If you have spent any time looking at collagen shots, you will have noticed they start to blur. Small bottles, big numbers, similar promises. Several even look alike on the shelf — a gold cap, clear glass, ten thousand milligrams on the front. Telling them apart is genuinely hard, and most of the marketing is not built to help you.
This is a guide to the questions worth asking, written by the people behind one of those bottles. We will tell you what we chose and why, and we will be straight about the things collagen cannot be said to do. Take the questions to any brand you like, including ours.
1. The collagen — type and dose
Most drinkable collagen is either bovine (from cattle) or marine (from fish). Bovine is the most widely used; marine is sometimes preferred by people avoiding beef. Neither is better in the abstract — it depends on what you want. Then the dose. Ten thousand milligrams, 10g, per shot has become the common benchmark, and anything well below it is worth a second look. Collibre Gold uses 10,000mg of hydrolysed bovine collagen, sourced in Germany. “Hydrolysed” simply means broken into smaller fragments so the body takes them up more easily.
2. What else is in it — and whether the claims are honest
Here is the part the category would rather you skipped. Under UK law, a collagen shot may only make authorised health claims — and for collagen itself, there are none. The claims a brand is allowed to make rest on the vitamins added to the shot. Vitamin C, for instance, contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of skin. That is a real, authorised claim, and it is the one we make. If a shot promises to reduce wrinkles, reverse ageing, or deliver “clinically proven” results, it is reaching beyond what the regulator has authorised — and that tells you something about how the brand treats you. We decided early to say only what we are allowed to say, and nothing more.
3. The format — bottle or sachet
A shot is a daily habit, and the object shapes the habit. Much of the category comes in a plastic sachet you tear, squeeze and bin. It is cheaper to make and lighter to ship. We chose a small glass-feel bottle instead — it costs us more and ships heavier, but a bottle taken in ten seconds feels like a ritual, where a pouch feels like a task. Whichever you choose, decide whether the daily experience is one you will actually keep.
4. The box — how much, how often, and how easy to leave
Box sizes vary; some are a month, some a fortnight. What matters is whether the supply suits your habit and whether you can leave without friction. Look for a subscription you can pause or cancel in your account, in one step, with no phone call. Collibre comes as fifteen shots — a two-week supply — arriving just before you run out, cancellable in a click.
5. Where it is made — and whether they will tell you
Transparency is a fair proxy for care. A brand that tells you where the collagen is sourced, where the product is made, and who stands behind it is easier to trust than one that stays vague. Collibre Gold is made in Poland, from German-sourced peptides, and shipped from Sheffield — and the founder has visited the manufacturing facility himself.
6. Taste, and the small honest things
A shot you dislike is a shot you will stop taking, so flavour is not a trivial detail — it is the difference between a fortnight’s habit and a year’s. Ours is a clean peach, with the collagen itself kept well out of the way. Beyond that, the small print is worth a glance: added sugar, preservatives, and whether the bottle is pleasant to hold. None of it is dramatic. Kept daily, it is what the ritual is made of.
The honest version
The right collagen shot is the one you will actually keep taking — pleasant enough to look forward to, honest enough to trust, and built to fit a morning you already have. Choose on those terms and you will choose well, whichever bottle you pick up.
If you would like to see how we made those decisions, this is ours.
Start Your Ritual · From £34.95