Collagen Supplements Might Not Be a Complete Waste of Your Money After All

02.05.2026, 02:15 allure.com

Allure is a big fan of science, which makes us not big fans of supplements. Thousands of capsules and gummies flood the health aisles, but since they’re not required to be regulated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, they have to show zero proof of efficacy before they’re put on a shelf. So a supplement’s claims can potentially be murky, if not outright false. And the few solid, independent trials we have on supplements’ effects on our hair and skin and nails (and hearts and bones and mood) haven’t been able to prove to us that even the most above-board products in this space are actually doing anything. (A 2013 Johns Hopkins study was bluntly titled “Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements.”) But we have some big news: A recently published review of 113 clinical trials on collagen supplements specifically showed some promising evidence that taking them consistently over time has the potential to have positive effects on your skin, musculoskeletal, and oral health.

So, we may owe you a mea culpa because, well, we have really never said anything nice about collagen supplements. But it’s a mea culpa with caveats.

In the beauty space, collagen supplements have long been king among the pills and powders we wishfully ingest to look fresher and smoother and plumper. Collagen is the main structural protein in the skin, and it does a lot to make us look younger (babies have a ton of the stuff). It’s no surprise that so many companies are desperate to bottle it up—or that many consumers, searching for the fountain of youth, are here for it: Globally, 60 million people take collagen supplements daily; last year the collagen supplement market size was valued at $2.6 billion.

Doctors, researchers, and Allure editors, on the other hand, have not been here for these lucrative over-the-counter offerings—because of the whole no-proof-of-efficacy situation. So we called up a few MDs to talk about this new review and they have to admit: It’s kind of a big deal. Mona Gohara, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine, says it’s one of the most comprehensive looks we’ve had at collagen supplements maybe ever. “Collagen appears to offer modest but consistent improvements in skin hydration and elasticity, with some added benefits for joints and musculoskeletal health,” she says of the review. Hadley King, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, told us that this new review provides more tangible evidence than we’ve ever had that ongoing collagen use can have positive impacts, especially when it comes to skin elasticity and arthritis symptoms. “It was hard not to see collagen supplements as a possible snake oil because we just didn't have data,” she says. “Now, the [new] data we have backs that it is actually potentially helpful.”

Daniel Belkin, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, says that this evidence gives him enough confidence to recommend collagen supplements to his patients. “Before I wasn't able to do that,” he says. Dr. Belkin’s favorite supplements are from Elysium Health. He takes Basis, an NAD+ supplement, and Mosaic, a supplement for “collagen support.” He also started dabbling with the brand’s collagen powder after being persuaded by anecdotal evidence from his patients. “I started taking that just because I was like, ‘You know what? My patients are telling me this is helping them. Let me try it,’" he says. As of this month, he also has some data that it could be helping.

If you’re about to leave this page to add a year’s supply of collagen supplements to your Amazon cart—don’t go just yet. While promising, this new information is from a review of dozens of existing clinical trials—not a large double-blind, placebo-controlled study that gives us an end-all-be-all answer to the question of whether ingesting collagen can improve our skin. Some of the review’s findings were inconsistent, and the authors said that among their 16 meta-analyses (a statistical method that combines data from multiple studies), one was high-quality, four were low-quality, and the rest were rated as “critically low” when it came to potential bias. Reasons for these ratings, though, included simply a “lack of proper discussion of publication bias” and the fact that some of the studies were not registered in advance.

The sources Allure spoke with all say that there’s still more data needed before they could declare that collagen supplements work with 100% confidence. Supplements are often hard to study because tracking the effects of ingestible products is more difficult than with topical ones. “It's really hard to isolate [supplements] versus other things, like diet, age, menopausal status,” says Dr. Belkin.

Collagen supplements are “not a magic wand,” says Dr. Gohara. The data in this new review doesn’t show that these supplements support any meaningful wrinkle reduction or reversal of aging signs, which is often what consumers are looking for when they buy the stuff. It only shows that they help with the overall dermal foundation and hydration of the skin. This news certainly hasn’t convinced her personally to start taking collagen supplements. And she likely won’t until they are FDA-approved. “I'm kind of a stickler for science, especially when it comes to something I’m ingesting,” she says.

While Dr. King agrees that there’s more data needed for her to commit to recommending collagen to her patients, that doesn’t mean she’s supplement-averse: She has spoken to Allure in the past about taking BioSil Collagen Generator (which contains choline-stabilized orthosilicic acid, an ingredient that can stimulate the body's production of collagen, elastin, and keratin) and BodyHealth PerfectAmino Tablets. Both pills remain part of her daily regimen. As a vegan, she has conflicting thoughts about collagen in general. “To be completely honest, I do sometimes take collagen when various companies send it to me,” she adds. “But it's not something that I've committed to doing every day.”

If all this has you thinking you might be in the market for a collagen supplement, Dr. King says to look for a brand that offers as much data to the consumer as possible. You can also ask your dermatologist for recommendations. And, if you've already been ingesting the stuff on a regular basis, you can carry on with a little more confidence.

“Taking collagen is a bit like sending extra building materials to a construction site,” Dr. Gohara says. “It may support the structure, but it doesn’t guarantee a renovation.” She notes that skin aging is driven by multiple factors, like UV exposure, hormones, and lifestyle, so adding a collagen supplement alone won’t override biology. If you’re not already doing the skin-care basics—wearing sunscreen, using retinoids, eating a variety of whole foods—start with those, then see if you want to add the pricy powders or pills.

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