Do you want to know how to rebuild collagen in the face? This post gives you seven simple steps you can start today to increase your body’s collagen naturally.
Collagen is essential for healthy skin. It provides a supportive structure and gives the skin its elasticity and bounciness.
The amount of collagen in your body reduces as you get older and as you are exposed to UV radiation or pollution in your environment. Typically this decline in collagen starts when you are in your 20s and then drops by about 1% every year.
As your skin starts to loose the elasticity that collagen gives it, you will start to see fine lines, wrinkles and crepey skin.
The good news is it’s not too late to start boosting your collagen levels! This post contains seven steps you can start taking right now to get the bounce back into your skin.
How to Rebuild Collagen in the Face
Signs of Collagen Loss in the Face
As we get older our bodies produce less collagen. Signs of collagen loss include dull skin, facial wrinkles, sagging skin, and sallowness. Since collagen strengthens the walls of our blood vessels, a loss of collagen can also lead to broken capillaries, or “spider veins” that appear beneath the skin’s surface.
These are all normal signs of aging. Since collagen also makes up our connective tissues, your joints start to experience more wear and tear as they get older, and may begin to ache.
The image below shows the difference between youthful skin on the left, and older skin with less collagen on the right.
What Destroys Collagen Production
As you get older the things that can increase the rate that you loose collagen include eating too much sugar, excess sun exposure, and smoking. The biggest factor that causes our skin to age faster is sun damage. There are proven links between loss of collagen in facial skin, and exposure to UV light.
How to Increase Collagen Naturally
There are many lifestyle changes you can make to increase your collagen levels naturally. In this post I explore seven steps you can start straight away which includes things like eating a healthy diet, using the right skin cream, having red light therapy, exercising your facial muscles, and preventing water loss to the skin.
How Long Does it Take for Collagen to Regenerate?
Depending on what steps you are taking to increase your collagen levels, it may take up for four months before you start to notice a difference in your skin tone. Treatments such as dermal fillers will produce immediate results, but if you are trying to increase collagen naturally this could take anywhere from 4 weeks to 4 months.
How to Rebuild Collagen Under the Eyes
The first signs of aging normally start to show on the neck and under the eyes. As well as following the steps in this post, you may also wish to invest in a jade roller to gently stimulate the skin under the eyes. Check out the following post on how to prevent wrinkles forming under the eyes.
7 Steps to Rebuild Collagen in the Face
Follow these seven steps listed below to start rebuilding collagen in your face straight away.
1. Use Retinol, Peptides and Vitamin C in your Skincare Routine
Using the right ingredients in your skincare routine is essential to help stimulate new collagen production. The best ingredients to look for are retinol, peptides and vitamin C. Applying collagen directly to the skin will not help since the collagen molecule is too large for the skin to absorb. Retinol, peptides and vitamin C all work to boost your skin’s own collagen production.
How to Rebuild Collagen in the Face with Retinol
Retinol has been proven to boost collagen production. The following two articles are worth reading. They look closely at some of the evidence we have that retinol increases the elasticity of your skin.
- Improvement of naturally aged skin with vitamin A (retinol)
- Retinoids in the treatment of skin aging: an overview of clinical efficacy and safety
If you are new to using retinol then I recommend you read The Beginner’s Guide To Retinoids Vs Retinol In Skincare before you start.
When I first started using Retinol I used a very mild product since it can cause dryness and flaking. The product I recommend for beginners, because it has such a low dose of Retinol, is the Elizabeth Arden Retinol Ceramide Capsules.
The Elizabeth Arden Retinol Ceramide Capsules
Elizabeth Arden Retinol Ceramide Capsules Line Erasing Night Serum, 30-Piece
Last update on 2022-07-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
How to Rebuild Collagen in the Face with Peptides
Peptides when applied topically can also help signal the skin to produce more collagen.
They are are short chains of amino acids which act as building blocks in your skin and are responsible for your skin’s texture, strength and resilience.
Peptides are able to penetrate the top layer of skin and send signals to yours cells to produce more collagen.
My favourite products containing peptides are by Estee Lauder.
E.Lauder Res. Multi-Effect Tri-Peptide Eye Cream 15ml
Last update on 2022-07-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
How to Rebuild Collagen in the Face with Vitamin C
Vitamin C is essential in collagen synthesis, and also has antioxidant properties. It therefore helps both in boosting your skin’s collagen production and preventing damage to collagen caused by free radicals.
For further reading on Vitamin C in skincare I recommend the following articles:
- Topical Vitamin C and the Skin: Mechanisms of Action and Clinical Applications
- The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health
- Vitamin C Serum – Proof that it Works!
My favourite Vitamin C serum is the Indeed Labs C24 which contains 22% vitamin
SALE
Last update on 2022-07-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
2. Protect Your Skin from UV Radiation with a good SPF
UV radiation plays a major role in the degradation of your collagen levels. The single biggest thing you can do to slow down this degradation is to wear sun protection every single day.
I use a sunscreen with SPF 50 every day and my current choice is Elizabeth Arden Prevage City Smart. It’s a broad spectrum mineral sunscreen so it blocks out both UVA and UVB rays with a combination of zinc and titanium dioxide.
I find it very hydrating and it also contains a tint (a bit like a BB cream).
This product is not only a SPF but also contains anti-pollution ingredients creating a barrier against pollutants in the air such as car exhaust and cigarette smoke. It also neutralises free radical damage caused by pollution.
Elizabeth Arden Prevage City Smart Anti-Pollution Shield SPF50, 38ml
- Visibly improves skin’s condition and maintains optimal skin health even in the most heavily…
- Outsmart pollution. Outsmart the sun. Outsmart visible aging. The first-of-its-kind skin shield to…
- Apply to pulse points such as the folds in the crook of your elbow, wrist, neck and cleavage….
- Defends against 98% of harmful UVB rays with a Broad Spectrum SPF 50 formula containing 100%…
- Visibly improves skin’s condition and maintains optimal skin health even in the most heavily…
Last update on 2022-07-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Other ways to protect your skin from UV radiation is to include ingredients such as niacinamide, azaleic acid, reservatrol, vitamin E, green tea and vitamin C into your skincare routine. These ingredients all neutralise free radicals caused by UV rays.
3. Ensure your Skin is Well Hydrated by Using Hyaluronic Acid
The more hydrated your skin is, the better the environment it gives for collagen to thrive.
In order to keep your skin well hydrated I recommend using hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid holds over a thousand times its weight in water and ensures moisture is retained in your skin.
I use hyaluronic acid topically as well as taking supplements. The products I recommend are:
Hyaluronic Acid supplements by Wild Nutrition
Wild Nutrition’s supplements contain extra low weight hyaluronic acid which has been clinically proven to reach the skin surface.
By having extra low weight it ensures optimum absorption in the skin layer.
I wrote about this product in my article 5 Proven Ways to Reduce Under Eye Wrinkles
Hada Labo Super Hydrator lotion
This product contains three different molecule sizes of hyaluronic acid designed to rehydrate your skin at multiple levels.
Last update on 2022-07-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
I reviewed this product in my article Japan’s Number 1 Skincare Line
Hydraluron Intense Moisture Lotion
This product is similar to the Hada Labo Super Hydrator Lotion in that it also contains three different molecular weights of hyaluronic acid.
I found that this product was a very different texture to the Hada Labo serum in that it was thicker and creamier (the Hada Labo serum is very watery).
Sometimes I like to use these together if my skin feels particularly dehydrated. I find that the Hada Labo product is more of a serum whereas the Hydraluron Intense Moisture Lotion can be used as a moisturiser.