It may be a myth but I personally believe in collagen drinks/ supplements. Not that any result can be proven instantly but better safe than sorry. I mean, who would know what you’d look like when you’re 40? You can only try your best to look your best and in any case prevention is always ideal.

There are many ways for anti-ageing, most basic being religious use of sunscreen. Factors like lifestyle and food/ supplement intake does play a part but today I’ll just compare the various brands of collagen products I’ve tried, starting from my least favourite.

Image credits: http://www.meiji.co.jp/

I tried this many years ago, when I was 18. (HEY! That sounds like now doesn’t it? Hahaha….) This is probably the most famous brand in Singapore because it has been around for the longest time. The taste was just awful. So awful that when mixed into your food, the powder makes your food taste. The disgusting taste was quite hard to mask and the solubility wasn’t that good. I did not finish the entire tin due to some other reasons but my impression of Meiji collagen wasn’t good.

These comes in boxes of 10 and I bought 3 boxes for myself to try from Hong Kong. It was going at buy 1 get 1 free and it ended up being about S$20 for a box, making it $2 a bottle. It was a bitch to bring back because of the weight and bulkiness. The major downside of this drink is that it contains sugar. This is not idea because why do you want to consume additional sugar everyday? However, sugar is better than artificial sweeteners like aspartame so it isn’t that bad. I did not particularly feel fond of this because I feel I could do without the sugar and the extras that comes in the drink. $2 a dose is quite on the high side too.

I tried this as a sample obtained from Sample Store. This one comes in individual sachets which makes it convenient for travel. It lives up to the claim of having no odour and taste AT ALL and it dissolves instantly. This is almost perfect because of the convenience and it has no sugar! However, it is made of pig’s collagen instead of fish (may not be suitable for people with dietary restrictions), is more expensive and it contains only 3000mg which is less than other brands. (HOWEVER, efficacy is another thing. Perhaps 3000mg if Itoh can give the same results as 5000mg of some other brand? Who knows!)

Get one sachet totally free here.

I tried searching for this in Hong Kong but they didn’t have it. It would be more portable to bring home if they did. This collagen is technically the same as the collagen from the drink version but contains less collagen in dosage. I prefer this because it has no sugar! However, the downside is the bad taste and poor solubility. It does dissolve in water but it takes a while and a lot of stirring. I cannot drink this with just water. I add some stevia to make it drinkable at very least.

Everybody knows Asahi – for the beer. As much as their beers are good, I think their collagen is even better. I bought 3 tins of this from Hong Kong and it made a lot more sense to get this than liquid collagen because of the weight and size. I bought this at Bonjour (SaSa competitor) but any cosmetic shop should have it. The sales person recommended it to me in simple English saying that this is better than Shiseido’s, which is better than Meiji. It contains 30mg of Hyaluronic Acid too, which is good for skin hydration. The powder dissolves easily and any bad taste is minimal. It is kind of milky in taste but very mildly only, and drinkable with just plain water. I brought a tin with me on my Europe/ US trip and I did not suffer from any peeling of skin from climate change. (However, I do not usually have any of such skin problems to be begin with whenever I travel.) I am not sure whether this is psychological but I feel that my skin is better hydrated after trying this one! Perhaps it’s the hyaluronic acid here. This also worked out to be the most value for money option so this is an all rounded winner for me! I think in Singapore it can be found at Nishino Pharmacy at Isetan Scotts or Mediya Liang Court, but I’m not sure about the price, though I am sure it’s definitely more than $30. Price updated!