Skincare You Can Drink Is Finally Here

Beauty is only skin deep, so the idiom goes, but the latest skincare trend goes far deeper than your epidermis. The beauty industry has been overtaken by drinkable skincare, or elixirs which promise faster and more comprehensive results to skincare woes than topical solutions. From drinkable sunscreen to concoctions which target dark spots and dull skin, there's a beverage for every dermatological concern under the sun. Those who remain skeptical of the trend are right to be cautious; drinkable skincare is still a young endeavor, and some doctors remain dubious as to its effect on the body. In the meantime, read on for the lowdown on drinkable skincare.

Drinkable beauty solutions fall under several categories, the most prevalent of which are vitamin-rich juices, dry supplements which are meant to be mixed into beverages, and shots full of one or several key nutrients.

Unless you've been on a media hiatus for the past several years, you've likely noticed the influx of fresh-pressed juice companies, which promise curative formulas for all sorts of dietary and health woes. Juice Generation, One Lucky Duck, Organic Avenue, Evolution, and Juice Press are some of the more prominent companies to date, but dozens more have achieved popularity for their blends over the past year.

In recent years, the juice cleanse became a notoriously punishing manner of snapping into shape (read: losing weight) at a moment's notice, but for 2015 the trend is shifting to a skincare gear. Because the skin reflects what nutrients or toxins are put into the body, it seems intuitive that consuming vitamin-enriched juices would produce a clearer, more radiant complexion. For example, Organic Avenue's Carrot Juice boasts a whopping 1040 percent of your daily recommended Vitamin A, which has been dubbed anti-aging, and 35 percent Vitamin C, which contains antioxidant properties. Meanwhile, One Lucky Duck's Mean Greens contains a similarly abundant dose of both vitamins, plus a kick of skin and mood-enhacing Vitamin B-6 thanks to its inclusion of kale and chard.

If you'd rather mix your nutrients into your drink of choice, companies like Aloha and WelleCo, which produces Elle MacPherson's Super Elixir, may be a better fit. Much like the whey protein powder you may occasionally mix into your post-Soul Cycle smoothie, dry supplements are meant to convey a distilled dose of beautifying ingredients into the body. Health supplement and vitamin company ALOHA's three signature blends contain skin-saving vitamins including Vitamin A and Vitamin D, each formula targeting a different concern from hydration to environmental toxins. The website advertises ALOHA's versatility, claiming that the blends taste just as delicious mixed into pesto as they do in a simple glass of water. Unsurprisingly, these celebrity-favored mix-ins often come complete with a hefty price tag, but the same type of dry supplements are readily available for a lower price at your local Duane Reade or GNC.

Much like dry supplements, beauty or vitamin shots are meant to be added to your established diet for an extra, glowifying boost, though the initial impact may leave you red in the face thanks to their cocktail of taste bud-unfriendly ingredients. Organic Avenue offers a lurid green Chlorophyll Shot for hydration and "green energy", and Vemma's "Liquid Antioxidant" shot promises its 65 included minerals will keep you looking lovely inside and out. For those who are meticulous about their sunscreen, Harmonized H20 produces a UV Neutralizer which the website boasts "neutralizes UV radiation" and acts much like a topical sunscreen would in protecting the skin from solar damage.

With so many diverse choices on the market, the question remains: does drinkable skincare function better than topical skincare? Women's Wear Daily's discussion with Shen Beauty founder Jessica Richards on the topic of drinkable skincare yielded the essence of the issue, as Richards explained:

You can only put so much on your skin until you have to look elsewhere and see what you’re putting in your body.

In simpler terms, it seems drinkable skincare is simply one facet of living a holistically healthy life — and radiant skin happens to be a delightful side effect.

Images: Sahua D/Flickr; Giphy