Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Powder with Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin C, Unflavored, 20 oz

I struggled all my life with taking large pills, powders and elixirs, basically anything that has a medicinal or bitter taste. I kept hearing about this powdered collagen and decided to do my research ( it took me 3 months), to become an informed participant. I do not consume any medicine, synthetic or herbal supplements. I first looked at large bodies of evidenced based research to support why i should consider consuming this product. I found tons and decided to give it a try. First, i bought the single serve and shook it up in a 16oz water bottle, then prayed i would not throw up. Barely and i mean barely any taste whatsoever. Moved on to purchasing a single serve blender—poured 200 ml of organic milk, a splash of carnation milk, 1tspn organic agave, 1tspn organic cocoa powder, 1 scoop collagen powder and 1 scoop maca powder..again you can’t even taste the powder and no after taste. Results…joint pain gone! Hair growth 1 inch in 1 month, nails are stronger (i like short natural nails), skin–bye bye fine lines and fine wrinkles (the ones you see in the 5x magnifying mirror). For the sake of clarity, my goal was to address some joint pain. The ancillary advantages/outcomes was not what i was seeking–but i am not complaining. I make the shake everyday and drink it after my pilates and elliptical workout in the am. Oh yes, for us women of a certain age…pre, during or post menopausal, it reduced the flame on and in the heat of the night episodes by 90% –get your sleep back. I am a former ballet dancer and while i am in good health and maintain an uncompromising size 6, i know i was taking my health for granted. Thinking that i could still hitch my wagon to the good genes shooting star. Well all good things come to an end and i really should have been taking supplements all along. Joint pain is reduced by 70% and i’m very pleased. I am not a physician and just sharing my personal results/observations (unintended and intended). I’m still pretty shocked at the results, as i had no expectations of a positive or negative outcome whatsover. Please do your research!

I absolutely love this product! I am on my third tub and even though i started seeing benefits from taking this within two weeks, i wanted to really give it a chance to do its thing. I started taking this for skin health and a hopeful reduction in fine lines. I have taken collagen before, both a popular powdered marine collagen formula (that is pretty popular on instagram) and one that sources its collagen from chicken and comes in a pill form. I took the marine collagen for at least 3-4 months and made it a couple months with the other one. This has given me far superior results to the others. First i will say that this dissolves just beautifully in warm liquids. I add it to my coffee in the morning and my tea in the evening. I also think that this is pretty much completely tasteless. There is no odor when opening the container and it is nearly undetectable in a beverage, especially once you get used to drinking it. I love that it helps keep me a little more full between meals while boosting the nutrition value of beverages i like to enjoy daily. As for my results, i started seeing increased nail growth in the first couple of weeks. And i really mean increased growth, not just marginally noticeable results. My nail growth was outpacing the longevity of my nail polish which i was pretty excited about it. The next thing i noticed was my hair was growing faster. I didn’t measure but feel convinced that i experienced faster hair growth than i would have had i not been taking it. About 6-8 weeks into taking this collagen twice a day i noticed my lash growth was unreal. They were considerably longer and much fuller looking…other people noticed so it wasn’t just wishful thinking on my part. Lastly, i have noticed right about the 3-month mark that my skin is definitely smoother. I would say i notice about a 30% decrease in the appearance of fine lines. I haven’t made any changes to my skincare routine so i can safely attribute the change to the collagen. I can’t speak to any digestive benefits as i didn’t suffer from any issues prior to taking this product. I truly love taking this collagen and consider it an essential part of my daily routine. Highly recommend!

*edit 9/11/16* the last couple of months i thought i would drop down to just a single scoop serving per day and i feel that i can absolutely notice a difference in my results. My nails don’t grow quite as quickly and even though my lashes still look nice, they are not quite as full looking as they were before. For me the most noticeable is my skin – it doesn’t feel or look quite as plump and smooth which is a bit of a drag. Your mileage may vary, but for me i need to take this twice a day to get the results i want and to maintain them.

