Skinade - Marine Collagen Peptide Drink

The science: your skin.


Skin is the largest organ in the human body and as it is exposed to environmental stress, it is the most tell tale indicator of our age and lifestyle.

Your skin can be divided into two layers:

1. The epidermis: an outer barrier layer
2. The dermis: an inner structural layer

Collagen is a simple protein made up of amino acids.

The collagen matrix is responsible for skin support, firmness, elasticity, hydration, and the constant production of new skin cells.

The more collagen you have, the more healthy, elastic and supple your skin is and the more youthful it appears. Alarmingly, we lose 1% of the collagen in our skin each year after the age of 20. This loss results in skin ageing, including wrinkles, fine lines, dry, blemished and thinning skin.

Skin ageing

Fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin and loss of youthful plumpness, combined with a natural decline in the body’s ability to regenerate new cells, are all visible signs of ageing. Environmental aggressors such as UV rays, cold and pollution cause dull, rough, dry skin and fine lines and wrinkles.

Over the past decade, intensive research into skin ageing has shown that the major differentiator between youthful and ageing skin is the health and integrity of the collagen matrix in the dermis, the support structure below the skin’s surface.

In ageing skin, the collagen matrix is weakened, broken and fragmented, impairing the structure of the dermis. As the collagen matrix degenerates it becomes brittle, fragile and loses its capacity to maintain hydration.

Maintaining the health and structure of the collagen matrix is key to targeting these skin concerns and can dramatically improve the skin’s youthful, healthy appearance.

Studies show that the most effective way to maintain the collagen matrix is to boost the body’s own production of collagen by ingesting collagen peptides.

Mechanism of action

The Hydrolysed Marine Collagen Peptides in skinade have a low molecular weight. The collagen fibres formed, strengthen the collagen matrix in the dermis. Collagen improves skin elasticity by increasing the density of fibroblasts (the cells responsible for rebuilding connective tissue) and improves skin hydration and reduces fine lines and wrinkles.

Drinking skinade also stimulates the body’s own natural collagen production. When the body senses collagen in the blood stream, it stimulates the proliferation of fibroblasts reinforcing the collagen matrix and playing a critical role in wound healing.

This dual action makes skinade a highly effective skincare solution. Consumed on a daily basis, skinade aims to return your body to a younger state of collagen production, resulting in a visibly more youthful appearance.

Your collagen - the key to youthful skin

Collagen accounts for 75% of youthful skin, forming the main structural element of the skin in the collagen matrix in the dermis. It provides the structure supporting the epidermis and gives your skin its youthful fullness. When collagen molecules are damaged, skin loses its elasticity and begins to sag, wrinkle and age.

Collagen’s structure

Collagen is composed of three chains wound tightly around each other creating a three-dimensional, triple helix structure. These chains are made up of the amino acids glycine, proline and hydroxyproline. Hydroxyproline plays a particularly important role in stabilising the collagen triple helix, preventing it from being broken down and eliminated by the body; a process that causes skin ageing.

Results show that replenishing these three amino acids, the vital building blocks of the collagen in our skin and connective tissue, helps slow down the ageing process.

The vital hydroxyproline is created by modifying proline after the collagen chain has been formed - a process which requires vitamin C. Our bodies cannot produce vitamin C naturally, and if we don’t get enough in our diets, the results can be dangerous - not only for our skin, but for all the connective tissues in our body.

In order to maintain healthy skin function, and to help with the natural production of collagen, it’s imperative to have a bio-available source of vitamin C.

The role of fibroblasts.

In addition to its structural role, collagen also regulates the activity of fibroblasts in the skin. Fibroblasts are the cells that are responsible for rebuilding the connective tissue, including the collagen matrix in the dermis, and they play a critical role in wound healing.


Studies* have concluded that treatments which stimulate the proliferation of new, non-fragmented collagen can provide substantial improvement to the appearance and health of aged skin.

Skinade advanced anti-ageing formula stimulates the production of new, undamaged collagen. Fibroblasts are able to attach themselves to this new collagen structures and this, in turn, balances the body’s own natural collagen synthesis, reversing the self-destructive ageing process.

* National Institute of Health: Public Access Author Manuscript, Arch Dermatol. 17 June 2010

The collagen in Skinade.

In the nutricosmetics industry, collagen peptides from marine sources are growing in popularity due to their high quality and efficacy. However, in order to be beneficial to the skin, collagen peptides must be bio-available, they need to be easily and quickly absorbed by the body.

Skinade contains pure Hydrolysed Marine Collagen Peptides sourced from the skin of fresh-water fish, which are low in sodium and eliminate the potential for mercury contamination. Our peptides are extracted using a gentle enzymatic hydrolysis process to achieve the lowest possible molecular weight (2000 Daltons). The lower the molecular weight, the easier it is for the body to absorb the collagen.

Once hydrolysed the peptides are stable and soluble. Hydrolysed marine collagen proteins are known to be the most abundant in Type I and Type III collagen, the same type that is found in the skin. Studies* have shown that fragmentation of collagen fibres leads to a decrease in total collagen, mainly Type I and Type III, and accelerates the ageing process - especially above 60 years of age.

The low molecular weight of our collagen makes it more bio-available and, therefore, beneficial to the body. Several studies demonstrate the bio-availability of our hydrolysed collagen peptides. Results show that, after being ingested orally, more than 90% of hydrolysed collagen peptides are absorbed by the body, with 95% absorbed within the first 12 hours.

Collagen peptides may also trigger the body’s own natural process of collagen production by stimulating the proliferation of fibroblasts - the cells responsible for new collagen generation. This is evident in the increase in fibroblast density and the diameter of collagen fibres in the skin, both of which improve the skin’s strength, suppleness and structure.

Clinical studies also show that the collagen we use in skinade improves skin hydration and smoothness, therefore, it is also likely to boost cell turnover. By stimulating collagen synthesis, collagen peptides improve the water-binding ability of the outer layer of skin, reducing fine lines and preventing the formation of deep wrinkles.

Taken daily for up to 12 weeks, the collagen peptides in skinade have clinically shown to:

1. Increase skin hydration levels
2. Increase skin smoothness by reducing the number of fine lines
3. Prevent the formation of deep wrinkles
4. Improve skin suppleness