What’s the Deal with Ingestible Skincare? 

We’re big proponents of food as medicine here at Poosh, but we also know how beneficial some supplements can be. Key word: some.

Do ingestible skin care supplements fall into that category?

To find out, we tapped board-certified cosmetic, medical, and surgical dermatologist Blair Murphy-Rose, M.D., FAAD, the founder of Skincare Junkie®. And for good measure, we also talked to Stanford Medicine-certified nutritionist Melissa Pfeister, founder of Stripped with Melissa.

Before we get into it, a quick reminder: “It is always best to seek medical advice from a trusted professional prior to starting a new supplement,” Dr. Blair says. “Also, be sure to maintain a well-balanced diet to support skin, nail, and hair health even if you start an ingestible.” 

Short answer: “Ingestible skin care includes vitamins and supplements intended to bring about skin benefits,” Dr. Blair says. 

In other words, it’s taken orally as a supplement “to deliver active ingredients from within instead of applying topical skin care products,” Melissa explains.

“These supplements can be an amazing way to support external skin health, as well as the overall well-being of our entire bodies.” 

She adds that these benefits can outweigh the benefits of topical skin care, but you have to be patient. “It takes longer to see results, whereas with topical skin care, you’ll notice more immediate results,” she says. 

Yes and no. As with most things in life, the answer is complicated. 

“There are many different types of ingestible skin care,” Dr. Blair says. “Some purport to boost collagen production, improve hydration status of the skin, or provide antioxidant effects. Some of these achieve results more effectively than others, and while data is limited, there is evidence to support the efficacy of some.” 

According to Dr. Blair, some of the best studied ingestibles with data to support efficacy are vitamin C, CoQuinone an absorbable form of CoQ10, resveratrol, and green tea 

Melissa also recommends biotin, collagen, and selenium. 

“Dietary antioxidants are well known to achieve real results and improve the health of skin,” Dr. Blair explains. “Many hair and nail supplements are effective because they contain well-studied hair and nail growth ingredients. It is less clear whether hydration pills or collagen peptides evoke true change in the skin. However, some data does support these claims.” 

Both agree that skin care supplements should be combined with a healthy diet for best results. 

“Please remember,” Melissa says, “don’t start tossing out all of your topical skin care products. We need that too! Moisturizer and sunscreen are immensely important.”

In other words, healthy, radiant skin is the result of a combined effort between the internal and external. Teamwork makes the dream work. 

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