*edit 10/1/17* i have faithfully been using vital proteins collagen since i wrote the initial review. I switched over to their marine collagen formula because i had heard from a friend the type of collagen derived from fish scales is easier to absorb in the body. I couldn’t really tell if the absorption was better but after several months on the marine collagen, i can say that i did not feel i saw the same results as i did with this product. Most noticeable is that i felt my hair growth returned to what it was before collagen and my lashes weren’t nearly as long and full. Kind of disappointing to be honest. The marine formula is a good product but just doesn’t work for me as well as this one does. It is also more expensive and doesn’t last as long as a tub of this does. I am testing out plant-based collagen so i’ll see what the results are with that the next little bit. If i go back to animal-derived collagen i know i will be coming right back to this product and i won’t be experimenting anymore. This has still given me the best results to date.

*edit 12/30/18* while i really enjoy the plant-based collagen (and continue to use it) i’ve added this into my routine again and my results are next level and coming back so quickly, even though i haven’t taken it for several months. And i’m only at 1 scoop a day so i’m excited to go back to a full serving! This is still my favorite collagen and i won’t be experimenting with any others. I’ve found the best and plan on sticking with it!

Update august 23, 2021:
still eating this stuff like a crazy person because it continues to work so well. I found the mio and water combo wasn’t getting this down anymore so i switched to jello 🙂 i’ve tried several flavors and the cherry seems to hide the taste the best. I mix my jello per the box instructions for jigglers. I mix 2 large packets with 5 cups boiling water and throw all that into my mixing bowl and let the mixer do the work for me. Then i count out the desired amount of scoops into a smaller bowl and slowly pour that into the mixing bowl. I’ve added a picture of the finished product (minus today’s nibbles). Here’s the breakdown of scoops per box for me (again, i’m doing double what is recommended, but it seems to be working).

2-8.5 ounce boxes of jello
5 cups boiling water – do not add anymore water to this. It will be a consistency of something between jello jigglers and regular jello.
54 scoops of collagen
mix with mixer until very well blended. The longer the better. I think i left mine going for 5 minutes or more.
Place in fridge to cool
~ i know that i need 2 ounces of jello per day to get my 4 scoops in. If you don’t take that much per day than only scoop out 1 ounce. That would be the equivalent of 2 scoops of collagen. I finish it off with my big tumbler of water.

And if anyone is curious as to how i came up with this…
A few months back i started experimenting with jello and collagen. I needed a good measuring system to start with. I grabbed my baby food silicone molds (2 ounces per cup when full) and went from there. I have 3 of these molds so i tried out a few different methods. 2 scoops per 1 ounce seemed to work the best. When the jello is mixed with 5 cups of water it comes out to just about 54 ounces of liquid. Give or take a bit.

Hope this helps 🙂

update october 5, 2020:

after receiving and using my 2nd container for the last couple weeks i have noticed that this batch does not have the same smell or taste as the first container did. This container appears to have no taste or smell like the first container did. It also dissolves way more easily. I noticed other reviews that have mentioned similar differences and i’m just wondering if the quality control is just not there. This batch is still helping with my hair regrowth, but i am struggling to figure out why such a huge difference in the 2 containers. Still going to continue using it because it is helping so much. Just baffled at the differences between batches.
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i started vital proteins a couple months ago after being at my wits end with postpartum hair loss. I was losing hair at an alarming rate. My hair girl was concerned about all the bald patches and thinning i was experiencing. We talked about different things i could try, but nothing seemed to help with regrowth. I simply was not seeing any regrowth at 6 month postpartum. Just more loss.

I had already been looking at this product and another one for a few months, but wasn’t completely sold on either one. I was skeptical. Then i found out that my nutritionist uses this product. At that moment i took the plunge and ordered my first container.

