Collagen, you could say, is the mattress topper of skincare. It shines at plumping up and elasticising skin, but what launches it into the hero league as part of a skincare routine is its ability to deliver so many important health benefits as well.
We’re “made of” collagen to a degree, but as the years go by collagen levels fall off the cliff, dropping dramatically in middle age so in my view it sits more in the category of an essential supplement rather than an optional “add-on”.
Bone broth (which I don’t use because I don’t eat meat) and Vitamin C are two good natural allies to boost collagen production, but the quickest, easiest fix is a collagen drink once daily, like Rejuvenated’s pale pink berry flavoured Collagen Shots (this is made from hydrolised marine collagen, not bovine collagen).
I tend to take my Collagen Shot late morning on an empty stomach (I fast from 7pm till around 11-11.30am) but Beauty Shortlist Awards winner Rejuvenated (an early collagen champion and still one of the best) also recommends having a shot half an hour before you hit the pillow, pre-sleep.
You can drink Collagen Shots straight or add the fine powder to smoothies or juices (I sometimes whizz up half an avocado in almond milk with half a frozen banana, a Collagen Shot and some ashwaganda powder and if I feel I need a protein boost I’ll add Rejuvenated’s Strawberry or Banana Protein powder as well).
Or if it’s warm outside, I’ll blend a few iced berries in some filtered water and add the Collagen Shot to that.
Aside from its clear-as-day benefits for skin, collagen is no slacker on the natural health front, overall, either.
For example:
* it can improve flexibility and lessen pain stemming from joint discomfort, and therefore improve mobility, and it helps build muscle too.
One of my best friends suffers from hip pain which got so bad it had her looking at surgery options, but literally just as an experiment and sort of a last natural resort, she started on Collagen Shots (consistently, daily) and never got to the hospital stage. That was a few years ago and she says she’s 80% better although if she stops taking it, it gets worse again. It has been a lifesaver for her.
I am dealing with tennis elbow at the moment in my right arm so I’m dictating everything and you don’t realise how much it slows you down until you have something like this. I really feel for anyone who has this affliction at the moment!
Collagen is a building block of muscles, tendons & ligaments
Anyway, after 7 weeks of being unable to do most housework or grate an apple and wondering if it will ever get better, the pain has drastically reduced in the last 5 days, thanks probably to a tailor-made regime I put together for myself and some great hands-on help from a physiotherapist.
I’ve been doing:
– a few (extremely gentle) exercises (not necessarily the ones that show up most on YouTube, some of those made things worse)
– high dose Vitamin C
– Collagen Shots once a day, before eating, late morning
– magnesium (not magnesium oxide, it’s the worst form, I usually buy magnesium glycinate, taurate or marine-origin magnesium)
– potassium
– hyaluronic acid
I’ve run out of CBD oil so I haven’t tested that on it, but alleviating the pain of tennis elbow is just part of the story, it needs fixing at the source.
Kathryn Danzey, founder, Rejuvenated
I have also found it helps to do “Epsom Salts Elbow Wraps” – I wrap my elbow in a thick bandage or cotton scarf saturated with Epsom salts solution three times a day, and I sometimes sleep with it on.
I believe that tennis elbow is a tendinopathy/degenerative situation (versus tendonitis which is all about early stages/inflammation issues before it becomes chronic), so although heating and icing (eg in very warm water for a few mins then dunking into chilled water) are helpful, I’ve stayed away from “ice, ice, ice” and things like braces as I think blood circulation to the tendons which are tricky to access is crucial. So anything that impedes blood flow to these tendons is bad.
My arm isn’t hot and inflamed, so I’m OK with using heat and massage and a little cooling but not a lot. Personally, I found ice packs made the pain worse, not better, even at the beginning.
I know my TE stems from repetitive strain movements from typing at 100 miles an hour all the time, and I think you have to be very assertive if not downright aggressive in dealing with something like tennis elbow because it tends not to go away on its own with rest unless you’re prepared to wait 6-9 months.
It’s not cured yet, but the general everyday pain has gone from constant at about a level 7 down to a level 1 or 2 and unless I try and type or do something like wash the car, I am almost unaware of it now and I can drive and put the gearbox into reverse without it feeling like I have shards of glass in my elbow and my forearm tendons are going to snap.
I’ve gone totally off at a tangent here but if anyone (you know?) is going through this and wants me to do a quick post on the resources that I have found to be helpful let me know.
