How can you tell if a collagen powder is good quality? Which form of collagen is most effective? Which collagen is best for anti-ageing? There are thousands of collagen powders on the market – adulting is an overwhelming profession by itself, you don’t need to be overwhelmed by anti-ageing collagen powders too 😅
That’s why I was super excited when Naked Nutrition asked me to review their Ella Daily Beauty Collagen Powder. I thought – what a fab chance to talk you through exactly what to look for in collagen powder.
Because psst – some anti-ageing collagen powders don’t work. It’s super important you’re using a collagen powder that follows these 5 rules if you want to be seeing wrinkle-reversing, anti-ageing results in just 8 weeks’ time. Wahoo.
This post is sponsored and made possible by Naked Nutrition – opinions are 100% my own and supported by real science. Thank you so much for supporting the sponsors who support Honesty For Your Skin, they allow me to be by your side always.
What To Look For In Collagen Powder
It’s easy to think of collagen powders like chocolate – there’s the 70% dark chocolate kind that can be great for you and there’s the white chocolate variety that tastes yummy but does not help you get rid of wrinkles.
This is what to look for in a collagen powder which has big potential to help you reverse eye wrinkles by 10% in just 8 weeks.
Psst – the study quote which proves this;
The ingestion of the specific BCP used in this study promoted a statistically significant reduction of eye wrinkle volume in comparison to the placebo group after 4 and 8 weeks (20%) of intake.Skin Pharmacol Physiol. 2014;27(3):113-9
BCP = bovine collagen peptide.
Isn’t that awesome eh. Eyes are one of the first areas of skin to give way to ageing – and you can help to reverse eye wrinkles by choosing a collagen supplement with big potential to work.
Here’s what to look for in collagen powder with big potential to work;
1. Contains Hydrolysed Collagen
This is important. Your body can only use what it absorbs. Ever eaten sweetcorn and seen it come out in your poop? That’s actually an awesome digestion test to see how quickly your bowels are moving. But what this test proves is that your body’s selective and it can’t absorb ‘big things’ or ‘big things’ it can’t break down into small things.
Your body can’t break down certain parts of sweetcorn and so you poop them out.
Imagine if you spent £40/$40 on a collagen powder and then just pooped it out 😱
Your body can’t do this effectively and so you must use an anti-ageing collagen powder that’s pre-digested.
One that’s more like baby food to your body. Like puree.
What to look for in collagen powder: the word hydrolysed collagen on the ingredients list.
Hydrolysed means a collagen powder is pre-digested into smaller molecules your body can likely absorb.
Does Ella Collagen Powder contain hydrolysed collagen? Take a peek at this photo of the ingredients list and see what you think;
Answer: yes – Ella Collagen Powder contains ‘Hydrolyzed Bovine Collagen Peptides’. Wahoo. Big ticks.
Psst – peptides are the small molecules which make up collagen. Ever made a dairy chain when you were a little? Collagen is like the whole daisy chain and peptides are like each individual daisy.
2. Uses Collagen Powder with a Small Molecular Weight
The next and arguably most important step to finding a collagen supplement that works is understanding what size collagen peptides it contains i.e. how small its daisies are.
Hydrolysed is the first step to making collagen bioavailable in your body, now you want to know how effective that hydrolysation has been i.e. do we have chunky puree or smooth Michelin star sauce?
The molecular weight aka molecule size of collagen powder is the hardest information to find online – but psst – I explain a super quick cheat way of finding this out inside the VIP version of my online anti-ageing video course AgeLock.
Fact is, the absolute best collagen powders contain peptides with a very small molecular weight of 2, 000 g/mol.
The study which proves a 20% reduction in eye wrinkles in just 8 weeks uses a bovine collagen powder of 2, 000 g/mol.
What to look for in collagen powder: hydrolysed collagen with an average molecular weight of 2, 000 g/mol.
I asked the Ella team – Can you tell me the average molecular weight of the collagen peptides you’re using?
Their answer: 3, 000 g/mol.
This is good, it’s just not excellent.
3. Free From Added Sugar
Including big doses of natural fruit powders. Sugar and fruit powders can make anti-ageing collagen supplements taste great – they can also be hardening your collagen and therefore giving you wrinkles. The exact opposite of what you’re trying to do.
What to look for in collagen powder: free from added sugars and sugary fruit powders.
Does Ella Collagen Powder contain added sugar or fruit powders?
Take another peek at the ingredients list – what do you see?
I’m so happy to talk you through this one because yes – Ella Collagen Powder does contain ‘sugar’ but it’s not sugary sugar. Confusing right.
Ella Collagen Powder contains an ingredient listed as ‘Fermented Can Sugar (Reb-M)’.
Reb-M is a sweetener that’s identical to a molecule found in the natural Stevia plant – it’s sweet like Stevia but without the weird aftertaste. Yay. Fun fact – the Reb-M molecule is 250 times sweeter than sugar so there’s just a pinch of it in Ella’s Collagen Powder.