Within 1 week…gonna say this again…one week, i had new hair growth!! I thought it was a fluke. I thought there was no possible way. So i stopped for a week and restarted the next week. Sure enough, in the week that i didn’t take any vital proteins the hair growth stopped. Once i started it back up the regrowth started growing again. I was still in shock over this. I finished my first container and ordered a second.

I now have 3 very distinct growth spurt layers and it looks like i have another new layer starting! My hair girl wanted to know what i had done because she in 5 weeks in between cuts, i not only had new crazy amounts of growth, but my bald patches were filling in. She wanted to know what i had done to get regrowth that fast. She is going to recommend this product to a few of her other clients that are experiencing the same postpartum hair loss.

Now, for the nuts and bolts of this stuff.

No. You will not receive a full container. It’s sold by weight, not volume. But taking 1 scoop a day it will last about 2 months. I take 2 scopes per day and it lasts about a month.

It claims to be odorless, colorless and tasteless. I am super sensitive to smells and tastes. I cannot stand the smell or taste of this stuff. However, i also take 2 scoops at a time per day. So mine is a little stronger. I think that’s why it’s working so well. However, if you notice in the picture i provided you will see how i get this stuff down. I use water and mio. Makes this stuff taste like melted jello. It’s the only way i can take it. Even with this though i sometimes have a difficult time. But the results are totally worth it!!

It is sticky. It took me a time or 2 before i figured out that this stuff has serious sticky factor.

Do not shake!!! The directions say to mix well. Not shake. You shake this stuff up and you’re gonna end up with clumps. I use a whisk and mix it like you would jello. Mix it and you will not have any issues. Shake it or dump it too fast into the liquid and you will get clumps. It’s not rocket science.

Will i recommend this to every single person i know, yes! Absolutely yes!!

So i wanted to wait a while to write a review, this way i could speak about this products benefits.

I’ve been using this product for 3 months now – i started with the smaller sized container to get a good test run first. I do a lot of research on the products i put into my body, and this company checked out okay with what i had originially read. So quality, check.

My first opinion with this product was the taste – when added to tea, if taken as suggested (2 scoops) you can definitely tell there is a taste. It is a mild taste, but a taste nonetheless. But it dissolved right into the hot liquid without any problems, did not change the color of the tea at all.
So i decided to change my doseage – i put 1 scoop into coffee (no taste/no color change as i drink my coffee black) and then 1 scoop at night when i drink my post-workout (from another company). No further taste issues.

What changes have i experienced:
my hair is definitely growing quicker than before, but not incredibly speedy – so don’t set yourself up for that expectation. My hair and nails are definitely stronger (which i needed after having a gel manicure twice a month for the last two years)
my skin – definite improvement. I still get blemishes, that’s just how my chemistry goes, but i’ve definitely noticed a glow, not over-oily etc.
Also, i just overall feel better.

So, if you’re like me and read every review before purchasing a product, i hope this review serves you well. If you’re curious, but don’t want to commit to the larger container, get the smaller size and give it a test-run. I saw benefits after one month, combined with a moderately healthy diet (and drink drink drink your water!!), and the only thing i changed about my routine is adding a scoop of this powder to my coffee/shake. If you do not choose this product, buyer beware – check all the labels before purchasing.

Cheers!

I have been very happy with this product – the first difference i felt after a few weeks was that it helped me sleep. It contains glycine and if you look online there is research that shows that helps with sleep. I sleep for longer periods and if i wake up at night i can fall back to sleep quickly which has made a big difference in my general well being. Then after about six weeks my knees started to feel better which i think was the collagen, and now after a few months my hair is more shiny – all good things!

It does have a taste – it isn’t strong but i tried it with plain water and it needs some flavor to cover the taste. I don’t want to add it to my coffee, and like drinking it cold. I found that flavored carbonated water like lacroix is just enough to cover the taste, but it does not dissolve quickly in cold liquid. I was mixing it and leaving it sit on the counter until the lumps were gone, which could take as long as an hour. Some of the photos i have seen in the comments show lumps and i think they didn’t let it sit long enough to dissolve.

