I’ve gotten pretty lucky with my skin. I haven’t had much acne in my life, and at 31, I’ve got no signs of wrinkles. But my skin is remarkably dull, like that of a tired ghost. It’s ruddy, uneven, and it tends to look dry, even when it’s moisturized.
Thanks to an unhealthy addiction to Sephora and a ridiculously Olympic skin regimen, I’m able to work with the flaws I’ve got, but I’m always on the hunt for that “glow” you read about on magazine covers. Oral collagen supplementation has been shown to prove efficacious in improving the hallmark signs of skin aging, according to a study by the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, so I was more than willing to take it for a test drive.
When I got my hands on Reserveage’s Collagen Replenish Powder, I was immediately in love with the packaging. The pretty coral color, the leafy design, and the “Hyaluronic Acid & Vitamin C” boost sold me. What can I say? I’m a sucker for smart packaging.
The powder includes something Reserveage calls Deluxe Peptide Plus, which provides nutrients for the skin. And it boasts a 20 percent reduction in eye wrinkles within eight weeks. I’ll take that, any day.
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Let’s get something out of the way, though, shall we? This stuff certainly doesn’t pretend to smell good. The jar itself says “odorless” (which is not entirely true; it’s got a faint scent of dried milk). So you’re not going to be drinking in the flavor or scent of flowers or anything. But we can get past this!
I mixed the powder into drinks for a morning beverage, which instantly solved the issue. No, not my precious coffee; I’d whip it into protein shakes or fruit smoothies, and you’d never know it was there.
I admit that I saw no change in the first few weeks. After week one I started checking my skin in the mirror. Plumper? No. Firmer? Nope. What was this collagen even doing, I wondered? Same for week two.
But by week three I did notice a significant shift. The skin under my eyes got considerably brighter and my cheeks seemed softer, smoother. Where my skin tends to “sag,” at all, is near my jowl. I noticed that it became a little less noticeable (cue my mother’s voice: “You DO NOT have jowls! I have jowls!”). Still, it really looked better.
All in all, I felt like the product did its job well. It’s quick and easy to mix up into a beverage, and its inexpensive (less than $20) price point makes it alluring, considering so many collagen products on the market are quite pricey.
And, you’re skipping out on all the other sometimes wacky ingredients that come in a jar of skin lotion. My skin definitely has a bit of a glow to it now, and having to drink collagen every day gave me an excuse to make a healthy smoothie each morning. Final verdict: I’m staying on the collagen train.