Does Collagen Help With Acne & What Are These Supplements Good for?

Are you wondering how to get rid of your zits? While there are a number of over-the-counter remedies available for acne, many times breakouts persist even after treatment. Once you get rid of one zit, more acne may continue to crop up, making you feel like an insecure teenager again.

A surprisingly effective way to treat acne is with hydrolyzed collagen. We’ve received feedback from Taut® customers who have purchased Taut® Premium Collagen Drinks that their acne has gone away and the scars have faded. This new discovery from customers has prompted us to dig further into the science of hydrolyzed collagen and its power to heal acne from the inside of our skin.

So if you're wondering can collagen help acne, and what are the top 10 skin care products and treatments that really work, then look no further! We've got the lowdown on the power of collagen supplements for acne, and the best treatment options to help you get your skin back in tip-top shape.

Signs & Symptoms of Acne

Before we break down how and why does collagen help acne, let's take a look at the main signs and symptoms of this pesky skin condition.

Acne is characterized by breakouts. But it's not quite so simple, acne can cause an array of different types of spots on your face, neck, chest, and back. These include:

• Whiteheads – Pores clogged by oil and dead skin, with skin closed over them.
• Blackheads – A clogged follicle with an open area that becomes filled with oil and dead skin. Exposure to oxygen causes this blemish to darken and look black.
• Papules – Small inflamed red lumps
• Pustules – Pimples that contain pus i.e. those characteristic spots you definitely shouldn't pop.
• Nodules – Hard (and often painful) pimples that occur deeper under the skin's surface.
• Cysts – Large, pus-filled pimples.
• Fungal acne – When yeast grows in the hair follicle, causing itchiness and inflammation.

Alongside these kinds of spots, you might also experience pain, tenderness, redness, and inflammation of the skin in the affected areas.

What Causes Acne?

While acne is more common among teens, adults can also suffer from outbreaks, no matter their skin type. There are many factors that can contribute to the development of adult acne, let's take a closer look:

Clogged Pores

The simplest reason skin blemishes occur is a blockage in your pores, and this is generally caused by oil and dead skin cells. This is why oily skin types are more likely to suffer from breakouts and other skin issues, as the more oil your skin produces, the more likely it is to trap dead skin cells and clog up your pores.

That's not to say that all oil is a bad thing. Your hair follicles are connected to oil glands that secrete sebum, which is a waxy oily substance that lubricates your hair and skin – keeping them supple and soft.

The problem comes when your body produces too much sebum, and it builds up in your hair follicles along with dead skin cells, creating an optimal environment for bacteria to thrive. If bacteria infect your clogged pores, inflammation occurs. This process results in those unsightly pimples we all abhor.

Hormonal Changes

Excess sebum is the root cause of acne and its blemishes, and one of the most influential factors determining how much sebum your body produces is your hormone levels.

Cortisol, otherwise known as the stress hormone, stimulates oil production in your sebaceous glands.

An increase in progesterone during ovulation, typically day 14 of your menstrual cycle, can also result in excess sebum production, leaving your skin greasier and more prone to blemishes.

You might also be all too familiar with period acne, regularly dealing with those pesky blemishes that appear during your time of the month. As if the mood swings weren't enough to manage! This happens during your period because your body is experiencing a drop in estrogen and progesterone and a rise in testosterone, which boosts sebum production in your skin and leads to those unsightly spots.

During menopause, rapidly declining estrogen and progesterone levels can lead to oiler, more breakout-prone skin. The hormonal changes during menopause also cause a decline in your body's natural collagen production, which affects the strength of your skin and its ability to heal from acne scars and wounds. 1

Poor Diet

We've all been there! Sometimes a few days of eating too much junk food or a few too many glasses of wine can manifest on our faces as a nasty breakout. Unfortunately, when we consume too much sugar, salt, or overly processed junk foods, our skin feels the negative effects.

When we eat too much sugar, an overdose of insulin floods our bodies, and this spike in insulin can cause an array of skin health problems, acne included. Insulin is a hormone that provokes an increase in oil production in the skin, which in turn can lead to pore blockages and breakouts.

