Putting collagen cream on your face is something like putting wet cement on a brick wall... the cement is never going to penetrate into the wall. Skin care manufacturers don't want you to know this, but the collagen molecule is too large to penetrate in the skin to make a real impact.
By now, we all know collagen is extremely important for skin health, but do collagen creams deliver on their promise for the skin? In short, will putting collagen on your face and skin make your skin look more youthful? With further digging, one finds that it is a bit of a mistake to think you can just use a collagen cream and maximize the benefit in skin care. Lets look deeper.
A Closer Look at Collagen Cream and Skin Health
Since a cream containing collagen protein will only sit on top of your skin, it's unable to affect the underlying structure of the dermis. It may provide temporary moisturizing effects to the skin, but it will not add to the overall collagen content of your skin. Collagen is located deep beneath the surface, in fact, it is far from the reach of any cream. Likewise, collagen degradation occurs at this basic level, leading to wrinkles and sagging skin from the inside of the body.
So, the solution is to get collagen into the body, and there is only one way to do this.
Related: Are Peptide Creams Better Than Collagen Creams?
Types of Collagen Supplements
Since collagen cannot be absorbed through the skin people have turned to collagen supplements (collagen powder, collagen tablets). But even with oral supplementation, the traditional sources of collagen (bovine, and porcine) are problematic because they are not considered to be all that well absorbed by the body. Now there is a true functional way to deliver collagen, and that is with the emergence of collagen peptides.
Related: Collagen v. Collagen Boosters
Fish Collagen Peptides
With the emergence of collagen peptides (especially from fish sources), there is now a viable option to build collagen stores and get the ever so desired anti-aging effects. Studies range in demonstration from showing increase absorption after ingestion, to other positive efficacious markers of absorption such as the synthesis of new collagen fibers, and positive effects on the skin as would be expected by an increase in collagen.
The beneficial characteristics of the fish collagen peptide form of collagen are that it can be easily digested and absorbed in our body, has little or no smell, easily dissolves in water, and has an overall low allergy potential, consisting of small peptide molecules in the range of 3,000 and 5,000 daltons. Its absorption in the small intestine is superior to other collagen products due to its smaller molecule size, which leads to a more efficient collagen synthesis.
Because of these advantages in absorption, fish collagen peptide is becoming the collagen of choice for supplements intending to improve skin smoothness, elasticity, moisture, and to also slow down the formation of wrinkles and fine lines. So put away the collagen creams, and the poorly absorbed supplements and look for collagen peptide formulas, especially fish collagen peptide.