In partnership with Vida Glow.
We've all heard it. You are what you eat.
It's a cliche yes. But it's true. That's why beauty, to me, means so much more than loading up with a tonne of topical products. I've always preferred to start on the the inside - with ingestible beauty.
Working in the beauty industry, I am inundated with recommendations, wellness tips and new products - sometimes daily. I won’t pretend it doesn’t take a lot of practice to decipher it all. Especially since beauty is so personal.
While I enjoy high-quality makeup as much as anyone, it's never been a part of my day-to-day. Much of my beauty routine is focused on doing what I can to perfect my skin - that way I don’t have to wear makeup. If I’m being honest, I don’t love the feel of foundation on my skin. And of course, I rarely leave myself the time to do my makeup in the morning. Maybe a swipe of mascara and some concealer. But I’m not one of those “morning people” I’ve heard about, so I can’t remember the last time I was awake with enough time to do a full face of makeup. C’est la vie.
For me, it’s about skincare, particularly by way of ingestible beauty products. While I’ll never have the secrets to becoming a morning person, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to ingestible beauty.
The how and why of ingestible beauty
We've long known that 'beauty starts from within' and the things you eat often play the biggest part in your skin's appearance. Anyone who’s experienced a breakout after a weekend of too much chocolate can attest to that. It’s important to put the right stuff in, in order to get what you want from your skin.
When it comes to ingestible beauty, many products tend to start with collagen. Of course, we all have collagen that our bodies naturally produce, but as we age this collagen production slows. Like a woven fabric, the collagen fibres begin to 'fray' and that bouncy, youthful appearance starts to dwindle. Unfortunately, there is not much evidence that topical products like creams or serums have an effect on collagen reproduction, but there is plenty of evidence to show that ingestible collagen has a real effect. Replacing the collagen we lose by way of ingestible beauty does, in fact, aid in maintaining our skin's elasticity.
This means fewer wrinkles and less roughness. Plus, added collagen also helps to increase bone density, hair and nail strength and even joint health. It's the cumulative total of regular consumption and a healthy lifestyle.
There are a tonne of collagen products on the market, but for me, The Vida Glow formulation is a keeper. It's made from marine collagen, rather than bovine collagen and the marine variety gets you more. Because of the way Vida Glow’s Marine Collagen is hydrolysed, it has a lower molecular weight and high bioavailability - it’s literally smaller. As a result, it’s 1.5 times more easily absorbed, so you need to consume less to get the same effect. In fact, Vida Glow recommends no more than 9 grams of its collagen per day because of just how bioavailable it is.
Maximising your skincare
I’ve made absolutely no secret of my love for ingestible beauty powders and supplements. In fact, I’ve written about it before. If I had one ‘hack’ when it comes to beauty it would be having a smoothie in the morning.
Yes, it’s a way to make sure I’m eating as many vegetables as possible. But also, a smoothie is the perfect vessel for any ingestible beauty supplement. It’s maximum efficiency with minimal intake.
A personal favourite, and the secret to my pepped-up WFH complexion is Vida Glow Original, a collagen powder. For me, I’ve found that taking collagen makes my overall skin condition better, my hair healthier and just adds an overall glow. The kind of glow you only see in truly healthy skin. It’s not something you can imitate with any makeup product. I genuinely can tell the difference if I stop using collagen for a while. So I try my absolute best to be consistent about taking it.
Vida Glow is the ingestible beauty I’m vibing with for a few reasons. One big reason is that the Original iteration is flavourless. It means that I can add it to my breakfast smoothie without a funny after-taste. Have you ever tried a green smoothie with a poorly-disguised metallic taste? I have, it’s not great.
Discovering the Original Vida Glow sachets - an ingestible beauty product that’s actually palatable - makes such a difference to how consistently I take collagen. You’re not tempted to skip a supplement that tastes great, which is why I’m also a big fan of the Blueberry Vida Glow sachets. On days that I’m having a fruit smoothie, this version amps up the berry flavour.
But of course, you don’t have to be a smoothie fanatic like me to take Vida Glow. It works just as well in water. I know, I’ve started adding it to one of my eight glasses a day. Again, it’s really just about packing as much goodness into as little as possible.
Like I said, maximum efficiency, with minimal intake.
