something as a vitamin we should beware, the vitamin market is not regulated so you never know that what you are taking is high or low quality, whether you are able to absorb or process it and whether it will indeed work. In addition, tablets take so long to dissolve in your stomach that only 10-15% of the product is absorbed (if it is absorbed at all!) Further, it is essential to have Vitamin C and a host of other ingredients to encourage absorption. The molecule size of collagen is also so vast, absorption alone by our body not possible.

BUT, there is one option out there: Skinade.

WHAT IS SKINADE

Skinade have made leaps and bounds in the skincare market. They have reduced the size of the molecule from the relative size of a watermelon to a tennis ball. By breaking the molecule down to become protein peptides, it can then be absorbed by the body. When these protein peptides enter your bloodstream, it stimulates the production of collagen in your own skin. In a nutshell, by drinking these peptides, does not mean they are transferred to the skin, but they stimulate your body to create more collagen for your own skin.

Containing vital ingredients for your skin’s health, Skinade really nourishes your skin from the inside out:

1. Hydrolysed Marine Collagen Peptides – There are many types of collagen drinks out there; most of which are derived from Porcine or Bovine collagen. This isn’t always compatible with our skin and the Bovine collagen in products is mainly for joints rather than skin. Skinade contains hydrolysed marine collagen peptides taken from the skin of fresh water fish. Low in sodium and avoiding mercury contamination, there is 7000mg in every portion.
2. Vitamin C – without vitamin C, you cannot absorb the peptides. However, it also a big boost for your immunity and reduces free-radical damage.
3. MSM – Naturally occurring organic sulphur which helps collagen and keratin formation. MSM improves elasticity but also prevents collagen cells cross-linking and essentially stops them from flattening which is a major cause of skin ageing.
4. Vitamin B Complex – Vitamin B gives you lots of energy (which is why we say to drink Skinade in the morning) and is vital in promoting a clearer, more glowing and radiant skin.
5. Omega 3 & 6 – sourced from organic flaxseed and not cod liver oil (which can actually cause more oily skin) this plays a vital role in balancing oily and dry skin
6. L-Lysine – this amino acid is key to rebuilding the matrix at a cellular level. It is anti viral so great for those who suffer from cold sores.

HOW IS SKINADE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER COLLAGEN DRINKS

One bottle of Skinade is the equivalent to 22 tablets and has a 90-95% absorption rate (vs a 10-15% absorption rate). While many competitors in the market claim to have a wonderful collagen drink, the molecular size of the collagen is often too large to absorb, comes without the supporting ingredients or is a powder dissolved into liquid, which massively reduces the absorption rate.
Skinade has amazing clinical results and slews of scientific papers backing its efficacy.