The Beauty Diary: Noteworthy new skincare products

The supermarket giant recently added a new coffee product with a secret benefit to its shelves – and shoppers say it is “constantly sold out”.

There’s a skincare ingredient that is all the rage right now – and surprisingly, it’s not something you put on your face.

The edible beauty item that’s rising in the skincare ranks is collagen. Scientific research shows it is not only anti-ageing and good for skin, but also has incredible health benefits such as aiding muscle recovery and helping heal the digestive system.

Once a niche product only found in health food stores and with a pretty expensive price-tag to boot, it’s recently become a lot more affordable and has been popping up on supermarket shelves.

Coles is the latest to launch a collagen range, stocking New Zealand brand Dose & Co and its range of natural collagen products designed to be added into coffee or smoothies.

A spokesperson for Coles said the range - a first of its kind in the supermarket - had proved very “popular” with customers.

“Since launching last month and we have sold more than 3700 kilos [3.7 tonnes] of Dose & Co collagen powders with the Pure Collagen Unflavoured and the Dairy Free Caramel and Vanilla most popular,” Coles Category Manager for Health Foods Sioned Read told The Beauty Diary.

“At Coles, we have seen demand grow significantly for health food products in the past 12 months, with more customers shopping in our health food aisle than ever before. It is one of the fastest growing categories at Coles having double digit growth for many years.”

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Collagen supplements were once expensive but have now become more affordable as supermarkets stock them on shelves. Picture: Supplied

Libby Matthews, 31, is the naturopath and nutritionist behind the brand after discovering the benefits of collagen through her own “extreme” hair struggle.

“I suffered from extreme post-partum hair loss, my hair was falling out in clumps,” she told The Beauty Diary. “I tried almost every supplement to stop it and nothing helped.”

But then a friend suggested she try collagen and she said it “worked wonders” – not only with hair growth but also the health of her skin, nails and joints.

She was also disappointed when looking at the ingredients lists, finding many contained artificial flavours, colours and poor-quality ingredients.

“They were also very expensive,” Ms Matthews said, explaining her frustrations were what sparked the idea to create a collagen brand that was not only made with high quality ingredients but had products at an affordable price so everyone could take them and benefit.

Libby Matthews is the brains behind Dose & Co which has recently launched in Coles with a range of collagen creamers and protein powders. Picture: Supplied

Ms Matthews, who is from Auckland but was living in Minneaplis, US, at the time of her brainwave, said the response since launching in 800 Coles stores across Australia has been “amazing”.

“We are constantly selling out of our dairy free vanilla creamer as demand keeps sky-

rocketing,” she said, adding it was great to see so many customers reporting improvement with their hair issues as well as growing stronger nails and developing clearer skin.

“Some customers use it to help with scarring and other customers have tried everything to clear up their acne and they have found that our collagen powder has cleared their skin right up. It’s so empowering and rewarding for us to hear about these results.”

Coles currently stocks the Dose & Co collagen protein powder, $40, and the brand’s Insta-famous Creamer, $42, an idea born from Ms Matthews time in the States.

“Living in America I noticed that people use creamers in everything. However, they are often

made with high levels of sugar, palm oil and artificial ingredients,” she said.

“I liked the idea of a creamer and being able to add it to your coffee or tea every day... but that contained collagen and could be added to drinks.”

Social media has blown up with people raving about the improvement its had on hair and nails. Picture: Instagram

This woman posted ‘my hair has grown sooo much’. Picture: Instagram

In the last few months, Instagram has exploded with snaps of frothy coffee cups that are brimming with skin-boosting benefits. In fact, Khloe Kardashian even posted about the brand’s collagen creamer recently, cementing its place in the market and proving the supplement is “not a fad” Ms Matthews said.

It’s not the only collagen-infused product that has landed in supermarkets recently either, with Australian entrepreneur Keira Rumble, creator of Krumbled Foods, landing a deal to stock the brand’s “Beauty Bites” collagen bars in Coles.

Sydney-based coconut water brand H2Coco recently launched a collagen coconut water too, which is sold in Woolworths and Coles.

The NZ brand’s bestseller is it’s creamers. Picture: Supplied

People love adding the product into coffee and reaping the benefits. Picture: Supplied

Read my thoughts on Dose & Co below as well as a few other new skincare finds I wanted to share with you.

