You probably aren’t producing enough collagen to keep your skin, hair, nails, joints, bones, gut, and mind healthy. That’s right, by the time you reach your mid-twenties your collagen production tapers off, and that’s why you start to notice creaky joints, fine lines, and weaker muscles as you age. But women have even more to worry about when it comes to aging- from puberty to childbearing to menopause, women’s hormones fluctuate and can wreak havoc on every system of the body, but especially the connective tissue supported by collagen.
“In menopause, skin quickly loses collagen. Studies show that women’s skin loses about 30% of its collagen during the first five years of menopause. After that, the decline is more gradual. Women lose about 2% of their collagen ever year for the next 20 years.” -American Academy of Dermatology
Not to mention that collagen production starts to decrease around your mid-twenties, leading to weaker joints, problems with digestion, and weight gain, meaning that women have a unique need for the extra support a collagen supplement can provide. That’s why our team set out to find the best collagen for women; we wanted to find a collagen supplement that can help keep you looking and feeling youthful without the headache of shopping through dozens of supplements.
Editor's Choice: Xyngular Complete Collagen
Complete Collagen from Xyngular, with multiple types and sources of collagen to support all the systems in your body and the best flavor to support healthy weight loss.
Our Review Process
While healthier hair, skin, and nails are a huge reason to start taking collagen, the benefits of collagen are more than skin-deep. Collagen will help with joint health, bone density, healthy digestion, mood stabilization, and weight loss. But women will benefit even more from collagen when it comes to weight loss, bone health, hormone balance, and the development of the placenta during pregnancy. Not all collagen supplements have the right formulas to help women. Women will benefit most from taking collagen that has multiple types of collagen, specifically II, V, and X. These types of collagen help with bone development, skin elasticity, immune response, and hormone balance. But, especially important for women, these types of collagen support placental growth during pregnancy and bone density. Women’s estrogen production decreases with menopause, and a decrease in estrogen leads to weaker bones, leading to the surprising fact that one in two women over the age of 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.
Our team used 11 criteria to help us find the best collagen for women: collagen amount, protein amount, gluten-free, vegan-friendly, multi-sourced, multiple types, hydrolyzed, vitamin C, taste, price, and accessibility. Some of these criteria are straightforward- does the collagen have vitamin C or not? But some are more nuanced and require some basic understanding of how collagen works in your body. For example, you want multi-sourced collagen that has multiple types of collagen. That means that your collagen should come from marine, bovine and chicken sources and also have several of the types of collagen, at the very least, types I, II, III, V, and X. If your collagen doesn’t have multiple sources, you aren’t getting the amino acids from those sources, and different types of collagen help with different systems in your body (for example, type II collagen has hydroxyproline, which helps with hair strength and comes from marine and bovine sources, while type III is from bovine sources and helps with gut, muscles and uterine health). The source and type of your collagen can impact how effective it is in your body, and that’s why we added these crucial components to our criteria.
#1: Xyngular Complete Collagen: Complete For Women In All Life Stages
Collagen Specifications
Collagen Amount: 10 g
Protein Amount: 9 g
Gluten-Free: Yes
Vegan-Friendly: no
Multi-Sourced: Yes
Multiple Types: Yes
Hydrolyzed Collagen: Yes
Vitamin C: Yes
Taste: 4.5/5
Price: $$$$ $2.17/serving, $65 for 30 servings
Accessibility: Have to order via distributor or website.
Collagen Per Serving
10 g
Reasons To Buy
Has multiple types of collagen to support hair, skin, nails, gut, joints, and muscles, comes from multiple collagen sources, has hyaluronic acid for skin health, digestive enzymes and fulvic acid for easier digestion and absorption, and has the best flavor for mixing into plain water.
Reasons To Avoid
Harder to get your hands on—you have to log in to their site or order from a distributor, but worth the effort, especially for collagen that is focused on women’s health
“Complete” is the only way to describe Xyngular’s Complete Collagen, especially for women. Not only does it have five types of collagen, multiple sources of collagen, and vitamin C, but it has hyaluronic acid, digestive enzymes, and fulvic acid. Hyaluronic acid keeps skin hydrated and supple and helps your body efficiently use collagen. Digestive enzymes and fulvic acid help your body break down your food and then absorb the nutrients from the food. When you are getting the full nutritional value of your food, you will feel satiated and you are more likely to avoid over-eating. When your digestive system is working at peak efficiency, you are more likely to lose weight or maintain your healthy weight.
