Hair, skin & nails

Hair, skin and nails are built mostly from protein, and they renew all the time. When your intake of a nutrient drops, these tissues often show it before you notice anything else. Only a short list of nutrients has claims approved by the European food safety authority (EFSA) here. Biotin contributes to the maintenance of normal hair and normal skin. Zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal hair, skin and nails. Selenium contributes to the maintenance of normal hair and normal nails. Vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of skin. Copper contributes to normal hair pigmentation. This collection is part of BEAUTY + BALANCE, one of the Core 4 by BONO pillars.

What separates one beauty formula from another

Most formulas look alike on the front of the pack and differ on the back. We read the back first. The form decides how much your body absorbs and how the product feels in your stomach.

• Zinc: bisglycinate and citrate are usually easier to take with a small meal than zinc oxide.
• Selenium: selenomethionine is taken up more readily than sodium selenite.
• Collagen: only hydrolysed collagen peptides dissolve properly in a cold drink.
• Biotin: a 10,000 mcg tablet holds 200 times the daily reference amount. More is not better once your intake is covered.
• Iron: sensible if a blood test shows you are low, not as a default beauty ingredient.

From there, two routes are open to you. A multi-nutrient beauty formula gives you the whole set of approved claims in one capsule or gummy, which keeps things simple. Single nutrients let you top up what you actually lack, for example zinc on its own, or vitamin C next to a collagen powder. Powders and gummies help if capsules are hard to swallow, although gummies usually carry lower doses and often contain sugar.

How we select what you find here

We look at three things: the form of each nutrient, the dose, and whether the combination makes sense. A formula with zinc, selenium, biotin and vitamin C covers the claims that exist for these tissues, so we prefer that over one enormous dose of biotin with nothing beside it. We buy directly from the brands, without intermediaries, so what arrives is genuine. Our compliance team checks every product before it goes live, we test products ourselves, and independent labs spot-check batches. We carry only brands we stand behind, whatever their margin: read how we select.

Who this collection suits and what to expect

These products suit you if your diet is limited, if you eat plant-based, or if your hair, skin and nails feel weaker than usual and you want the basics covered. They are not an answer to hair loss with a medical cause. Hair grows roughly one centimetre a month and nails grow slower still, so give it time: two to three weeks of consistent use before skin feels different, and three to four months before you can judge hair and nails fairly. If dry skin is your main concern, omega-3 fits you better than biotin on its own. Taking a modest dose every day beats taking a large dose now and then.