feel so fabulous.” So under the guidance of
Dr Simone Laubscher in London’s Harley
Street, she started a completely new regime
based on the latest generation of alkalising
food supplements. So was born The Super
Elixir.
“The Super Elixir Alkalising Greens
contains barley grass, wheat grass, alfalfa,
spinach and spirulina, all nutritional
powerhouses that help to balance the
acidity in your skin and blood,” Laubscher
explains. “When balance is achieved, your
skin holds moisture and your cells function
properly, giving you that alkaline glow. Your
skin is often referred to as the third kidney,
as whatever the liver doesn’t want it dumps
into the kidneys, and whatever the kidneys50
Writer Kate O’BrienAsiaSpa July/August 2017Anti-ageing starts beneath the surfaceSkin Fixes
SpaBeauty
In an ideal world we should all get
what we need from food, but our intense
reality of HIIT, triathlons and ironman
(and woman) competitions, are our bodies
getting enough to keep us healthy, strong
and balanced, mentally and physically?
As for our skin, are the seductive promises
of pills, powders and liquids comprising
collagen, peptides and hyaluronic acid
really worth their price tag?
Many of these inner beauty powders list
hydrolysed collagen or marine proteins as
their hero ingredients designed to alter our
skin at a cellular level. Science has shown
the importance of collagen for keeping skin
elastic and supple. Alarmingly we lose an
estimated one per cent of collagen every
year after the age of 20, exacerbating ageing
with overall skin thinning and fine lines. But
can collagen in a beauty supplement really
penetrate the cells to make a significant
difference deep within?
Celebrity trainer and Bodyism founder
James Duigan believes so. His Bodyism
Beauty Food is formulated to achieve this
internal glow. He says, “Beauty Food’s
star ingredient marine collagen peptide is
the building block for connective tissue
and helps fight ageing, reduce lines and
repair damage. It offers a shortcut to all
the most important nutrients for a glowing
complexion, glossy hair and strong nails.”
However, Dr Simon Jackson isn’t
convinced. Entrepreneur in residence and
pharmacognosy fellow at Trinity College
Dublin, Jackson is founder of Dr Jackson’s
natural products. “I wouldn’t recommend
taking collagen orally as I don’t think
it would be broken down in sufficient
amounts to rebuild at a cellular level.
Instead you should be looking at stimulating
fibroblast (normal healthy tissue) growth, as
this will stimulate collagen.”
As buyers we should also bear in mind
that collagen is not actually used in themanufacture of many of these products,
but gelatin, due to its emulsifying benefits.
From a scientific perspective, when we
ingest collagen, it’s used as a protein once
it reaches the stomach, which releases
enzymes to break it down into amino acid
building blocks, that are either used by the
body or excreted. In essence, we don’t put
collagen into our body; we help our body
make its own, by giving the fibroblasts the
building blocks to secrete more.
Former Australian supermodel Elle
Macpherson admitted that on the eve of
her 50th birthday she was in a bit of a
rut. “I wanted to tweak my lifestyle in an
intelligent way and soon realised that I had
been so busy being fabulous that I didn’t