VERISOL® is more than an ingredient, it is a game changer, says Lara Niemann, Category Management Beauty, GELITA.

I first heard the term ‘beauty from within’ in association with food and supplements about 20 years ago. But things were very different then. It was nothing like the vibrant category that it is today.

Back then, it was a limited and slowly developing market in which the main products were vitamins and minerals. Their benefits in relation to beauty were not characterized. Consequently, products were consumed for their overall health benefits rather than to achieve specific beauty outcomes.

There’s no doubt that these early attempts at beauty from within products planted the seed of the concept in the minds of consumers. However, the market didn’t blossom, primarily because it had no ‘roots’. No firm foundations on which to build. In the absence of convincing science, many were cynical that it was even possible to influence beauty through nutrition.

What the market needed to gain traction was science-backed ingredients that were able to demonstrate tangible benefits for beauty.

Game changers

Two events changed the course of the market. In 2006, the EU introduced new rules regulating health and nutrition claims on foods and supplements. These regulations directly impacted the European market and their implications were felt worldwide. This was a turning point for functional foods and supplements as in a whole as it restored faith in the market and affirmed the importance of scientific research in product development.

The second major event was the arrival of the first credible, dedicated beauty from within ingredient. VERISOL® - a specifically optimized Bioactive Collagen Peptide (BCP®) - took the market by storm in 2012 thanks to its proven ability to unlock the full potential of collagen production in the skin.

By this point, awareness of collagen as a beauty ingredient was increasing, but what other collagen peptides lacked was the definitive ability to stimulate the fibroblasts to produce more collagen.

A lock and key principle

VERISOL® peptides are well defined, specific chains of amino acids derived from the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of collagen. VERISOL® interacts with the fibroblasts in the skin using a ‘lock and key’ principle. It unleashes collagen production by stimulating these cells to produce more collagen.

Most importantly, VERISOL® was able to make the link between its effect on fibroblast stimulation and beauty by demonstrating visible benefits in clinical trials. In one 2014 trial, VERISOL® supplementation resulted in a 32% reduction in wrinkle depth and a 23% reduction in wrinkle volume.¹ In another study, VERISOL® yielded a 10% increase in skin elasticity.² Clinical trials have also demonstrated its positive influence on cellulite³, nail health⁴ and hair thickness.⁵

Manufacturers no longer had to rely on spurious or generic claims - they had at their disposal an ingredient that had been developed and researched solely for its function in beauty. And this was a game changer.

Transformation of a market

Since 2012, the beauty from within market has gone from strength to strength. By the end of 2022, it was worth $4bn.⁶ Science has given players the confidence to segment and now there are numerous products that target not just overall beauty, but nails, skin, hair and more.

With the evolution of the market and the science, consumer scepticism has evaporated too. Consumers have bought into the concept of beauty from within and understand that to impact the structure of the skin, you need to target the dermal (lower) layers as opposed to just targeting the epidermal (surface) layers with topical applications.

VERISOL® undoubtedly transformed the face of the beauty from within market with its investment in ingredient advancement, administering a much needed lifeblood injection that changed the course of history.

If you want to learn more about VERISOL® or the science behind our beauty-promoting collagen peptides, please contact our team of experts today.