"Can I Take Collagen and Vitamin C Together?" Here's Your Answer

There are a handful of beauty ingredients that work wonderfully on their on, and some that are more powerful when taken together. If collagen is part of your beauty routine, and now you're wondering, "Can I take collagen and vitamin C together?" read on to see what works better for you.

To better understand the role of certain nutrients in the health of our skin, it helps to know a bit more about our skin’s biology.

Did you know your skin is actually an organ? A multi-functional organ at that, and the largest in the body. Being in constant contact with the external environment, the skin is subject to more damage than most of our other organs, and is where the first visible signs of ageing appear.

Also good to know: How skin looks on the outside is generally a mirror of the overall health of the body beneath it. An unhealthy body means worse-looking skin.

SHOP: Vitamin C Enriched Beauty Gen Collagen Products

The two layers of skin

Our skin is composed of two layers. One is an outer epidermal layer called the epidermis. This is the protective shield between the external environment and our body tissues. Then we have the inner dermal layer known as the dermis, which is responsible for generating strength and elasticity and provides nutritional support to the epidermis.

Within this dermis is a matrix of complex proteins, which are particularly rich in collagen fibres. Water weight aside, this matrix of collagen-rich proteins constitutes about 75% of the dermis. Also found within the dermis are fibroblasts – cells that are heavily involved in the synthesis of these matrix proteins, and therefore collagen.

Nutrients and skin

Nutritional status is obviously important for skin health and appearance. We see evidence of this in many vitamin deficiency diseases which result in significant disorders of the skin. Scurvy, for example, is a vitamin C deficiency disease characterised by skin fragility, easy bruising, bleeding gums and corkscrew hairs, as well as impaired wound healing. This is because we need vitamin C to make collagen, which is an important component of connective tissues.

Vitamin C and collagen synthesis

The body’s natural process of producing collagen is called collagen synthesis. When we boost collagen synthesis, we help the body generate more collagen, and therefore promote more skin elasticity and hydration, plumper, firmer skin and fewer wrinkles. Vitamin C, along with other important roles in maintaining healthy skin, plays a vital role in collagen synthesis. This makes combining collagen and vitamin C in your beauty routine an excellent idea, helping the body to synthesise even more collagen than when supplementing with collagen alone. Apart from aiding in collagen synthesis, supplementing with vitamin C will also support important and well-known functions in the skin – assisting in antioxidant protection against sun damage, and also helping to hinder hyperpigmentation.

Why buffered vitamin C?

So, now you know why a handful of our Beauty Gen collagen products combine collagen and vitamin C. But why is our vitamin C buffered? And what does buffered vitamin C mean? When we add a mineral to ascorbic acid (the technical name for vitamin C), we create a less acidic compound that still holds the same nutritional value. This buffered vitamin C is gentler on the stomach and can therefore be taken in higher doses for more health and beauty benefits. (Our vitamin C has been buffered with calcium to create calcium ascorbate.)

You’ll find 100 mg of buffered vitamin C in every Collagen Beauty Drink, 500 mg in each serving of Beauty Greens and 1000 mg in our Naked Collagen +PLUS, further amplifying the beauty benefits of our potent Beauty Gen collagen formulas.