We also love the pina colada flavor, it’s easy to add to your morning smoothie for a sweet kick. The unflavored option is a solid choice if you just want to add collagen to your morning coffee or tea. Combining the benefits of collagen, hyaluronic acid, digestive enzymes, and fulvic acid, this is the powerhouse collagen women need to try.
#2: Skinnyfit Superyouth Multi-Collagen Peptides: Everything You Need, But A Little Overpriced
Collagen Specifications
Collagen Amount: 15.6 g
Protein Amount: 14 g
Gluten-Free: Yes
Vegan-Friendly: No
Multi-Sourced: Yes
Multiple Types: Yes
Hydrolyzed Collagen: Yes
Vitamin C: Yes
Taste: 4/5
Price: $$$$$ $3.35/Serving, $94 for 28 servings
Accessibility: Available on Amazon
Collagen Per Serving
15.6 g
Reasons To Buy
Multiple flavors to keep it interesting, multiple sources and types of collagen, and it has vitamin C.
Reasons To Avoid
Expensive for the same benefits of Complete Collagen, the flavors aren’t great mixed in plain water.
Skinnyfit Superyouth Multi Collagen Peptides has all the basics—the right types and sources of collagen, vitamin C, and it’s hydrolyzed. It has multiple flavors that dissolve well (tropical punch, orange pineapple, peach mango, and unflavored). Multiple flavors might make it easier to keep taking collagen- try a new flavor every month! It’s easy to add a flavorless version to your smoothie, coffee. It also has apple cider vinegar, which helps with boosting metabolism. Overall, a solid collagen product for women. That being said, we don’t love the price point, it seems very high for all the same benefits of Complete Collagen from Xyngular but missing digestive enzymes and fulvic acid.
#3: Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides: A Good Option For Muscle Building
Collagen Specifications
Collagen Amount: 20 g
Protein Amount: 18 g
Gluten-Free: Yes
Vegan-Friendly: No
Multi-Sourced: No
Multiple Types: Yes
Hydrolyzed Collagen: Yes
Vitamin C: No
Taste: 3.5/5
Price: $$$ ($35) $1.30 per serving, $42 for 28 servings
Accessibility: Available on Amazon
Collagen Per Serving
20 g
Reasons To Buy
A higher amount of protein and collagen, good for people with a fish or chicken allergy, dissolves well, lots of flavors.
Reasons To Avoid
Only one source of collagen, only one source of collagen, only has type I and III collagen.
Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides has the highest amount of collagen and protein per serving, which can be a good thing if you are very active or currently working to build muscle with weight training. It also comes with some great flavors to add to smoothies, baked goods, or coffee (lemon, chocolate, vanilla, and unflavored). But suppose you aren’t particularly active or not building muscle. In that case, the collagen and protein contents are overkill, especially considering this collagen doesn’t have some of the basic components we look for in a high-quality collagen product for women.
With no vitamin C, only sourced from bovine collagen, and only collagen types I and III, there’s a lot lacking in this product, especially for women. You need types II, X, and V to get collagen’s full benefits, and this product doesn’t have them. With other products on the market that have multiple sources and types of collagen, this one is a decent choice without all the benefits you could get from collagen. The saving grace of this product is the reasonable price, variety of flavors, and high protein and collagen amounts.
#4: Sports Research: Only Good For Hair And Skin
Collagen Specifications
Collagen Amount: 11 g
Protein Amount: 10 g
Gluten-Free: Yes
Vegan-Friendly: No
Multi-Sourced: No
Multiple Types: Yes
Hydrolyzed Collagen: Yes
Vitamin C: No
Taste: 3/5
Price: $$ ($28) $0.68 per serving, $28 for 41 servings
Accessibility: Available On Amazon
Collagen Per Serving
11 g
Reasons To Buy
Easily dissolves, multiple types of collagen, multiple flavors.
Reasons To Avoid
No vitamin C, only one source of collagen.
