You may have heard of collagen, which is a natural protein that is produced in your body. Collagen is important for your body's internal organs, such as bones, but it also contributes to the healthy appearance of your skin. Collagen ensures the skin's elasticity and firmness, which is why anti-ageing skincare products often contain ingredients that boost the skin's collagen levels. This helps to minimise early signs of ageing such as wrinkles and fine lines.

Several Australian Bodycare products contain ingredients known to boost collagen levels in your skin.

Learn more about collagen and which products from our range can help you boost your skin's collagen production.

What is collagen?

Collagen is an important protein for your body and your skin. In the skin, collagen is formed in what is commonly known as the dermis. The protein ensures your skin's elasticity and firmness to maintain its youthful appearance.

However, your skin's natural collagen production decreases with age. So does the quality. This is part of the reason why you start to develop wrinkles as you get older.

You can add collagen to your body through collagen powder, supplements or through your diet to ensure your skin's collagen levels to minimise signs of ageing. To boost collagen production in the body, it is recommended to eat meat, seafood, red fruits and vegetables (e.g. red apples and berries, beetroot, peppers, etc.)

As collagen is a naturally occurring substance in our body, there are no side effects from consuming it, e.g. as a dietary supplement. It is the most abundant protein in your body and you automatically consume it if you eat meat on a daily basis. If you consume too much, e.g. through your diet, it is simply excreted through digestion. However, if you take collagen supplements in the form of powders or tablets, you should always follow the recommended daily dose prescribed by your collagen powder or supplement.

What does collagen do?

Collagen is one of the most important building blocks in your body and has an impact on both the inside of your body, such as bones, cartilage, tendons and connective tissue, as well as the outside - your skin.

Collagen is responsible for about 70% of your skin's structure, so it's important to safeguard the protein to keep your skin nice and smooth. As your collagen production decreases with age, you can use collagen powder or supplements to maintain skin firmness and minimise the loss of strength and suppleness in the outer layers of the skin.

In addition to the ravages of time and age, there are other factors that can contribute to depleting your skin's collagen levels and production that you should avoid or minimise:

• Smoking
• UV rays from the sun
• A monotonous diet of processed and nutrient-poor food
• Lay off the tobacco, wear sunscreen all year round and eat a healthy and varied diet. You're already well on your way.

It can also be a great idea to supplement with the right skincare. Luckily, there are skincare products that contain ingredients that give your skin's natural collagen production a loving push in the right direction.

Is collagen good for the skin?

Yes, collagen helps to minimise wrinkles and ensure tight, smooth and youthful skin.

However, it's not easy to find products with collagen, such as collagen cream or collagen serum.

Pure collagen molecules are too large to penetrate your skin. Therefore, ingredients are often used in skincare that instead boost your skin's natural collagen production and stimulate cell renewal.

Examples include ingredients such as vitamin C, AHA acid, Bakuchiol, Kakado plum and various peptides.

Vitamin C contributes to the normal formation of collagen in the skin, and you'll find a high concentration in the ingredient Persimmon Plum. Persimmon plum is added to our skin tonic, face cream and selected sera for anti-ageing.

AHA fruit acid triggers the skin's cell renewal and thus stimulates collagen production. When you use a natural fruit acid peel, you also gently remove dead skin cells, leaving your skin smooth and with a healthy glow. AHA can be found in Peeling Serum.

Bakuchiol stimulates the production of new collagen and slows down the skin's ageing process, reducing the visibility and depth of wrinkles and fine lines. Bakuchiol - which is a natural alternative to Retinol (vitamin A) - is on the ingredient list of Pre-aging Serum, which is especially recommended for those who want to prevent the early signs of skin ageing.

In this category, we have gathered the Australian Bodycare products that contain ingredients that help boost collagen and cell renewal.