Does Collagen powder works?



I am always on the fence when it comes to collagen. They are fundamentally amino acids, a basic building block in our body. This essentially means you can get collagen from food.


I put Meiji Amino Collagen Premium Powder to a test.





I took it religiously every night for a month.
I am not particular in the amount I consume - usually, I just use the same tiny spoon, mix 2-3 spoonful into the beverage of my choice and stir well. The serving size is probably around 7g or less.

Meiji Amino Collagen Premium

Ingredients:

Nutritional Information (7g):

How to use:

Packaging

There are two packaging options - can bottle (200g) and refill pack (214g). I picked the refill option because it is cheaper, larger in volume and more environmentally-friendly. I stored it in a plastic container. Not easy to carry around during travel or if you prefer to take this supplement on the go.

Ingredients

Looks alright but it is not vegetarian-friendly. People who are allergic to soybeans/dairy, please avoid this. It also contains gelatin. The collagen mainly comes from fish.

Smell

It does not smell fishy nor have any smell

Taste

Negligible. This is one of the most tasteless collagen I have ever tried. Doesn't even irk me when I dissolved it in water.

Solubility

Didn't know there will be a day I can use this word outside chemistry questions hehe. This dissolves very well in both hot and iced drinks, leaving no undissolved lumps at the bottom of the cup.

Effect (Before-After photos)

Does Meiji collagen works? I believe this is the reason why many of you are here.
I tried searching for reviews on the effects of Meiji collagen powder, or collagen in general but I got very fuzzy information.

Let me answer this once and for all - Collagen works, at least for me.

This was my skin before collagen (Dry, clogged with scarring and pigmentation).




And after taking Meiji Collagen Premium diligently every night for a month...





Smooth, taut and moisturised skin.
The improvement was visible, I have never seen my skin so smooth except after facial treatments.

It does little to help with scarring/pigmentations. They have been on my skin for a long long time.
I am not expecting to see any changes anyway. This is a collagen product to help with skin rejuvenation, not some miracle product.






I will continue to take this for the next 2 months; I will update again if there's anything!
Still in the quest for better skin, it was only around last year I learned to be comfortable heading out without foundation.

Overall

I am not new to collagen (wrote about another brand here) but I have never been so serious in taking them until this time around. And I am sold.
If you can't tell the difference, I don't know what to say anymore. My skin looks smoother and almost glowy now. It is taut and I noticed the dry lines on my forehead (something that was with me for a long long time) were gone!
My scars/healing process seems roughly the same still and it didn't work visibly for my freckles too.
Who knows what a few more months can do to them?

However, just by how it has improved my skin texture, I am sure Meiji Premium Collagen will be a staple. I will try to stretch out the frequency after 3 months just in case my body becomes reliant on it. Not sure whether that will happen or not but I just don't like the idea of taking something regularly or being dependent on something.
I am also exploring other alternatives, let me write about that soon!

Pros:

Cons:

Taste: 4.5/5
Smell: 5/5
Effect: 4.5/5
Convenience: 4/5
Ingredients: 4.5/5

Rating: 10/10
Will repurchase