Psst – the ‘Reb-M’ molecule’s made by fermenting cane sugar – this is why it gets listed as ‘Fermented Cane Sugar’. Here’s what the manufacturers of Reb-M tell us;
Reb M is bioidentical to stevia’s sweetest molecule, present in the leaves at only very low concentrations (less than 0.1%), making it difficult to isolate using traditional extraction and harvesting processes. But Amyris creates the pure Reb M molecule through fermentation, by engineering yeast and fermenting sugarcane, so none of the challenges that exist with leaf purification exist with Amyris’ clean chemistry.Amyris
Sweeteners like Reb-M which rate a zero on the glycemic index will not harden collagen in your skin and are therefore a-ok in collagen powders.
I’ve been testing out Ella’s vanilla and also their chocolate flavour collagen powder. My favourite’s chocolate. I’m a devout chocoholic so it’s a bit of an unfair competition 😂 although for my tastebuds – I’m finding the vanilla a tad too sweet [UPDATE: when I drink it with hot water, drink it with cold water and it’s not as sweet].
What I’m loving about Ella’s Chocolate Collagen Powder is that I can have it as a treat after dinner – it’s something I want to drink rather than it being a supplement I have to remember to take.
4. Uses a High-Quality Collagen Powder
Buzzwords to look for include;
- Grass-fed
- Organic
- Free range
- Wild caught (if it’s a marine collagen powder)
Collagen’s a protein that animals and humans make from the foods they eat. Your body’s making new collagen every day, in fact, your body’s making collagen right now as we speak – and the quality of this new collagen you’re making, well it’s determined by – the food you’re eating, your well-being, your lifestyle, period health, gut health, hormone health etcetera etc.
Buzzwords like grass-fed and organic give you an extra guarantee the cow or fish who made this collagen had great food, well-being and lifestyle.
What to look for in collagen powder: grass-fed, organic, free-range or wild-caught collagen.
I’m looking at Ella’s Collagen Powder description on their website and I see;
Hooray.
5. Your Collagen Powder Has an Effective Dose
Imagine me giving you a crumb of chocolate instead of the whole bar 😱😅. Dose matters eh 😉.
If you take just a pinch of anti-ageing collagen powder you’re not going to be seeing anti-ageing results.
The published study showing us that collagen powder can reverse eye wrinkles uses 2.5 grams of bovine collagen peptides.
What to look for in collagen powder: a dose equal to or greater than 2.5 g.
One dose of Ella Chocolate (or Vanilla) Collagen Powder contains 20 grams of bovine collagen peptides – making it a wonderfully effective dose.
Psst, be sure to grab your free copy of my 5 best anti-ageing actives cheatsheet, because anti-ageing supplements can’t do it all – you need a great skincare routine too. Grab your free copy here.
Which Collagen Is Best for Anti-ageing?
OK, time to review Ella Collagen Powder overall, is Ella Collagen Powder a great choice for anti-ageing?
Let’s test Ella Collagen Powder against our 5 ‘what to look for in collagen powder’ must-haves – this is how to test any new anti-ageing collagen powder you consider in future;
- Does Ella Collagen Powder use hydrolysed collagen your body can absorb?
👉️ Yes it does ✔️ - Does Ella Collagen Powder have an average molecular weight of 2, 000g/mol?
👉️ No, but with an average molecular weight of 3, 000g/mol this is still good (it’s just not excellent) - Does Ella Collagen Powder contain added sugar or fruit powders?
👉️ No it does not ✔️ - Are Ella using a high-quality bovine collagen powder?
👉️ I see grass-fed collagen on their website ✔️ - Is the dose of collagen in Ella’s Beauty Powder effective?
👉️ Yes, it has well over the 2.5g of collagen used in the eye wrinkle study ✔️
What I love about Ella’s Collagen Powder is that it also contains;
- Hyaluronic acid (100mg) – psst – hydrated skin, is skin that powerfully resists fine lines and wrinkles. A science study shows when people take 120mg of hyaluronic acid a day it boosts skin’s hydration levels significantly
- MCT powder – approximately 1.5 grams – MCT is great for your metabolic health and therefore also your skin health
Ella Collagen Powder Review
My overall verdict – I’m a fan, especially if you’re finding it a tough task to take supplements. It’s so easy to forget to take collagen when it feels like a chore rather than a treat. Don’t feel bad for this – you’re awesome and in fact very normal for feeling this way 🙂
If you want to see wrinkle-reducing results with collagen the key is to take it regularly.
The Ella Collagen Powder is easy to commit to because it feels like a naughty treat when actually it’s not naughty at all. It makes a great addition to your diet if anti-ageing is your number one skin concern – and you also have acne-prone skin.
I give it 4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
For Ella to get my 5-star rating I would love for their collagen powders to be using collagen with an average molecular weight of 2, 000g/mol.
You can buy Ella Collagen Powder directly from Naked Nutrition here – this is the link to their chocolate flavour 😉
Cheryl Woodman is a scientist, skin health expert & award-winning skincare formulator who’s more friend next door than bow tie wearing professor. Through her 1-2-1 services and video courses she’s here helping you get healthier, happier skin you feel comfortable, confident and like the freakin’ awesomesauce you are in. Select the option which best describes your skin health here to see and hear the amazing transformations you could be getting.