Tennis elbow can be notoriously difficult to resolve, it has definitely stretched my patience and when it’s bad sleep can be difficult.
I spent the first two weeks Googling like crazy until I settled on a routine that seems to be working pretty well. But then I stupidly tried a new exercise a couple of weeks ago which immediately caused a major twinge of pain and set me back again.
So I would say maybe stick to gentle exercises and in fact be careful about doing specific exercises anyway until your pain is way down. What I did was intense massage, like cross friction, and trying to relax and lengthen the tendons in my forearm as well as working on my neck shoulder and wrist as I am sure this is also posture related.
Being super glued to a desk all day is not really how we are meant to live!
But back to the health benefits of collagen…because there are a few!
So as well as improving joint mobility, collagen can:
* support/improve metabolism
* have a positive effect on energy levels
* some say it promotes deeper and more restful sleep
* it is said to help if you have leaky gut issues
* it’s great for not just the skin but hair and nails as well
Some of the acids in collagen help build keratin = healthier hair
* collagen provides structure to your arteries which can help with heart health overall
* we are literally composed of collagen ourselves, just one example is the vitreous jelly between the lens of the eye and retina – that contains collagen so it may well help eye health as well, particularly if you are dealing with something such as vitreous detachment (a cause of floaters – or worse, retinal detachment which requires emergency attention) which can be a new niggling problem when you get older.
Summer Collagen Cocktail: pop a handful of strawberries, spring water, a Collagen Shot & some ice and blend…
The annoying thing about collagen is that the older you get the lower your natural collagen levels go. By the time you are in your 30s, your collagen levels are already dropping by about 1% a year and around menopause – alarming! – they literally freefall, plummeting, causing a saggier, drier, more parchment paper-esque complexion.
If collagen is the mattress topper of skincare, it’s also the constructor of a really great mattress, working at deeper levels to enhance skin health, elasticity and strength.
If you prefer your skincare routine on the “light/simple/zen” side, I think you can go a long way with just 3-4 products:
1) a really good moisturiser
2) a deep nourishing night treatment or a plant-rich overnight balm
3) a good collagen supplement (and multi-vit/minerals)
4) the right cleanser – creamy/nourishing or anti-bacterial/deeply cleansing, such as a gently foaming formula with eucalyptus in it, or mildly exfoliating/glycolic, depending on what your skin is asking for
Not good news for sun worshippers, but a sunny summer in itself is a collagen destroyer because UVA rays penetrate and damage collagen fibres.
I’m the first person to be outside when the sun shines (I think early morning sun – i.e. when it’s rising and for about an hour after that – is absolutely essential for mood and health generally but I stay well out of it from 11am until about 5pm).
If you’ve not tried collagen yet but like the idea of adding this natural supplement to your skincare “tools”, you could start seeing results within a fortnight, if not sooner. I’m a firm believer that it enhances not just the look of your skin but the structure underneath. Skin just looks dewier, plumper, younger, more hydrated.
So it’s particularly useful towards the end of summer to help reduce any sun damage as we switch into a new season.
And…sobering thought….as the years go by it might just prove to be a form of health insurance (along with daily exercise) to keep us healthier and more mobile because as we know once mobility becomes an issue, it’s often downhill from there.
I’m a huge fan of Rejuvenated’s range and if you want to read up more about the multiple beauty and wellness benefits of collagen on Rejuvenated’s website you can HERE
To buy a one month supply (30 x 10g servings) in Rejuvenated’s signature zero-trace, plastic-free home compostable pouch or 24 sachets click HERE
For the full science low down, or to delve into Rejuvenated’s complete range of skincare and wellbeing boosters including Immune Complex which I’ve been taking recently (elderberry, astralagus, acai and turmeric are just a few of the gut, heart, brain and immune-boosting ingredients in this one), go to:
I absolutely swear by Collagen Shots, they’re one of the best supplements on the market for skin health, and I have tried almost all of the Rejuvenated range. At £1.30-ish (from memory) a day they’re well worth “a shot” to boost not just your skin’s health but so much more…
You can have a look at the whole range of multi award-winning health and beauty Rejuvenated family of supplements HERE
Speaking of awards winners, The Beauty Shortlist’s 2021 Awards (beauty, grooming and wellbeing) officially open on 1 September 2020 (for press announcements) but they are open for entries now – click here:
Online Entry Form – 2021 Beauty Shortlist Awards