Ingestible beauty, which encompasses vitamins, supplements and mineral-rich tonics, has grown 40 percent over the past five years, according to Euromonitor International. CEW’s Beauty News presents some key players in the expanding category.

8Greens

Brand positioning: Effervescent tablets with eight super-greens, including spinach, wheatgrass, kale, blue-green algae, spirulina, aloe vera, chlorella and barley grass. The brand was developed to give people access to greens in the simplest form – a tablet dropped into water.

Founder story: Founder Dawn Russell, a former model, was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in her mid-twenties. Chemotherapy was not an option due to a bone infection. As part of Dawn’s search for a complementary treatment, she focused on restorative greens, consuming large amounts of blue-green algae, spinach, kale and noting a direct correlation between the greens she consumed, and her general well-being, both inside and out.

Product portfolio: 8Greens comprises just one product, which was formulated after five years of testing, the work of five scientists and 264 prototypes.

Flagship product: One 8Greens tablet contains as much vitamin B6 as six cups of spinach, and as much vitamin B5 as 15 cups of broccoli. 8Greens uses a small amount of natural sweetener, stevia.

Marketing/distribution: Marketing efforts focus on nutrition education, namely that fewer than 10 percent of Americans consume enough vegetables each day. Models and celebrities give the brand their stamp of approval.

 

Dirty Lemon

Brand positioning: Dirty Lemon is a nutricosmetics brand with a collection of 10 beauty elixirs that include ingredients such as collagen, matcha, turmeric, ginseng and valerian, blended with a base of organic lemon juice, ocean minerals and pink Himalayan sea salt (a natural source of electrolytes).

Founder story: Zak Normandin is founder and CEO of Iris Nova, the parent company of Dirty Lemon. The brand is direct-to-consumer, initially selling exclusively by text message. Products are also available on the brand’s site.

Product portfolio: Dirty Lemon’s drinkable products include +retinol, +turmeric, +collagen, +rose, +ginseng, +matcha, +charcoal, +valerian, +white rose and +chromium.

Flagship product: +Retinol is drinkable retinol that features a proprietary blend of pro-retinols and antioxidants designed to reduce fine lines, increase skin elasticity, reduce inflammation and redness, and stimulate collagen production. +retinol also contains pineapple juice (an anti-inflammatory agent), ginger (packed with vitamins and minerals with antibacterial properties), and hibiscus flower (which reduces oxidative stress).

Marketing/distribution: Dirty Lemon focuses on direct-to-consumer conversational commerce (cCommerce) which interacts with customers predominantly via text message.

 

Golde

Brand positioning: Golde is a Brooklyn-born brand that features superfood-boosted essentials for health and beauty. The brand’s ingestible formulas target skin glow, gut health and stress balance from within.

Founder story: Golde was founded by Trinity Mouzon with the goal to make wellness vibrant, inclusive and fun. She launched Golde with turmeric, having witnessed the golden root help her mother’s ailing joints, thereby inspiring the brand’s name.

Product portfolio: Golde’s portfolio includes superfoods of the moment, including Clean Greens Anti-Pollution Face Mask (with chlorophyll), Lucuma Bright Instant Exfoliating Face Mask (with lucuma, a fruit native to Peru, papaya and sea buckthorn berry), Cacao Golde, Original Golde and Matcha Golde.

Flagship product: The Original Golde Tonic is a powdered blend of turmeric with creamy coconut and ginger. The blend is consumed in water, milk or smoothies and promotes skin glow, immunity and muscle recovery post-workout.

Marketing/distribution: Golde was founded as a direct-to-consumer brand, and is also available at Goop, Urban Outfitters, Chillhouse, Madewell and Sephora.

 

Hum Nutrition

Brand positioning: HUM Nutrition spans vitamins, supplements and powders that target skin and body concerns from the inside out. The products are brightly packaged with playful names, giving the brand a confident, happy-go-lucky personality.

Founder story: HUM Nutrition was founded in 2012 by Walter Faulstroh and Chris Coleridge and is based in Los Angeles.

Product portfolio: HUM Nutrition’s range addresses specific beauty concerns such as Dry Skin, Blemishes + Acne, Cleanse + Detox, Weight + Body, Hair + Nails, Anti-Aging and Vegan. Bestsellers include Skin Heroes Pre- and Post-Biotic (nurtures the gut and skin), Uber Energy (supports consistent energy through adrenal strength) and Red Carpet (for glowing skin and shiny fuller hair). Ingredients are triple-tested by independent labs for quality and purity.

Flagship product: Collagen Pop is a dissolvable collagen tablet that enhances water with marine collagen peptides and vitamin C to address dry and dull skin, fine lines, and loss of firmness and elasticity. The product is infused with real rose petals.

Marketing/distribution: HUM Nutrition offers a proprietary online quiz that offers curated product recommendations and guidance from a personal HUM nutritionist.

 

Crushed Tonic

Brand positioning: Crushed Tonic is an anti-aging ingestible skin care beverage brand aimed at rejuvenating skin, hair and health from within. It is based on fundamental nutrients in a Korean diet.

Founder story: Crushed Tonic was founded by Sally Kim after suffering severe burns all over her arms while cooking. Sally became obsessed with finding remedies to heal her skin beyond surgeries and lasers. Growing up in Korea, Sally’s diet mostly consisted of collagen-rich foods, and this inspired her to create her own formulations.

Product portfolio: Crushed Tonics’ anti-aging drinks include Original Crushes (with marine collagen, probiotics and biotin), Matcha Crushes (with organic matcha), and Turmeric Crushes (with organic turmeric, ginger and cinnamon).

Flagship product: Original Crushes features 10 grams of marine collagen sourced from tilapia skin, which is said to increase skin hydration and firmness.

Marketing/distribution: Crushed Tonic is sold at Sephora, Anthropologie, Barnes & Noble, and on the brand’s website. The brand’s cookbook, The Collagen Glow, is full of collagen-based recipes for smoothies, smoothie bowls and soups.

 

Vital Proteins

Brand positioning: Vital Proteins offers a range of sustainably-sourced nutrition products promoting health, fitness and natural beauty. The brand focuses on collagen and collagen production. Each formula contains collagen sourced from grass-fed cows or wild-caught fish.

Founder story: Founder Kurt Seidensticker, an active runner, began to experience persistent knee-joint pain and longer recovery periods. While searching for natural cures for his chronic joint inflammation and deterioration, he discovered collagen. After testing and researching the benefits of the superpower protein, Kurt incorporated collagen into his everyday life.

Product portfolio: Bestsellers include Collagen Peptides, Collagen Shot – Sleep, Matcha Collagen, Beef Gelatin, Beef Liver, and Collagen Creamer (Vanilla; Coconut; Mocha; Gingerbread).

Flagship product: Collagen Water is the brand’s newest collection, comprising five flavors: Blackberry Hibiscus, Lemon Ginger, Blueberry Mint, Strawberry Lemon, and Original. The collection helps to support stronger hair, skin and nails, keeps joint healthy, and improves digestion and overall gut health.

Marketing/distribution: Vital Proteins emphasizes its ethically-sourced formulas. Collagen Peptides is sourced from the hide of Brazilian grass-fed cattle. Marine Collagen is sourced from a wild harvested extract of red snapper scale. The brand has broad distribution including at Target, The Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Sephora.