Liquid collagen is becoming a more popular format of collagen supplementation. It’s more convenient than powdered collagen and is frequently positioned as a “luxury” type of collagen by brands.
But is liquid collagen really any different than powdered or capsule collagen? How does the cost compare? Can liquid collagen really improve skin and joint health?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we review medical studies on liquid collagen to give our take on whether or not it’s effective for improving skin and joint health.
We’ll also compare the cost of liquid collagen and powdered collagen, explain if there are any relevant differences and explain why we think liquid collagen is a waste of money.
Can Liquid Collagen Reverse Aging?
Collagen is one of the most well-studied dietary supplements for skin and joint health. It can be used both topically and orally, but we’ll focus on the benefits of oral collagen intake since this is how liquid collagen is taken.
A medical review published in the Dermatology Practical & Conceptual journal examined the effects of collagen consumption on skin. The study authors concluded that collagen “can contribute to reducing or delaying skin aging.”
Not only was collagen found to reduce wrinkles, but it was also clinically shown to improve skin hydration, reduce skin roughness and improve skin elasticity.
As we documented in our review of the best collagen protein powder, the maximally-effective dose of oral collagen supplements appears to be 10 grams (g) daily.
Collagen has other health effects than its anti-aging effect. It’s also clinically shown to support joint health.
A 2008 clinical trial on collagen peptides and joint pain reported that after 3 months, 80% of patients report an improvement in their joint pain symptoms.
Based on the available medical studies, we consider liquid collagen likely to have an anti-aging effect and to improve joint health when taken at an effective daily 10 g dose.
A popular YouTube health influencer and doctor named “Doctor ER” has a video highlighting other benefits of collagen:
But why do we consider liquid collagen to be a waste of money? We’ll explain in the next section.
Why Liquid Collagen is a Waste of Money
Collagen is a type of protein that is the same structurally whether it’s included in a powder, capsule or liquid formulation. There is no extra benefit to taking liquid collagen than taking collagen in powder form and adding it to water.
Liquid collagen tends to be significantly more expensive than powder collagen because the majority of the formulation by weight is water or other liquids rather than collagen, while the entire formulation by weight of a powder collagen product is just collagen.
Here’s a comparative cost breakdown:
Modere Liquid Collagen is one of the most popular collagen products on the market. As we documented in the linked review, this product costs $76.99 and doesn’t even state the collagen dose. Collagen is included in a proprietary blend with a total dose of 4.3 g, so we’ll say (being generous to the brand) that there is 3 g of collagen in this liquid collagen product that has 30 servings.
This equates to a cost of $8.55 per 10 g collagen (which is what we consider the effective daily dose).
Bulletproof Collagen Powder is our top collagen powder pick because it’s sourced from grass-fed animals, is free of any questionable additive ingredients, and has a great price.
This product costs $43.95 and contains 500 g of collagen, equating to a cost of $0.88 per 10 g collagen. This proves that powdered collagen can be up to 90% cheaper than liquid collagen, and should be equally effective.
Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof Collagen Powder at this link to the product page on the official brand’s website.
Real, Unsponsored Liquid Collagen User Review
A YouTube creator named “Simply Stacie” reviewed Modere’s liquid collagen and included before-and-after images of her skin and hair. She also mentions side effects that she experienced:
Our Clean Collagen Picks
Bulletproof Collagen Powder is our top overall collagen pick because its only ingredient is hydrolyzed collagen sourced from grass-fed animals.
Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof Collagen powder at this link to the product page on the brand's official website.
Super Youth Unflavored is our top premium collagen supplement, as it not only provides an effective collagen dose, but also contains sodium ascorbate which was described as a "potent stimulator of collagen and elastin production in the treatment of wrinkled and stretch-marked skin" in a clinical trial published in the Journal of Dermatological Science.
Interested consumers can check out Super Youth Unflavored at this link to the product page on the brand's official website.
Bulletproof Chocolate Collagen is our top flavored collagen powder pick.
This collagen powder is naturally flavored with organic cocoa powder and coconut creamer powder, and is the healthiest flavored collagen we've reviewed to-date.
Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof Chocolate Collagen at this link to the product page on the brand's official website.
