Wellness brand Activated You sells a dietary supplement called Essential Skin Food that promises to help you “achieve skin that looks and feels smooth, tight, and youthful at any age”.
That’s a pretty bold statement, so we have to wonder: is Essential Skin Food formulated with ingredients that are backed by science? If so, are they used in effective doses for optimal results? Are there any side effects associated with Essential Skin Food?
We’ll answer these questions and more in our Essential Skin Food review. Plus, we’ll share feedback from real customers to get their take on the results of this product.
What Are The Essential Skin Food Ingredients?
Essential Skin Food contains a blend of naturally-derived, plant-based ingredients that are said to help support the body’s natural collagen production. Here’s the details:
Dermaval
Dermaval is a proprietary blend of ingredients like pomegranate extract, coffeeberry, quercetin, and camu camu.
We aren’t fans of proprietary blends. Why? Primarily because the total weight of the blend per serving is indicated, but never the proportions of each ingredient. Essentially, you could be wasting your money on a formula that does not have adequate quantities of the active ingredients.
This seems to be the case for Dermaval, since the total dose of this blend is only 50 mg, translating to an average ingredient dosage of just 5 mg.
To give you an idea of how low this is, take a look at this Camu Camu powder that contains 2,500 mg per serving — 500 times more than the estimated amount used in the Essential Skin Food formula!
Vitamin C
Essential Skin Food contains vitamin C, which is an excellent ingredient for the skin and the whole body. It’s well known for its role in the immune system, but vitamin C also plays a crucial role in collagen production.
Specifically, vitamin C prevents the auto-inactivation of lysyl and prolyl hyroxylase, two key enzymes in collagen biosynthesis.
A 2018 systematic review of 10 articles published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine found that vitamin C supplementation has the ability to increase type I collagen synthesis.
Unfortunately, Essential Skin Food only contains 10 mg of vitamin C, which is a pretty low amount.
To give you an idea of how low this is, the publication we referenced above states that the dosage of orally supplemented vitamin C ranged from 60 mg twice daily to 500 mg twice daily in the 10 articles assessed.
Amino Acids
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, including the collagen protein. Essential Skin Food includes two amino acids, Lysine and Proline, which both play a role in collagen formation.
By incorporating these amino acids into Essential Skin Food, the formulation aims to support the body’s natural collagen production.
However, once again the amounts of these amino acids used in the Essential Skin Food formula are extremely low — only 75 mg of Lysine and 50 mg of Proline
For comparison, let’s look at the amounts of Lysine and Proline that you would find in an oral collagen supplement, such as Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides.
On the Vital Proteins website, the brand lists the typical amino acid profile. On this list, there’s 614 mg of Lysine and 2,076 mg of Proline — significantly higher amounts than the Essential Skin Food formula!
Cosmythic
Cosmythic, a trademarked pine bark extract, demonstrated skin-lightening and anti-aging effects in a 2014 clinical trial at a 100 mg dose.
Unfortunately, like the other ingredients in Essential Skin Food, the dosage of this extract in the formula is low — only 40 mg.
How is Essential Skin Food Different From Other Collagen Supplements?
Most collagen supplements on the market contain collagen peptides derived from bovine or marine sources, whereas Essential Skin Food does not contain collagen or any animal-derived ingredients. As we discussed above, Essential Skin Food would function as a natural collagen builder (if the ingredients were used in higher dosages).
Essential Skin Food Side Effects
Based on the Essential Skin Food ingredients, it’s unlikely that this product would cause side effects. However, after reading through reviews for this product, we noticed that some customers had side effects like headache and skin breakouts.
Where to Buy Activated You Essential Skin Food?
Activated You Essential Skin Food is only available on the brand’s website (activatedyou.com) and on Amazon.com.
How Much is Activated You Essential Skin Food?
On the brand’s website, Essential Skin Food costs $69.95 USD for one jar (30 servings).
On Amazon.com, Essential Skin Food costs $57.95 USD for one jar (30 servings).
Our Verdict
Overall, we do not recommend Essential Skin Food, primarily because all of the ingredients in this formula are used at very low, suboptimal doses that we feel will not give you the results that you’re looking for.
Pros
- 90-day money back guarantee
Cons
- All of the ingredients are used at very low doses
- Some reviews mention that the product didn’t work at all
What Are Some Alternatives to Essential Skin Food?
If you’re looking for alternatives to Activated You Essential Skin Food, you may want to consider an oral collagen supplement. Here’s a few brands we’ve reviewed:
References:
Orthop J Sports Med. 2018 Oct; 6(10):.
Nutrafoods.. 2014 Aug; 13 (123-131).