An excess of oil also creates the perfect environment for bacteria to thrive on your skin. Combine that with the hit sugar takes on your immune system, and you have bacteria that your body can't work fast enough to get rid of, making your face the ideal host for breakouts!

Salty food, on the other hand, has a dehydrating effect on your skin that triggers, you guessed it, oil production. When your body tries to counteract dry dehydrated skin with oil, you've got the perfect combination of dry skin flakes and oil to clog pores and cause breakouts. 2

Oxidative Stress & Free Radicals

Oxidative stress and inflammation are caused by free radicals, which are dangerous molecules that attack collagen and weaken its structure. Habits like smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol trigger free radical generation in the body, leading to a decline in collagen production plus damage to your existing collagen supplies.

When your collagen supplies are weakened, your skin's defenses are down and you are more exposed to pimple-causing bacteria. 3

Endocrine Diseases

Although acne is a common skin condition that generally comes from simple causes, there are some medical conditions affecting your hormone levels that could be at the root of your blemishes – particularly if your acne is persistent. Conditions such as PCOS, alopecia, ovulatory dysfunction, infertility, or metabolic syndrome can all cause acne-style breakouts on your skin. 4

How Does Collagen Help Acne?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, and 80% of your skin is made up of this vital protein. As you age, the collagen content in your skin decreases by 1% each year. This decline in collagen is why your skin’s elasticity decreases and you start to get wrinkles. Your skin also starts to lose its glow and tone as you age due to the breakdown of collagen and free radical damage.

Fortunately, you can turn back the hands of time and beat the signs of aging skin with hydrolyzed collagen. In two studies that were presented at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, a daily supplement of hydrolyzed collagen was given to 47 European women to treat aging, acne, and dry skin. The women who took a dose of collagen daily experienced a 28% improvement in skin hydration levels as well as a 30% improvement in the reduction of fine lines and wrinkles. 5, 6

Collagen is widely recognized today as a highly effective treatment option for aging skin – but it is also a critical component in treating and healing many kinds of wounds, including acne. Let's take a closer look at how collagen helps treat this skin condition.

Helps Heal Acne Scars

The bacteria that causes acne can damage your skin tissue and weaken the structure of cells in the lower layers of the skin. Collagen, the most abundant protein in the dermal layer, is needed to repair and strengthen this structural matrix. Furthermore, if you pop a zit, it will need to heal like any cut and collagen helps play an important role in the wound healing process.

The only thing more unpleasant to deal with than a zit is the scar that it leaves behind. Acne scars are permanent indentations caused by the damage of collagen in your skin. Cystic acne, which is typically characterized by an infection that occurs in the deepest layer of your skin, destroys skin and fat cells around the infection area, which results in the deepest acne scarring.

For most of us, it takes a few weeks post-breakout before the scar forms. New blood vessels move into the area and provide the skin with nourishment. Collagen starts to form in the area many months later, filling in the injured skin. Collagen is a tough, fiber-like protein that stimulates cell migration and contributes to the development of new tissue. Collagen can help provide immediate improvement to scars by replacing lost volume. When your skin is injured, fibroblasts produce collagen to fill and close the wounds.

The crater-like scars that acne commonly leaves behind are caused when collagen contracts or doesn’t grow back completely after a pimple heals. Including a collagen supplement in your regular routine can help speed collagen formation and tissue repair to heal acne scars. Your skin will become smoother and more hydrated to boot.

Contains Anti-Inflammatory Amino Acids

Collagen is made up of 19 amino acids, among which are glycine, proline, lysine, and hydroxyproline. Lysine and glycine, in particular, have strong anti-inflammatory effects that can help reduce the symptoms of inflammatory acne including redness, tenderness, and swelling.

As an added bonus, these amino acids in collagen can help improve muscle strength, promote gut health, and reduce joint pain, too!

Hydrates & Strengthens Skin

Collagen plays a key role in the strength of your skin, giving it structure and stability. It is the protein responsible for how smooth your skin is, so increasing your collagen levels with foods, skincare products and supplements can help smooth out the irregular skin tone and texture that comes with acne.

Collagen also increases skin hydration, keeping dry skin at bay which in turn helps regulate oil production and reduce breakouts.