DOSE & CO DAIRY FREE CREAMER

‘I swear I’ve got the skin of a 17-year-old again’. Picture: Supplied

Available at Coles and au.doseandco.com

Price: $35

I’ve tried quite a few different skin supplements in my time – many of which contained collagen – but I’ve never had these results and I am certain it’s down to how easy it this is to take. While many taste funky or come in capsules that I often forget to have, this is stirred into my coffee every morning and trust me, there’s no way I’d ever forget to drink that. I’ve been having it in a black cup of instant coffee (don’t judge me) for two months now and I swear I’ve got the skin of a 17-year-old again. Okay, it doesn’t really rewind the clock, but the improvement in my hair and nails is undeniable. My hair is glossier and my nails longer – and my skin feels smoother and happier. It also tastes great and makes my boring cup of coffee much more exciting.

SYRENE AQUA HYDRATING MASQUE

My beauty find of the year? Quite possibly – and it’s only August. Picture: Supplied

Available at Mecca

Price: $107

If you’re ready to treat yourself to some next-level hydration, smother this on your face and watch it disappear. Seriously, my skin drinks this stuff up overnight, leaving it bouncy, soft and bright when I wake up in the morning. It’s truly a divine, high-impact, moisturiser that is probably one of my favourite discoveries of the year. The gel cream itself is a light, sky-blue colour which is cooling on application and is melts to a water like texture on contact – so use the brush it comes with to apply it. It contains marine collagen from New Zealand which as we know, is great for health and also rich in antioxidants, plus the chic AF tub is made from ocean waste plastic. I know it’s expensive, but this is so worth it. I will defo buy again.

AVENE ANTIROUGEURS UNIFY SPF30

If your skin can’t cope with anymore stress, you need this super calming 3-in-1 moisturiser, SPF and skin tint. Picture: Supplied

Available at Chemist Warehouse, Priceline and avene.com.au

Price: $32.99

If you’ve been struggling with stressed, inflamed skin or mask-induced pimples lately, this brand is one to take note of. It’s main ingredient in all products is water from a natural thermal spring in France which has a calming effect on skin and products are formulated to minimise risk of irritation and reaction. Seeing as our skin can’t cope with anymore COVID related side-effects, I was keen to try this new tinted SPF and moisturiser. It didn’t disappoint my fed-up face, gliding on a dream and giving me a glorious matte finish that looks like I’ve made an effort when I absolutely haven’t. The coverage is light and super easy to blend – plus it doesn’t dry out, leaving my skin feeling like it’s been bathing in hyaluronic acid all day. I also really loved the pump which made it easy to control how much product you dispense so there’s no wasted product – a bug bear of mine with a lot of other creams. The only thing that could make this better is if the SPF was higher – but otherwise, it’s really great.

SUKIN BIOMARINE FACIAL SERUM

Super cheap, super great. Picture: Supplied

Available at Priceline, Chemist Warehouse and sukinnaturals.com.au

Price: $24.95

My face hates winter which is why it has been thoroughly enjoying this extra nourishing serum. It has a gorgeous light scent to it and the formula feels beautifully luxe but it actually isn’t. You can pick this up half price in Priceline and Chemist Warehouse a lot of the time making it a super cheap serum option. My dry skin has disappeared since using this. I love it.

RAWKANVAS CLARIFYING RED WINE MASK

Finally, an excuse to get on the red wine. Picture: Supplied

Available at rawkanvas.com

Price: $54

Who doesn’t love a face mask – especially one with actual wine in it. This next-level face mask contains New Zealand halloysite clay that is blended with pinot noir and sauvignon Blanc grapes for a natural microdermabrasion facial you can buy in a jar. When you put it on for the first time, be warned, it can get very warm and tingly – but the sensation quickly wears off. The warming reaction on skin actually open pores and helps give a deeper clean and allow active ingredients to be absorbed faster. Since it went on sale on Thursday night, the Queensland brand has reported its selling like hot cakes as a result of “maskne” – the 2020 name for irritation caused by excess heat, pressure and skin rubbing against the fabric of a face mask. One of the brand’s co-owners, Simona Valev told news.com.au, clients had reported it helped with their “maskne” during trials – so if you’ve been suffering with this common issue, all you need is to get on the red wine.

This column is not advertorial content. Every review is independent, honest and ad free.

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