The Collagen Scam: Why Brands Don’t Tell You What’s Actually Inside

I was born and raised in Blackburn to a single mother. Despite all odds being against her, she was able to provide for us due to sheer hard work & perseverance.

As the eldest child I was able to get a real appreciation for what it takes to manage a household with no support.

My mom is my hero, seeing her age and not able to do the things she used to makes me immensely upset.

If you’re also over the age of 40 and you’re struggling with pain in your joints, loss of mobility, or loose, sagging skin that’s robbing you of your confidence, it’s more than likely you’ve heard about collagen.

Maybe you’ve already tried a collagen supplement but experienced no results.

What is collagen & why do you need it?

Collagen is the “glue” that holds your body together. It is the 2nd most prominent substance in your body after water. 

Without it, your skin, muscle tissue, bones and tendons can all begin to deteriorate.

Our bodies produce less collagen as we age at a rate of 1% every year starting around 25.

For women, studies show skin collagen levels plummet even more, declining approximately 30% in the 5 years following menopause, and 2.1% every year thereafter, for 20 years.

Anyone over 50 knows all too well those bursts in wrinkles and sagging skin, joint pain, stiffness, hair loss, weight gain and more.

And for many women, the drastic decline in collagen can feel like you’re suddenly 20 years older.

So it’s no surprise that collagen products are having a BIG moment in the US.

There are 2 kinds of collagen sold on the market.

1) Single source Collagen, usually “Marine” or “Bovine” which come in powders, pills or gels.

2) Multi Collagen, a new type of collagen, which combines both Marine & Bovine.  

The Scam Explained:

There is a scam hiding in plain sight in the multi-collagen market and most people have no idea it exists.

For the record, I am risking a lot by sharing this. This industry keeps certain things private but I have simply had enough and I want people to know the truth.

The uncomfortable truth is this: many brands selling so-called “multi-collagen” products deliberately conceal the real amounts of collagen you’re getting.

They do this using something called a proprietary blend.

What is a proprietary blend?

A proprietary blend is when a brand groups lots of ingredients together under one total number, instead of telling you exactly how much of each ingredient you’re getting. Take this label for example… it claims to have Marine & Bovine Collagen… but the dosages of both Marine and Bovine are not disclosed.

Why brands use them

It lets a brand list impressive-sounding ingredients on the front, while quietly using very small amounts of the expensive ones - without having to say how little.

For instance, it is common knowledge that Marine Collagen is far more expensive to source than Bovine, which is why many brands drastically under-dose the amount of Marine they use and never disclose this to their customers. 

Why it matters to you

You might think you’re getting meaningful amounts of different forms of collagen, but in reality most of that 10g could be the cheapest source, with tiny traces of the rest.

My belief

If an ingredient is important enough to put on the label, it’s important enough to tell you how much you’re actually getting.

In order for a multi-collagen to be effective you need adequate amounts of the different types of collagen.

The Red Flag

When you see collagen dosed in milligrams or "mg" you ought to question it. All the research around collagen is done in grams. 1 gram is 1000 milligrams. Usually, when a brand is showing you "mg" it is because they are trying to cut costs by providing you with insufficient amounts of collagen.

The Vitamin C & Hyaluronic Acid Gimmick:

Vitamin C sounds impressive on a supplement label. In reality, it’s one of the cheapest, most widely available nutrients on the planet found easily in everyday foods like oranges.

In one of the largest population studies conducted (EPIC-Norfolk), only 1% of adults were found to be deficient in vitamin C. Which means there is a 99% chance you are not Vitamin C deficient.

Brands add vitamin C to their products because it is cheaper to do this than to source adequate amounts of marine collagen. They tell you things like “you need vitamin C to activate collagen synthesis” which I am not arguing with - but why wouldn’t you just eat an orange? An orange contains your daily vitamin C requirement.

Your body makes Hyaluronic Acid naturally, and the building blocks are found in everyday foods - including chicken. Unless you are a vegetarian or vegan, supplementing with Hyaluronic acid is mostly redundant. 

When Did ‘Supplement’ Stop Meaning Supplement?

Why do we take supplements in the first place? For most people, it’s because we struggle to get certain nutrients in our diets.

Collagen is one of the few examples where that actually applies.

Unless you’re simmering bones for hours or eating very specific cuts of meat on repeat, you’re unlikely to get meaningful collagen from your normal diet. So supplementing it makes sense.

But that’s where the industry lost its way.

Instead of sticking to real deficiencies, many brands now pad products with cheap, easy ingredients and sell them as essentials - turning “supplement” into a marketing trick rather than a solution.

We kept it simple. This Is What a Proper Collagen Supplement Looks Like:

Frustrated, angry and fed up I decided to keep it simple.

I stripped everything back.

No proprietary blends.

No filler ingredients.

No smoke and mirrors.

Just 10 grams of real collagen per serving - split properly.

- 5 grams of hydrolyzed marine collagen.

- 5 grams of hydrolyzed bovine collagen.

Both broken down for absorption. Both listed clearly on the label. Nothing hidden. Nothing diluted. Nothing added just to sound impressive.

Because when it comes to supplements, you don’t need more ingredients - you need the right ones, in the right amounts.

That’s it. No gimmicks. No guessing. Just what your body actually needs.

That’s why we made this.

If you’re over 40 and you care about how your body looks, feels, and ages - this is the collagen you take.

No gimmicks. No proprietary blends. No filler.

Just real collagen, in real amounts, doing what it’s meant to do.

See exactly what’s in it, and why it works - here.