3 Collagen Remedies for Acne

If you want to get the benefits of collagen for acne, there are a few ways to increase collagen in your dermis. These include:

1. Collagen-Boosting Foods

Nutrition and a properly balanced diet play a big role in healthy skin, and it's true that you can get more collagen in your body through foods rich in collagen and other supporting vitamins. Many people swear by collagen bone broth, a soup made by boiling down the bones and connective tissues of beef, pork, or chicken that can help boost collagen in your body for healthy skin, joints and muscles.

Foods like eggs, oysters, citrus fruits, berries, nuts, and seeds can also help support your collagen levels. When you eat collagen-boosting foods like these, you are providing your body with the nutrients it needs for collagen synthesis (e.g. amino acids and vitamin C).

2. Collagen Creams

Topical collagen in the form of collagen creams or serums can have some benefits for your skin, however, it's very possible that they won't be able to match their claims of restoring and replenishing your body's collagen.

This is because pure collagen in its native state is too large a molecule to be absorbed through the dermis, so most of these collagen products will just sit on your skin until they are washed away.

If you see the term hydrolyzed collagen peptides or collagen hydrolysate on the label, you will have more luck. When collagen is hydrolyzed into smaller collagen peptides, it is more easily absorbed into your body.

A Topical Collagen Treatment That Really Works

Taut Collagen Mask is our most luxurious topical collagen treatment, packed with hydrolyzed marine collagen peptides and hyaluronic acid to simultaneously strengthen and hydrate your skin.

It's also packed with botanical squalene derived from olives, which works as a powerful antioxidant that can help restore our skin's natural oil – which regulates your natural sebum levels and prevents excess oil production in response to dryness. The best news for acne-prone skin is that it is non-comedogenic (i.e. it won't clog your pores) and clinically proven to be non-irritating.

Last but not least, this powerful face mask also boasts vitamin C, which fights free radicals, supports your body's collagen synthesis, and helps heal facial wounds.

Treat yourself to a mini spa day from the comfort of your home with this 15-minute collagen treatment that hydrates, tones, and brightens your skin, and helps heal up any persistent acne scars too!

3. Collagen Supplements

Adding a collagen powder, pill, or liquid supplement to your routine is the best way to effectively boost your collagen levels and thereby improve your skin health.

Although foods can help, a 2019 study concluded that oral supplementation with hydrolyzed collagen peptides is a much more effective and efficient way to boost your body's collagen production than homemade remedies like bone broth. 7

What makes collagen supplements so effective is their bioavailability, which describes the rate at which they can be absorbed and used in the bloodstream. When collagen supplements contain hydrolyzed collagen peptides that have been treated and broken down into nano-sized pieces for maximum absorption by the body, they can quickly and effectively trigger collagen production in the body. Marine collagen, in particular, is known to have the highest bioavailability and therefore is the most efficient and effective option for improving skin health.

By drinking collagen supplements containing the right balance of hydrolyzed collagen peptides, antioxidants, and hydrating ingredients, you can speed up your skin's healing processes, strengthen your body's defenses against a variety of skin issues, and fight fine lines and wrinkles too!

Get Clear Skin With Taut® Premium Collagen Drink

Taut® Premium Collagen Advanced Formula is made with the highest potency 13,000mg hydrolyzed marine collagen peptides, hyaluronic acid, and elastin alongside other anti-aging ingredients like vitamin C, DNA, grape seed extract, and vitamin B6. Together, these ingredients work synergistically to fight imperfections and promote beautiful skin from the inside out.

Because collagen plays a key role in healing acne scarring, taking collagen helps speed up your skin's natural healing process and allows you to bounce back quickly from those unwanted breakouts. No need to live with the signs of acne for years to come, boost your collagen levels and help your skin thrive.

Try it for three weeks to discover how Taut can super boost your collagen production and say bye-bye to breakouts and acne scars! 

Acne Prevention & Treatment

Aside from incorporating a high-quality collagen supplement into your daily skincare routine, there are a few other steps you can take to make sure your skin stays as healthy as can be. Here are our top tips for preventing acne breakouts:

Avoid Dead Skin With Regular Exfoliation

Flaky dead skin is one of the main things that, when combined with excess sebum, will stick around to clog your pores, encourage bacteria overgrowth, and cause breakouts.

