It all started with an ad. The first time I saw an ad for Dirty Lemon, I scoffed. A delivery service for lemon water in trendy bottles, at high prices, that can only be ordered by text? COME ON, not falling for it.
Then I began seeing those trendy little bottles everywhere. It was on Facebook, Instagram, the side of my screen as I searched Google.
Somewhere along the way, I went from rolling my eyes to lingering a bit longer on each image. I wanted to be pretty, smiley, and fresh-faced just like the women in these ads.
I gave in and clicked through to look at the ingredients: water, lemon, charcoal (all things that I already had at home), and collagen.
At that point, I knew that collagen is a building block of protein, linked to the plump appearance of young cheeks. I knew that collagen levels began to deplete around age 25 (a milestone I had just recently passed). I knew that people injected collagen into their lips. But, I hadn’t heard of taking collagen as a dietary supplement.
Sure enough, when I searched Google, I found many brands of hydrolyzed collagen (aka collagen peptides) that promised renewed youth in a wide variety of ways: diminished wrinkles, hair growth, weight loss, strong healthy nails, lubricated joints, along with some other, more far-fetched claims.
My interest was peaked, but I was skeptical. I looked for scientific evidence to back collagen supplements as a promising new fountain of youth. There were very few studies. The few that were out there, showed promise but could usually be tracked back to a particular collagen brand.
I switched my focus to look for other types of tangible evidence: before and after pictures. I found a few, but, again, they were all in an effort to market a collagen brand.
That’s when I decided to experiment with collagen, myself. The fancy lemon water version, I could do without, but pure collagen supplements were worth checking out.
I did my own research on what type of collagen, source, and brand would be the highest quality and best option for this test. I landed on Aspen Naturals Marine Collagen.
And, as long as I was going to experiment, I decided that I may as well share my results online, so that anyone interested could have more data for their own decision.
The experiment:
I decided to take one serving of collagen per day for 30 days and to take pictures at the beginning and end of the experiment. I kicked it all off with my first Youtube video: 30 Days of Collagen: Day 1.
After 30 days, I noticed my nails were stronger and my skin was smoother. The results were subtle but I saw enough change to continue taking the supplement.
Fast forward to today:
A year later collagen supplements were popping up all over the place. The marketplace went from a couple of options on Amazon to an entire collagen aisle in Sephora.
This had another side effect: thanks to this surge in popularity (and much to my surprise) people had actually been watching my videos about collagen. I decided it was time for an update: above is a video that shows my before and after pictures after taking collagen everyday for a year.
Also, if you haven’t already picked up my free guide on how to choose the best collagen supplement for your needs, be sure to grab it below.