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The 9 Best Vitamins and Supplements for Skin Health

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Are Vitamins and Supplements for Skin Health Beneficial?

In general, if you eat a well-rounded diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats, fish, and heart-healthy fats you will be able to meet your skin health needs through food alone. However, if your diet lacks nutritional variety or you have a condition like inflammatory bowel disease that interferes with absorption of certain nutrients, your skin may benefit from taking certain supplements.

Individuals that may benefit from supplements for skin health include:

  • Those who don’t eat a varied diet. If your diet lacks variety-whether it’s due to lack of access, not eating certain food groups, taste preferences, time constraints, etc.-you may be missing out on foods that have important nutrients for skin health. In this case, taking a modestly dosed supplement may help ensure you’re getting adequate amounts of nutrients involved with skin health.
  • Those with a specific nutrient deficiency. If you are deficient in a nutrient that is involved with skin health, you may notice the most benefit when you begin taking adequate amounts of a nutrient through food and a supplement.
  • Those with a health condition that impacts nutrient absorption. Some conditions, including various gastrointestinal disorders, hinder absorption of nutrients involved in skin health. If you have a condition that affects absorption of nutrients, your skin health may benefit from certain supplements. Always speak with a trusted healthcare provider to discuss whether supplementation is an appropriate treatment for your health condition.

People Who May Not Benefit From Vitamins and Supplements for Skin Health

Keep in mind supplements for skin health can vary from a single nutrient to a mix of many different nutrients. Therefore, there is a wide range of how skin health supplements may or may not benefit your needs. Before taking a supplement, it’s always best to consult a healthcare professional for your individual needs.

In general, those who may not benefit from vitamins and supplements for skin health include:

  • Those at risk for medication interactions. Certain medications may have harmful interactions with ingredients in skin health supplements. Be sure to speak with a healthcare professional or a registered dietitian to determine whether any of your medications could interact with a supplement.
  • Those with an overall well-rounded diet. If you have a varied diet that includes all food groups, you are likely meeting your nutritional needs through food alone. Therefore, supplementation may be unnecessary, costly, and potentially harmful if you consume high doses of a nutrient.

How We Select Supplements

Our team works hard to be transparent about why we recommend certain supplements; you can read more about our dietary supplement methodology here.

We support supplements that are evidence-based and rooted in science. We value certain product attributes that we find to be associated with the highest quality products. We prioritize products that are third-party tested and certified by one of three independent, third party certifiers: USP, NSF, or ConsumerLab.com.

It’s important to note that the FDA does not review dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness before they go to market. Our team of experts has created a detailed, science-backed methodology to choose the supplements we recommend.

To help in the process, we also spoke with several experts in the field. Those experts included:

  • Valerie Agyeman, RD, LD, women’s health dietitian, nutrition media expert and founder of Flourish Heights
  • Rakhi Roy, MS, RDN, LDN, founder and owner of Gut Skin Nutritionist
  • Yelena Wheeler, MPH, RD, a registered dietitian, nutritionist and nutrition writer

What to Look For in Vitamins and Supplements for Skin Health

Third-Party Testing

Supplements that are third-party tested are sent to a lab where they are tested to ensure they contain what they say they contain and are not contaminated with specific high-risk, common contaminants. However, it’s important to note:

  • Third party testing does not test to see if a product is effective or safe for everyone, and it does not ensure the supplement will not interact with other supplements or medications.
  • Not all third-party testing is created equal. It is not uncommon for supplement companies to pay labs for certificates after conducting minimal to no testing.
  • The third party certifications we can trust are: ConsumerLab.com, NSF, and USP. However, these certifications are difficult to obtain and/or expensive for manufacturers, so many companies choose not to get their products tested by one of these three organizations.
  • Sometimes products tested by these three companies are more expensive to try to offset the cost they pay for certification.
  • Just because a supplement is not tested by one of these three companies, it does not mean it’s a bad product. We recommend doing some research on the reputability of the manufacturer, and calling up the manufacturer and their testing lab to determine their protocols and decide if you feel comfortable consuming the supplement.

