The Scoop on Vegan Beauty Supplements

“Beauty supplements” is a buzzy term we’ve been hearing a lot lately. But what exactly does it mean? Essentially, it’s an umbrella term for ingestible supplements—which can come in forms such as powders, capsules, gummies, or liquids—designed with healthy ingredients meant specifically to improve your skin, nails, and hair.

Up until recently, most beauty products targeted to improving the health of your physical assets came in topical form, but research has shown that ingesting some beauty–targeted ingredients can have overall better effects. Essentially, beauty supplements provide your body with a more potent dose of vitamins, minerals, and adaptogens to improve your beauty from the inside out.

To help you find the right products for your skin and hair goals, let’s dive deeper into what that means.

What vegan ingredients should you look for?

Many common beauty-boosting ingredients, such as collagen, hyaluronic acid, and omega-3 fatty acids, are derived from animals. But there are also many vegan options available that can provide the nourishment your skin and body will benefit from, too.

When looking for a beauty supplement that meets your needs, there are specific ingredients to look for. And remember: Before purchasing any product, it’s worth going the extra step to ensure all the ingredients are plant-derived by looking for a vegan label or logo or by searching the product online to find out if it is vegan. As a last resort, you can contact the company directly.

Plant collagen

Collagen is a type of protein your body produces that plays an essential role in the structure and function of skin, but we produce less of it as we age, leading to wrinkles and skin sagging. However, much of the collagen on the market is sourced from animal tissues including the skin and bones of cows and pigs, fish scales, and egg shells.

While there’s no natural source of vegan collagen, there are “collagen boosters,” which are used in supplements to stimulate your body to produce more collagen naturally. They can include various vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C and zinc that the body needs to make collagen, as well as other plant extracts and herbs that are found to help stimulate collagen production.

TRY: Golde Coconut Collagen Boost, a vanilla-coconut superfood blend that can be added to tea, coffee, or smoothies

Biotin

Biotin, also called Vitamin B7, is an essential B vitamin that is known to support the health of your hair and skin. While you can find biotin naturally in foods such as nuts, seeds, and leafy greens, supplementation is available if you need it.

TRY: GRO Biotin Gummies, a proprietary combination of vitamins and minerals that help beautify strands, nourish the scalp, and support healthy looking hair

Vitamin C

Antioxidants like Vitamin C protect your skin against environmental aggressors like sunlight and air pollution, and have been shown to have other skin benefits such as aiding in smoothing and brightening. While this naturally vegan vitamin can be found in many whole plant foods such as citrus fruits, broccoli, bell peppers, and tomatoes, it’s safe to say everyone could benefit from Vitamin C in their beauty routine.

TRY: Retro Glowing Skin Gummy Vitamins, includes vitamins C and E, hibiscus, and bamboo extract to support collagen production, reduce signs of aging, and improve skin texture

Probiotics

In recent years, growing research suggests that prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics help keep your microbes in balance—and a balanced microbe may help reduce acne, eczema, dry skin, UV-induced skin damage, and even wrinkles. Certain probiotics have also been shown to boost the skin’s production of ceramides, like the glue that holds skin cells together to seal in moisture.

TRY: The Beauty Chef Inner Beauty Powder, designed to nurture your digestive health because a healthy gut microbe is the secret to radiant skin

Hyaluronic acid

Hyaluronic acid is a moisture-retaining molecule that helps your skin draw in moisture from the environment. It’s so powerful, in fact, that it can hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water. When our skin has less hyaluronic acid to work with, it becomes more difficult for it to retain moisture, leading to dehydration and a breakdown of the skin’s barrier, leaving your skin vulnerable to damage from external factors.

As an important ingredient in your beauty routine, this key anti-aging ingredient allows your skin to get the hydration it craves, and regular use of it can lead to the appearance of healthier, plumper, more dewy skin while reducing fine lines and wrinkles.

TRY: Pure Bulk Hyaluronic Acid Powder, a dietary supplement that can be stirred into cold water.

Do you need to take beauty supplements?

While these ingredients have been shown to improve certain aspects of your skin, hair, and nails, it’s worth noting that the beauty industry isn’t nearly as regulated as it should be, which means some products can make pretty bold claims without scientific research to back them up. So be sure to do your research before buying into those claims, taking special consideration when it comes to the dose of vitamins they pack into their products—because more is not always better.

Here at Kinder Beauty, we ensure all the products we offer in our subscription boxes and online marketplace are good for you, vegan, cruelty-free, and free from the most common toxins, too.

While it’s intriguing to see that there is now the possibility of getting beauty benefits from a pill or powder, it’s also important to recognize that supplements are just that—an addition to a well-balanced diet and not a replacement for it. Beauty supplements should be considered one part of a more holistic approach to beauty and wellness, which considers gut health, stress levels, food nutrition, and quality sleep.

As we’ve always promoted here on Kinder Beauty, eating a nutritious vegan diet that includes whole foods with lots of fruit, veggies, and plant-based protein and fats will do wonders for your beauty, too.

Sources:

• Ingested hyaluronan moisturizes dry skin | National Library of Medicine
• Diet and skin aging–From the perspective of food nutrition | National Library of Medicine
• Health effects of probiotics on skin | Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition

Nicole Axworthy is a Toronto-based writer and author of the vegan cookbook DIY Vegan.