Pretty Little Pills
Women's Health South Africa|August 2018

They promise to make you smoother, glossier and younger – but can supplements really tackle our quest to look better from the inside out?

Charlotte Haigh MacNeil
Pretty Little Pills

Who isn’t on the search for eternal youth, or at the very least clear, glowing skin? We’re constantly bombarded with promises of age-defying super potions, so it can be hard to know what to believe. But in the ever-shifting landscape of the beauty world, if you’re not eating your skincare, you could be missing out on a key source. No, we don’t mean tucking into your papaya-extract moisturiser for lunch. We’re talking about a new breed of next-gen supplements to feed your skin and hair from the inside out.

Introducing nutraceuticals: digestible nutrients that promise to tackle skin wrinkles, dullness and even banish cellulite by feeding proteins and vitamins into your bloodstream. Generally, they’re available in pill and liquid form. Yes, it feels like you’ve been promised this before, but there’s some pretty convincing science to back it up. As a result, the edible beauty business is booming: the market is predicted to rise to more than R131 billion globally in the next four years. So, if perfect skin and locks are on your wish list, nutraceuticals could become hard to ignore.

Clinical backing

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