Form

The various supplements included in this roundup come in different forms-pills, powder, liquid, and gummies. Pills can be convenient and easier to find, while liquid or powder can offer more flexibility in dosage. Since single-nutrient supplements can be hard to find in smaller doses, the flexible dose of a liquid supplement can be useful if you are not severely deficient in the nutrient.

Gummies can be great for those who struggle to swallow pills when a liquid or powder option isn’t available, but they often contain some added sugars. Collagen is most commonly available as a powder for supplements for skin health.

You can find some of the vitamins and supplements for skin health in varying combinations. They might also have other ingredients like hyaluronic acid or biotin. Both of these do play a role in skin health, but biotin deficiency is uncommon in the U.S. so supplementation is often unnecessary.

Ingredients & Potential Interactions

It is essential to carefully read the ingredient list and nutrition facts panel of a supplement to know which ingredients and how much of each ingredient is included, relative to the recommended daily value of that ingredient. Please bring the supplement label to a healthcare provider to review the different ingredients contained in the supplement and any potential interactions between these ingredients and other supplements and medications you are taking.

Popularity of hair, skin, and nail supplements has grown in recent years. One of the main ingredients in these is biotin; however, research does not support taking a biotin supplement unless deficient, which is rare amongst Americans. While there is no known UL for biotin, you may want to be weary of skin health supplements with really high biotin doses-at the very least to save you from unnecessary spending.

Sometimes there may be herbal additives in skin health supplements that lack research on safety and efficacy. We don’t recommend any skin health supplement with herbal additives that don’t specify their amount or have research to support the skin health claims. Always check with your healthcare provider before starting a new supplement even if it just is an herbal blend.

Supplements high in vitamin B6, B12, or kelp supplements (which are high in iodine) may increase risk of acne for some people, Therefore, if you are prone to acne, avoiding these supplements in addition to whey protein or steriod-like supplements may be recommended. If you struggle with acne, be sure to tell a healthcare provider all the supplements and medications you take so they are aware of any potential interactions.

Vitamins and Supplements for Skin Health Dosage

Each of the nutrients we’ve mentioned has a different recommended dosage for adequate health. Below are the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) or daily adequate intakes (AIs) for adults for the vitamins and supplements beneficial for skin health.

Some recommended doses vary based on sex or age, while CoQ10, omega 3, and collagen do not have an RDA or AI.

  • Vitamin C

Men: 90 milligrams (add 35 milligrams if you smoke)

Women: 75 milligrams (add 35 milligrams if you smoke)

  • Vitamin A

Men: 900 micrograms (3,000 IU)

Women: 700 micrograms (2,333 IU)

  • Vitamin D:

Ages 19-70: 15 micrograms (600 IU)

Ages 71+: 20 micrograms (800 IU)

  • Vitamin E: 15 milligrams (22 IU)
  • Omega 3: no established overall recommendation.
  • Recommendations for ALA are:

Men: 1.6 grams

Women: 1.1 grams

  • Zinc

Men: 11 milligrams

Women: 8 milligrams

  • CoQ10: no established recommendation, although a 2017 study found that 50 to 150 grams of CoQ10 for 12 weeks significantly reduced wrinkles and improved skin smoothness.
  • Collagen: no established recommendation, although some research has suggested 2.5 to 15 grams is optimal for skin health benefits.

How Much is Too Much?

Each vitamin and mineral has a different tolerable upper intake level (UL). Unless advised from a healthcare professional to treat a nutrient deficiency, if you exceed this daily dose you are at increased risk for adverse effects or toxicity.

CoQ10 and collagen have no officially established UL.

  • Vitamin C: 2,000 milligrams
  • Vitamin A: 3,000 micrograms (10,000 IU)
  • Vitamin D: 100 micrograms (4,000 IU)
  • Vitamin E: 1,000 milligrams
  • Omega 3: 5 grams
  • Zinc: 40 milligrams
  • CoQ10: no established upper limit

Why Trust Verywell Health

Isabel Vasquez RD, LDN is a bilingual registered dietitian whose clinical experience includes providing outpatient nutrition counseling to adults with a variety of chronic health conditions along with providing family-based treatment for eating disorders in children and adolescents. She counsels clients through private practice and coaches Latinas in improving their relationships with food. Her work is especially focused on helping individuals divest from a one-size-fits-all approach to health and connect with their unique needs.