So if you want to avoid blemishes, make sure you keep dead skin at bay with a good exfoliation routine, ideally exfoliating your skin 2 to 3 times per week. You can remove dead skin with two methods of exfoliation: physical and chemical.

Physical exfoliation involves physically scrubbing away skin cells, using products like exfoliating mitts, coffee scrubs, or sugar scrubs.

Chemical exfoliation, on the other hand, uses AHA or BHA acids to gently dissolve the bonds that hold dead cells to your skin, allowing them to melt away and reveal baby soft skin below. Although chemicals sound like a harsher way to go about it, this is actually a gentle and effective way to keep your skin fresh. Learn more about skin purging vs. breakout.

Acne-prone skin types should look for ingredients like salicylic acid, azelaic acid, glycolic acid, or lactic acid in exfoliating toners and masks. These will help keep pores clear and let your skin breathe – bye-bye breakouts!

Speed Up Cell Turnover With Retinoids

Another way to improve your skin health and reduce breakouts is to use retinoids, which are a group of ingredients in the vitamin A family that are known to be effective at treating blemishes and breakouts.

Retinoids help speed up skin cell turnover, which plays a big role in wound healing and can help you bid good riddance to acne scars. The main topical retinoid product for acne approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is tretinoin. 8

Ingredients like retinol, retinyl palmitate, tazarotene, and adapalene also belong to the retinoid family, and they can be used to fight breakouts as well as treating fine lines and wrinkles, too.

Keep Skin Hydrated

Last but not least, don't forget to keep your skin hydrated with a good moisturizing routine. It's a common misconception that oily skin types should avoid using a face moisturizer, but without proper hydration, your skin will overcompensate by producing more oil than it should. Combine that with dry dead skin clogging your pores, and you've got a recipe for disaster!

Oily and acne-prone skin types need lightweight, non-comedogenic moisturizing products. Look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, glycerin, or lactic acid, all of which are humectants that increase your body's ability to retain moisture and improve skin elasticity.

Moisturize Your Skin From Within

Taut Hydrate hyaluronic acid supplements are a great way to hydrate your skin from the inside out, without worrying about blocking pores or causing irritation.

Taut Hydrate contains the perfect combination of high-potency plant-based hyaluronic acid and grape seed extract. This power-duo works synergistically to plump and super-hydrate your skin, fight free radicals, improve firmness and smoothness, and visibly reduce signs of skin imperfections. 

It's the perfect way to plump up your skin from the inside out, reducing uneven skin texture and giving you the radiant glow of your dreams!

Discover the Secret to Healthy, Clear Skin

If you're tired of dealing with breakouts, and dull, tired-looking skin, then our Ultimate Transformation Program might just be your new best friend.

This beauty bundle contains a three-week supply of Taut Premium Collagen Drink, Taut Hydrate, and Taut Collagen Masks, designed to work together to dramatically transform your skin, from the inside out and the outside in.

Let our premium collagen supplements fight the natural decline in skin quality that comes with hormonal changes and aging, enhancing your skin's inner strength and resilience. Adding collagen peptides to your skincare routine can also greatly help how young your skin looks, as collagen can help strengthen the dermal layer and prevent wrinkling, sagging, and crepey skin.

Taut Hydrate will provide even the oiliest skin with a hit of effective hydration that won't clog pores, while our luxurious collagen peptides-infused Mask can provide effective healing and skin-plumping goodness from the outside in.
Try it today and discover how healthy your skin can be in as little as three weeks!

Never miss a treatment with our monthly subscription service.

References:

1. Menopausal Acne – Challenges And Solutions
2. Salty and Spicy Foods in Acne: A Case-Control Study
3. Antioxidant Properties of Various Culinary Spices
4. Diet and Acne: A Review
5. Glycemic Index and Acne: A Systematic Review
6. Western Diet and Acne: Mechanisms and Clinical Implications
7. Milk and Dairy Consumption and Acne: A Systematic Review
8. FDA Approval Summary for Drug Application 020475