Do Collagen Supplements Work? The Science of Beauty Supplements

Do collagen supplements actually work? What about biotin for hair growth, or greens powders for glowing skin? The beauty supplement industry is worth $70 billion, and it's built on a foundation of insecurity, pseudoscience, and promises your liver already keeps for free.

This week, Zoë and Kylee trace the century-long history of "inner beauty" products, from Lydia Pinkham's alcohol-laced "female vitality" tonics to today's Instagram-ready collagen lattes and glow powders. Along the way, they dissect the actual science behind collagen peptides, biotin, hyaluronic acid, greens powders, and antioxidant blends, and ask why the beauty industry has repackaged the same insecurities for every generation of women.

Spoiler alert: that skin smoothness score isn't peer-reviewed, industry-funded collagen studies are wildly biased (a 2024 meta-analysis found independent research shows no effect on skin aging), and your biotin supplement might actually be interfering with your thyroid tests. But don't worry—Kylee has the receipts on what actually supports skin health (hint: it involves eating enough protein, sleeping, and wearing sunscreen, not gargling chicken cartilage).

This episode also digs into the psychology of wellness marketing, why "glow" replaced "thin" as the coded language of virtue, and how the rise of preventative Botox among people in their twenties (almost 30% of Botox patients are now under 30) reflects a culture terrified of normal human aging. Plus: the lipstick indicator, the gut-skin axis (real science, grifty applications), and why Zoë's improv group gave her a yoga gift certificate.

If you've ever Googled "do beauty supplements work" or wondered whether that $90 Athletic Greens is doing anything besides lightening your wallet, this one's for you.

References

Regulatory & Historical

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-417, 108 Stat. 4325 (1994).

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2022). Dietary supplements. https://www.fda.gov/food/dietary-supplements

Collagen Supplements

Aust, O., Stahl, W., Sies, H., Tronnier, H., & Heinrich, U. (2005). Supplementation with tomato-based products increases lycopene, phytofluene, and phytoene levels in human serum and protects against UV-light-induced erythema. International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research, 75(1), 54–60.

Bolke, L., Schlippe, G., Gerß, J., & Voss, W. (2019). A collagen supplement improves skin hydration, elasticity, roughness, and density: Results of a randomized, placebo-controlled, blind study. Nutrients, 11(10), 2494. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11102494

Choi, F. D., Sung, C. T., Juhasz, M. L., & Mesinkovsk, N. A. (2019). Oral collagen supplementation: A systematic review of dermatological applications. Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 18(1), 9–16.

de Miranda, R. B., Weimer, P., & Rossi, R. C. (2021). Effects of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation on skin aging: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Dermatology, 60(12), 1449–1461. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.15518

Vollmer, D. L., West, V. A., & Lephart, E. D. (2018). Enhancing skin health: By oral administration of natural compounds and minerals with implications to the dermal microbiome. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(10), 3059.

Wang, Z., et al. (2024). Oral collagen supplementation and skin aging: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with attention to funding source. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 23(3), 891–902.

Biotin & Hair, Skin, Nails

Lipner, S. R. (2018). Rethinking biotin therapy for hair, nail, and skin disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 78(6), 1236–1238.

Patel, D. P., Swink, S. M., & Castelo-Soccio, L. (2017). A review of the use of biotin for hair loss. Skin Appendage Disorders, 3(3), 166–169. https://doi.org/10.1159/000462981

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2017). The FDA warns that biotin may interfere with lab tests: FDA safety communication. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/fda-warns-biotin-may-interfere-lab-tests-fda-safety-communication

Hyaluronic Acid

Kawada, C., Yoshida, T., Yoshida, H., Matsuoka, R., Sakamoto, W., Odanaka, W., ... & Urushibata, O. (2014). Ingested hyaluronan moisturizes dry skin. Nutrition Journal, 13(70). https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-13-70

Papakonstantinou, E., Roth, M., & Karakiulakis, G. (2012). Hyaluronic acid: A key molecule in skin aging. Dermato-Endocrinology, 4(3), 253–258.

Antioxidants & Beauty Blends

Bjelakovic, G., Nikolova, D., Gluud, L. L., Simonetti, R. G., & Gluud, C. (2012). Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2012(3), CD007176.

Chen, M., et al. (2022). Analysis of marketing claims and ingredient transparency in beauty supplement products. Journal of Dietary Supplements, 19(4), 512–528.

Paulsen, G., Cumming, K. T., Holden, G., Hallén, J., Rønnestad, B. R., Sveen, O., ... & Raastad, T. (2014). Vitamin C and E supplementation hampers cellular adaptation to endurance training in humans: A double-blind, randomised, controlled trial. The Journal of Physiology, 592(8), 1887–1901.

Gut-Skin Axis & Microbiome

De Pessemier, B., Grine, L., Debaere, M., Maes, A., Paetzold, B., & Callewaert, C. (2021). Gut-skin axis: Current knowledge of the interrelationship between microbial dysbiosis and skin conditions. Microorganisms, 9(2), 353.

McDonald, D., Hyde, E., Debelius, J. W., Morton, J. T., Gonzalez, A., Ackermann, G., ... & Knight, R. (2018). American Gut: An open platform for citizen science microbiome research. mSystems, 3(3), e00031-18.

Salem, I., Ramser, A., Isham, N., & Ghannoum, M. A. (2018). The gut microbiome as a major regulator of the gut-skin axis. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 1459.

Psychology & Consumer Behavior

Belk, R. W. (2021). Wellness consumption and the construction of identity. Journal of Consumer Research, 48(2), 267–285.

Hill, S. E., Rodeheffer, C. D., Griskevicius, V., Durante, K., & White, A. E. (2012). Boosting beauty in an economic decline: Mating, spending, and the lipstick effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(2), 275–291.

Tolentino, J. (2019, December 12). The age of Instagram face. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/decade-in-review/the-age-of-instagram-face

Cosmetic Procedures & Statistics

American Society of Plastic Surgeons. (2023). 2022 ASPS procedural statistics release. https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/plastic-surgery-statistics

American Society of Plastic Surgeons. (2024). 2023 ASPS procedural statistics release. https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/plastic-surgery-statistics

Skin Health & Nutrition

Cao, C., Xiao, Z., Wu, Y., & Ge, C. (2020). Diet and skin aging—From the perspective of food nutrition. Nutrients, 12(3), 870.

Oyetakin-White, P., Suggs, A., Koo, B., Matsui, M. S., Yarosh, D., Cooper, K. D., & Baron, E. D. (2015). Does poor sleep quality affect skin ageing? Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 40(1), 17–22.

Pullar, J. M., Carr, A. C., & Vissers, M. C. (2017). The roles of vitamin C in skin health. Nutrients, 9(8), 866.