Ingredients you can trust

Collagen is a protein your body makes itself, assembled from amino acids in a specific sequence. Marine and bovine collagen supplements supply that protein ready-made, extracted from fish skin or cattle hide, then broken down into peptides. Your digestive system dismantles those peptides into individual amino acids before anything is absorbed, because the intact collagen molecule is far too large to cross the gut wall.

Most vegan alternatives work from the other end. Instead of supplying a protein that has to be taken apart, they supply the amino acids themselves, from fermented and plant-derived sources, in the profile the body needs to build collagen of its own. We use VeCollal®, which takes that principle considerably further.

Most vegan collagen supplements are amino acid blends. They supply glycine, proline and a few others in generous amounts and leave the body to do the rest. That provides substrate, the raw material for collagen synthesis, and substrate alone is a blunt instrument.

VeCollal® is built to a different specification. It replicates the amino acid profile and sequence of human Type I collagen rather than approximating it, which means it supplies both the substrate and the pattern.

The sequence is the part that matters most, and it is the part most vegan collagens leave out. Collagen synthesis is a regulated process, not a simple assembly line. Fibroblasts respond to the specific peptide sequences they encounter, and those sequences act as signals that influence how much collagen the cell produces. Supplying amino acids in the right proportions provides material. Supplying them in the right sequence provides instruction. VeCollal® also includes L-tryptophan, an amino acid absent from animal derived collagens altogether.

The difference shows in the laboratory. In human skin fibroblasts, the cells responsible for producing collagen in the dermis, VeCollal® increased collagen production by 134.97% against untreated cells, more than doubling output. In vitro comparison against bovine and marine collagen peptides using a model gut system measured a greater release of free amino acids from the vegan formulation. And in human studies, it is one of very few vegan collagens with two placebo-controlled
trials behind it, one of them published and peer reviewed.

There are more than twenty-eight types of collagen in the human body. Three matter for skin, joints and structure.

Type I is the most abundant, making up the majority of the collagen in skin, and it is also found in bone, tendon and the structure of hair and nails. Type II is the predominant collagen in cartilage, where it forms the framework that gives
joints their resilience and cushioning. Type III sits alongside Type I in skin
and blood vessels, and is more abundant in younger skin.

Type III sits alongside Type I in skin, and the two are structurally related: Type III is more abundant in younger and healing skin, where it acts as scaffolding, and is progressively replaced by Type I as tissue matures. Type I is the collagen that gives adult skin its density and tensile strength, which is why it is the type carrying the weight of the research.

Marine collagen supplies mainly Type I. Bovine collagen supplies Types I and III. Almost every vegan collagen on the market supplies a Type I profile only, and none of them supply Type II.

Animal collagen arrives as a protein that must be broken down by digestion into amino acids and short peptides before absorption. Nothing crosses the gut wall as intact collagen. What the body receives, in every case, is amino acids and peptides, and it rebuilds collagen from them according to its own instructions.

VeCollal®, the vegan collagen in our Dual Collagen Complex, supplies those amino acids directly, in the profile and sequence of human collagen rather than fish or cattle collagen, alongside the Vitamin C and cofactors the synthesis enzymes require. Because the sequence is matched to human collagen, it also delivers the peptide signals that prompt fibroblasts to produce more of their own. Laboratory comparison using a model gut system measured a greater release of free amino acids from VeCollal® than from bovine or marine collagen peptides.

This is the next generation of collagen supplementation. It is more advanced than the amino acid blends that make up most of the vegan category, it removes the sourcing and sustainability questions that come with fish skin and cattle hide, and it is one of very few vegan collagens supported by two placebo-controlled human studies. It is also the only one available in both Type I and Type II, which is what allows a single sachet to work on skin and joints together.

Hydroxypinacolone retinoate, or HPR, is a sophisticated retinol alternative. Traditional retinol is effective, and it is also the most common cause of the dryness, flaking and stinging that lead people to abandon a routine before it has had time to work. HPR was selected because it delivers results with markedly better tolerance.

Our study data bears that out: at twelve weeks, 84% of participants experienced no irritation or peeling from the Protect Serum.

It is paired with bakuchiol, and the pairing is deliberate. The two work through different routes to the same outcome. HPR acts directly on the retinoid receptor pathway that governs cell turnover and collagen expression. Bakuchiol, a plant-derived active, influences overlapping gene expression without engaging that pathway at all, and brings antioxidant activity of its own. Combining them means each can sit at a comfortable concentration while the formulation as a whole does more
than either could alone, which is why the tolerance figures are as high as they are.

L-ascorbic acid, the most common form of Vitamin C in skincare, is effective but notoriously unstable. It oxidises on contact with air and light, which is why so many Vitamin C serums turn orange in the bottle and lose potency before the bottle is finished.

Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, or THD ascorbate, is stable and oil-soluble, so it holds its strength and penetrates the lipid-rich skin barrier more readily. It is also considerably better tolerated: at twelve weeks, 84% of participants experienced
no irritation or sensitivity.

A cofactor is a nutrient an enzyme requires in order to work. Collagen synthesis depends on several of them, and without them the amino acids you supply have nothing to act on.

Vitamin C is the clearest example. Prolyl and lysyl hydroxylase, the two enzymes that hydroxylate proline and lysine residues in the collagen chain, are both ascorbate-dependent. Hydroxylation is what allows the triple helix to stabilise. Without adequate Vitamin C, that step is limited and the collagen produced is structurally weaker, which is the mechanism underlying the classical connective tissue signs of deficiency.

Copper is the cofactor for lysyl oxidase, the enzyme that cross-links mature collagen fibrils and gives them tensile strength. Zinc is required for collagen gene expression and for the enzymes that remodel the matrix. Biotin contributes to the maintenance of normal skin and hair. Hyaluronic acid holds water within the dermal matrix. Gotu kola and ginseng have a long history of traditional use in support of circulation and connective tissue.

This is why every cofactor in the Dual Collagen Complex is there for a reason connected to the collagen alongside it, rather than to lengthen an ingredient list.

Fragrance, denatured alcohol, fillers, bulk additives and animal-derived ingredients. Each was excluded for a specific reason.

Fragrance is among the most frequently identified causes of allergic contact dermatitis in cosmetic products, and it contributes nothing to skin health. Denatured alcohol delivers a quick-drying finish at the cost of barrier function, disrupting the stratum corneum lipid matrix that governs how well skin retains water and keeps irritants out. Fillers and bulk additives increase the volume of a capsule without contributing anything to what it delivers, which means less room for the actives that do.

Every ingredient list is published in full on the relevant product page, with the reason each ingredient is there.