While this product isn’t necessarily bad by any means, it’s also not wowing us for collagen specifically for women. To get the full benefits of a collagen supplement, you need to have multiple sources (bovine, marine, chicken) and multiple types (I, II, III, V, X). Sports Research Collagen only has types I and III, which help with hair, skin, and nails by improving bone density and skin elasticity. But type V and X help specifically with creating the tissue in the placenta and type X is needed for bone formation. While we love skin elasticity and hair growth, collagen should help with more than appearances by supporting bone density and internal organs, especially in the case of placentas of developing pregnancies.
#5: Nutrafol: An Expensive Option With Extra Vitamins And Minerals
Collagen Specifications
Collagen Amount: 10 g
Protein Amount: 9 g
Gluten-Free: Yes
Vegan-Friendly: No
Multi-Sourced: No
Multiple Types: Yes
Hydrolyzed Collagen: Yes
Vitamin C: Yes
Taste: 4.5/5
Price: $$$$$ $2.80 per serving, $84 for 30 servings
Accessibility: Available on Amazon
Collagen Per Serving
10 g
Reasons To Buy
Capsule form for those who don’t want a powder, other vitamins in the supplement, only has marine collagen if you are allergic to bovine or chicken products.
Reasons To Avoid
Hard to remember to take 4 capsules a day, and very expensive.
If you don’t like the idea of a powder, the capsule form of this supplement might be your best bet. It has other ingredients like vitamins A, C, and D and biotin (to help stimulate hair growth). It also only has marine collagen, so if you are looking to avoid bovine and chicken collagen, this is a good product. While this product is primarily focused on hair growth and it seems to work well enough for that, it’s missing some of the biggest benefits of collagen, like vitamin C, and multiple sources and types of collagen. And considering the high price point, it just isn’t going to give your joints, muscles, and digestive system the help they need to function properly. If you want complete collagen, this one isn’t it.
Why Collagen For Women Is Important
Collagen supports your internal and external well-being. Collagen helps your skin stay supple, your hair grow thick and your nails grow strong while keeping you regular, supporting your joints, and helping you lose weight. But the biggest benefit of collagen supplements for women is help with estrogen production and weight loss. Just like collagen, women’s estrogen levels taper off as they age, and lower estrogen can lead to obesity, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. Some studies have shown that increasing collagen can increase estrogen, giving your body support on multiple fronts to fight disease, keep your joints strong, increase bone density, build muscle, and keep your skin, hair, and nails healthy. Collagen helps your body fully absorb the nutrients in your food and helps you feel full longer, aiding in healthy weight loss, especially for women. Taking a collagen supplement is a one-two punch for preventing disease, managing weight, and keeping a youthful glow.
Adding Collagen To Your Diet
It’s hard to add a drastic new habit to your life, even if you know that habit can help you lose weight, reduce disease and help you look youthful. But simply adding collagen to your existing routine will help you lose weight, reduce wrinkles, improve muscle tone, stabilize your mood, and boost your joint health. Collagen usually comes in a powder that easily dissolves in liquid, so adding a scoop to your morning smoothie or coffee gives you all the benefits with very little effort. And if you find collagen that tastes great dissolved in water alone, you can lose weight by adding collagen without extra calories. Powdered forms of collagen can also be added to baked goods, scrambled eggs, and soups. You can also add flavored collagen to yogurt or oatmeal, giving it a boost of both collagen and flavor! If you can, take collagen in the morning to help keep you satiated and give your body long-lasting energy throughout the day.
Editor’s Choice: Xyngular Complete Collagen
You deserve to feel healthy, youthful, and vibrant long past 25 when your natural collagen and estrogen production drops off. And when women take care of their physical and mental well-being, the whole world benefits. So finding the right collagen to support weight loss, bone health, joint health, muscle health, and gut health is important. When you don’t have enough estrogen and collagen, you are likely to pack on fat and find it difficult to lose weight. And without the right balance and types of collagen, your skin, hair, and nails will weaken and become dull and lifeless. Women’s bodies change a lot throughout life, from puberty to menopause, and all the stages in between. Collagen helps support a healthy lifestyle through it all. You need collagen that has multiple types and sources of collagen, includes hyaluronic acid, and vitamin C, and supports weight loss with digestive enzymes, which is why Xyngular’s Complete Collagen is our pick for the best collagen for women.
