Skin Care for Beginners: Why You Should Take Collagen

By the time you turn 40, your skin will start to lose about 1% of its collagen every year. This is why after 40, many people start to notice more wrinkles forming and that their skin is starting to get saggier and thinner. This is the natural consequence of collagen loss. 

However, there is a way to prevent this from happening to a certain extent. When it comes to skin care for beginners, you should know that the foundation of healthy skin is plenty of collagen. If your skin doesn’t have enough collagen, it’s going to start looking quite old. 

But if you supplement your diet and skin with collagen, you can stay youthful for many years in the future. But what exactly should you know about using collagen for your skin and what does it involve? Keep reading this healthy skin guide below to find out. 

Why Is Collagen So Important for Maintaining Healthy Skin?

You might know that collagen is supposed to be good for your skin but you might not know why. The first thing you should know is that collagen for skin, along with elastic, can be seen as the scaffolding that holds your skin cells together. Collagen is what makes your skin feel and look supple, firm, and youthful. 

It also helps with skin elasticity. Young people (those who are 25 and younger) have tons of collagen. When a young person pinches his skin, that skin will snap right back into place because the collagen makes it so elastic. 

On the other hand, when an older person pinches his skin, the skin will move back to its original position but at a much slower rate. This is because the loss of collagen also contributes to the loss of elasticity in the skin. Over the years, as a person starts to lose more and more collagen, the person’s skin will only become wrinklier and thinner.

Of course, the only logical step is to use collagen to keep this from happening. There are two ways in which you can use collagen for your skin. You can use cream enriched with collagen molecules directly on your skin or you can consume collagen. 

The Details

While you can get collagen through foods such as pork, bone broth, and others, a person often can’t physically consume enough of these foods to get all the collagen they need. For that reason, collagen supplements exist. You might be wondering if topical collagen or collagen in the form of powder is the better choice. 

In general, it is better to consume collagen than to just use it topically. In fact, collagen moisturizers may not be all that much better than regular moisturizers. This is because collagen molecules are quite large. 

For that reason, they are often not able to penetrate the skin deep enough to make a difference. While collagen moisturizers may make your skin soft and supple, they will not produce results that are any different than any average moisturizer. But what about if you consume collagen instead?

What You Need to Know About Consuming Collagen

When consuming collagen, you should always make sure that you consume the right kind of collagen supplements. This is because there are several different types of collagen that you should be aware of and some are better for your skin than others. For example, the main types of collagen you should look for in supplements are types  I, II, III, and IV. 

Type I and III are particularly important for the skin while the others are also important for joints, ligaments, muscles, and other tissues throughout the body. Hydrolyzed collagen is the most common form of collagen supplement. This is a type of powdered collagen derived from various animals such as cows and marine creatures. 

While plant collagen does exist, it typically does not work as well as collagen derived from animals. Using collagen supplements is very easy. All you need to do is take a supplement pill or mix some collagen powder into your favorite drink. 

What to Know

It is recommended that you consume collagen for healthy skin every day if you want to see any improvement. But how much collagen should you take, you might ask? It depends on what you want to achieve by taking collagen. 

If you want to improve your skin, you might only need to take around 2.5 grams of collagen per day. You will need to take the collagen supplements for a few weeks before you see any results. However, after a few weeks, you should notice that your skin is starting to look smoother and healthier. 

You might even see more prominent results if you take more collagen per day. Some people believe that taking 5 to 15 grams of collagen every day is the key to maintaining healthy and flexible skin. Besides keeping your skin healthy, consuming this much collagen will also keep your joints and muscles healthy as well as your bones. 

Taking more than 15 grams of collagen per day does not seem to greatly improve skin health compared to taking smaller doses. To take these doses, all you need to do is follow the dosage instructions on your supplements. Often, all you need to do is put a scoop or two of collagen powder in your drink or take a collagen gummy to get all the collagen you need for the day. 

Collagen Skin Care for Beginners

It’s never too late to learn more about skin care for beginners. Collagen is the foundation of any good skin care routine. If you want to make sure that your skin stays healthy and youthful throughout your life, then you should certainly try taking collagen along with your usual skin products. 

To learn more about caring for your skin, contact us here.