Which nutricosmetics are right for you?

But how do the new beauty supplements differ from everyday multivitamins? Well, these may contain vitamin D and B vitamins, which are essential for healthy hair, skin and nails, but a supplement that specifically targets hair, skin and nails is likely to contain higher doses of these vitamins to ensure they take effect. The new generation of supplements go a step further still, with ingredients such as collagen and hyaluronic acid designed to make your body, skin and hair behave optimally, and look good in the process.

According to Jones, though, more does not always mean better. “The European Food Safety Authority suggests upper limits for vitamins and minerals and you should abide by these.” Excesses of water soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C will simply pass through the body, but fat soluble vitamins, such as vitamin A and vitamin E can in extreme cases build up in the body to toxic levels, where they can result in symptoms including nausea, headaches and blotchy skin. Essentially, if you want to take multiple supplements of any kind (beauty or daily vitamins) you need to check with a qualified nutritionist or GP that you’re not cumulatively exceeding safe levels. Ultimately, it pays to do your research first.

And look for the pills that have clinical trials to back them up. Despite impressive testimonials from women who have used her products – “my skin feels softer”, “my hair has got fuller” – Palmer Hussey is investing in trials to prove the efficacy of her supplement. Because, while a luxurious face cream might get away with scant evidence for efficacy, with pills, it’s about whether it can do what it promises.

“If there’s no robust evidence that a supplement works, it won’t be successful,” says Emily Saunders, beauty buyer at Selfridges where nutricosmetics are a keystone of the store’s new everyBODY campaign. “Shoppers now extensively research products before investing, so they will lean towards those with proven results.”

And this is having an impact. In recent years, manufacturers of a number of products have had trials published in peer-reviewed journals. One piece of research showed that Perfectil Platinum protected skin against the ageing effects of cold weather, leaving women with fewer fine lines. Another found that Imedeen Time Perfection can improve the appearance and moisture levels of sun-damaged skin. While liquid Gold Collagen (£107.97 for one month’s supply, gold-collagen.com) significantly reduced the depth of wrinkles.

There seems to be good evidence that omega fatty acids can improve the texture and hydration of skin, and that beta carotene has a protective effect against sun damage. However, as Jones points out, many supplements contain multiple ingredients so it’s hard to know specifically what is having the effect, and that trials are usually small scale and often funded by the companies making them. “That doesn’t mean they can’t be trusted, it’s just they are publishing the trial to sell a product,” she says.

In fact, nutricosmetics could be just the beginning of a much wider beauty revolution. While the simplicity of ingesting a pill is always going to appeal, Lucie Greene, worldwide director of The Innovation Group at J Walter Thompson, believes that in the future, we’re also going to see a move towards hybrid products that blur the line between food and beauty, health and aesthetics.

“Beauty stores are starting to stock coconut water and chefs Hemsley + Hemsley have been touting the skin-preserving powers of bone broth for a while,” she says. “Then there’s Australian brand The Beauty Chef (stocked in Selfridges), which produces drinks ‘designed to increase production of collagen and promote a radiant, naturally plumped complexion’.”

Victoria Buchanan, Trends Analyst at The Future Laboratory agrees and says that increasingly, food and drink brands will be adding beauty benefits to their products. “In Asia, we’ve seen a collagen beer and recently I saw cooking oils designed to have beauty benefits. We can expect to see a wave of beauty boutique-cafes focusing on inner and outer beauty and pairing cosmetics with a skin-nurturing menu.”

The trick is to ingest enough of the good stuff so it has a fighting chance of making its way though to the skin. “Your skin is the last organ to benefit from the nutrients you consume,” says Peacock. Indeed, the body allocates nutrients according to where they’re most needed. The brain is prioritised, then your heart, lungs and kidneys take precedence. Fundamentally, good skin will not make the difference between you living and dying, so it's low down on your body's list of priorities. Beauty supplements seek to redress the balance, to make sure the skin gets a look-in too. “To get your skin really glowing,” adds Peacock, “You’ve got work from the inside out.”

Is the future of beauty pill shaped? Stylist investigates nutricosmetics - products you swallow, not apply