Beauty Supplement Guides

Beauty supplements are a marketing category rather than a nutrient one, which is exactly why they are difficult to compare. The same shelf holds single ingredients dosed in micrograms, protein-based powders dosed in grams, and multi-ingredient formulas combining a dozen things at amounts the front label never shows.

Collagen is dosed in grams and sold by type and source — type I and III typically from bovine or marine sources, type II usually from chicken. Powders dominate because reaching a typical gram dose in capsule form takes a great many capsules, which is the single most useful check before buying a capsule product. Biotin is dosed in micrograms across a range so wide that the front-label numbers look dramatic until you put two bottles side by side.

Blended hair and skin formulas need the supplement facts panel read line by line, and the question that matters is whether individual amounts are broken out or hidden inside a proprietary blend. Where they are hidden, no dose comparison between two products is possible — a limitation worth knowing before paying a premium.

These guides cover types, sources and how to read a blended panel. To compare products, the beauty supplement comparison filters by brand, format and pack size.