Ingredient Insight | Marine Collagen

What is Marine Collagen? 

As you may know, collagen is the most abundant protein found in our bodies and plays a key role in not only keeping our skin healthy but also strengthening bones and joints amongst many other important functions. As we grow older, our bodies start to produce less collagen which is one of the reasons we age the way we do and our skin starts to sag. When it comes to skincare, supplementing our skin directly with collagen can work absolute wonders, especially on mature skin types which are in need of a collagen boost. At WiDEYE you can find marine collagen across many of the products in our skin fuel range! 

Where does it come from? 

There are two main ways we can get collagen protein, most commonly from animal sources and in recent times it’s also been derived from plants. 

Firstly, animal-sourced collagen can be split into two categories, Marine & Bovine the latter mainly being sourced from cowhides and the former from fish scales. In the case of Marine Collagen, the proteins are extracted from the  scales which would otherwise be discarded as waste. This (Type 1 Collagen)  is also known to be one of the best sources in terms of performance! As it’s considered to be most easily absorbed by our bodies. 

When it comes to plant-based collagen, things change a little! As collagen isn’t naturally occurring in plants, it’s not possible to recreate the protein without a synthetic process. Whilst there are some plant-based collagens out there, most of these will have gone through many different steps in a lab and won’t necessarily have the same effect. In many cases, lots of the plant-based alternatives actually just contain ingredients that promote the production of collagen as opposed to supplementing the protein itself. The field of plant-based collagen research is ever-evolving making it a really interesting space that we’ve got a close eye on!

Why do we choose to use marine collagen? 

When we looked at what was available, we decided that Marine Collagen was the most appropriate option. From a sustainability and ethical standpoint, we only use Marine Collagen that’s been derived from the scales of cod which would otherwise be discarded as waste. It's important to mention also that we do not support purposefully fishing to produce marine collagen. Whilst we heavily considered the plant-based alternative, we decided that the number of synthetic processes involved meant that it would go against our ethos of only using the most natural options available. 

The effectiveness of marine collagen on maturing skin especially makes it a key ingredient across our range and has had fantastic results for many of our wonderful customers, so we’d highly recommend giving it a go if you feel like you are in need of a quick boost! 

For those who would prefer to use a totally plant-based alternative, our Rehydrating range which is packed full of sea-buckthorn can really help your skin produce that much needed collagen due to to the high content of Omega-7 Fatty Acids. 

If you need any advice on your skincare needs, please feel free to pop into your nearest store or just drop us an email at info@wideye.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help!

Take a look at our Marine Collagen Super stars...