Collagen decline begins quietly. Like a WhatsApp group you once loved that now only sends birthday messages. One day, you’re bouncing out of bed with springy knees and plump skin, the next, your joints make new and unsettling noises. Your hair tie wraps around three times instead of two.
What gives? Well, collagen: the protein shaping your face, bracing your joints and bolstering your hair from the root, which begins to decline in production during your mid-20s.
So it’s no wonder collagen is having a moment. We’re stirring it into coffee, sipping it between meetings, popping tablets of it like candy.
What is collagen?
Collagen is the most abundant protein in our bodies. Think of it as the biological glue that keeps your features firm, your body upright, and your bounce intact. Humans have at least 28 types, but Types I, II and III are the headliners:
- Type I: Skin, bones, tendons, ligaments, accounts for 90% of the body’s collagen
- Type II: Cartilage and joints
- Type III: Skin, blood vessels, internal organs
Your body makes collagen by combining amino acids from protein-rich foods with help from vitamin C, zinc, and copper. But from your mid-to-late twenties onwards, production begins to dip by about 1% a year.
As Dr Rinky Kapoor, consultant dermatologist at The Esthetic Clinics, tells Vogue: “The decrease is 1% every year post your 20s, and when you reach your 40s, the production dwindles even further, displaying signs of ageing.”
What does collagen decline look like on the outside?
Skin: Less bounce, more sag
Collagen gives skin its structure and firmness. As levels drop, you start noticing:
- Fine lines and wrinkles (the classics)
- Loss of elasticity and plumpness
- Dryness, dullness and slower wound healing
“The collagen in our skin reflects a delicate equilibrium between synthesis and degradation,” Mercedes Abarquero Cerezo, pharmacist and head of scientific projects at L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty Spain, says. “As we age, the cells responsible for collagen production slow down. At the same time, a host of external and internal factors—from sun exposure and diet to stress and hormonal shifts, particularly during menopause—can speed up its breakdown.”