Youngish skin is about what you put in your body, not alone about what you apply on it. Skincare scientist Willow Carter breaks out why collagen and hyaluronic acid are crucial beyond age 30 and how they function from within to keep full, glowing skin.
The most plentiful protein in the body, collagen supports skin like a sort of framework. But beyond 30, output declines around 1% year, causing sagging and wrinkles. Because they break down easily for absorption, Willow advises hydroly collagen peptides. Women who took 10 grammes daily for 12 weeks exhibited a 28% decrease in wrinkles and enhanced skin suppleness according a 2019 research.
Still, collagen cannot function by itself. Its ideal mate is hyaluronic acid (HA), a molecule weighing 1,000 times its own in water. Oral supplements restore deeper levels while HA serums moisturise the surface. Willow notes studies in which subjects using 120–240 mg of HA daily had noticeably better skin and less dryness after eight weeks.
Willow’s advice is: pro tip Combine these with zinc to assist skin regeneration and vitamin C, which increases collagen formation. She also busts illusions like “all pills are equal” (search for professionally established dosages) or “topical collagen creams work”—they’re too big to enter skin).
Willow advises a whole strategy for optimum results: keep hydrated, cut sugar (which destroys collagen), and shield skin from UV radiation. “Youthful skin is a long game,” says she. ” Your internal allies are collagen and HA.”
