Do Drinkable Beauty Potions Work?

Do Drinkable Beauty Potions Work?
by Courtney Dunlop
http://www.stylelist.com/2010/01/07/do-drinkable-beauty-potions-work/

Glisodin is part of a new class of drinkable potions that promise better skin. Courtesy Photo

Earlier this week StyleList reported about the collagen-enhanced beauty beverages flying off the shelves in Japan and the scores of women hoping to plump and de-age their skin from the inside out.While beauty supplements -- in the form of pills, powders and infused beverages -- only make up a tiny share of the beauty market in the US it's a business that's rapidly growing.A recent report from market research firm Mintel, as reported by the New York Times: "Global food and drink product launches with a 'beauty enhancing' claim increased by a staggering 306 percent from 2005 to 2008."The past few years have seen a boom of launches here in the US. -- from companies such as Glowelle, Glisodin, Borba and many more -- and women looking to preserve the bloom of youth are gulping them down.

(We at StyleList have been known to chug a few ourselves!)But the problem with beauty supplements is that it's really difficult, if not impossible, to prove if they work and most of the evidence is purely anecdotal. That's not to say they don't work, it just means it's hard to figure out which ones will really do something and which ones are worthless.And as Manhattan dermatologist Francesca Fusco explained to the New York Times about a beauty drink with goji berry that supposedly helps beautify the skin, "You can also get all of the benefits of this through a healthy diet and a good multivitamin."Yes, you can adopt a mantra of "If it doesn't hurt me than what's the harm" and maybe you will prevent a wrinkle or two in the process, but it's an expensive gamble (60 Borba Replenishing packets will set you back $100).

Most medical and health experts would agree that the true fountain of youth, as boring as it sounds, is still a well balanced diet with lots of vegetables, exercise, sleep and sunscreen.We'll drink to that!