I finally came up with a method to mix it quickly and i wanted to share it. What works for me is: (1) pour a small amount of the cold flavored water into a glass – maybe 2 oz. (2) put that in the microwave and heat it until it is hot – about 20 – 30 seconds. (3) sprinkle two scoops of the vital proteins into the small amount of hot liquid and stir it until it dissolves. It will dissolve quickly without lumps when it is hot. (4) pour in the rest of the cold flavored water in the glass with the already dissolved collagen solution and mix that. If i want it colder i put in an ice cube. This would work for any cold liquid, you could add juice as well. Basically, the idea is to dissolve the vital proteins in a small amount of hot liquid first and then add the cold liquid to that solution. Hope this is helpful!

I use this product once in the morning for about 8 days and i noticed a definite difference in the hardness and length of my nails. Perhaps my body absorbs it really good to have such quick results, i don’t know. I didn’t even use full scoops. I’m excited to see long-term results for hair and skin. I mainly bought it for hair improvement so i’m really hoping i find some benefit to my hair. I will update in the future. I am glad i tried this product. I can tolerate the taste with just water, but i’ll admit it’s not that easy.

Just got this product so i don’t know how well it really works. I’m going to give it a couple months and see if there’s a difference. What i have gathered so far is that even though it says there is no flavor….it definitely has a flavor but it’s not a bad flavor. Doesn’t mix well in cold things, comes up clumpy. Best if mixed in really hot things such as coffee, tea, etc. When i mixed it in something really hot it was so easy to mix in and did not clump at all. That’s all i got.

Since i only just started taking this i cannot comment on the pain relief, however there truly is no flavor. I’ve added this to water and it tastes the same, just changes the color to a clear yellow. The serving size is 2 scoops (double what other brands use), so you don’t get much from this one case but if it clears my skin, it’s worth it. It dissolved easily in cold water without me mixing it. I tried to add it to soda to disguise it but it definitely did not work, thickened it, and make it fizz. Sugars competing i guess? I would recommend this product.

I started taking collagen in pill form first and loved the results (clearer skin, longer lashes, less hair shedding, etc). When the sale popped up to get this for under $20 i jumped at the opportunity. I love the fact that i could add this to my breakfast smoothies, and oatmeal and it didn’t compromise the flavor or texture. You literally cannot taste it. I was a little disappointed that two scoops is one serving but other than that, i would use this again, and recommend it. I finished the whole thing within two weeks using it daily.

I started taking collagen to help improve my thin and aging nails (i am 72), but even before the nails had a chance to grow i discovered how much better i was sleeping. I was amazed by that because i have always been a restless sleeper, but now when my eyes close i sleep peacefully until morning. There is no flavor, i just mix a scoop in water twice a day, and i’m good. Waiting to see what magic will happen to my nails … Am not taking for pain relief so i cannot speak to that

Hello everyone….well i was a bit skeptic but i needed help! So since moving from an office to home as an essential worker my typing has picked up greatly, within the last 6m i have noticed stiffness and pain in my dominant hand and fingers, now before starting this supplement i have reported to my dr my concerns, he had me go for x-rays (done) and will be having my hands sonogramed in the coming weeks to rule out carpotunnel and or arthritis. Ok with this said and researching ‘hand pain, trigger finger’ i gave this a shot! So i dissolve mine in a bit of hot top water and then add cold with a shot of mio to give flavor to the water, i am using the unflavored powder and recommend not just plopping in plain water as there is a very little taste but enjoy water with a little flavor….so the results for self are very positive, now i still wake in the morning with stiffness in my fingers but i can work a full day with less pain and more flexibility….i was using warm hand soaks and muscle creams, i will continue to use this product, it’s easy convent and for myself i am seeing results…good luck to all who try and i hope you will feel a bit better like i do

I have a running excel sheet that logs macros for my foods and this beats fat-free tuna, this is by far the most protein-dense substance you can find. Calculated by dividing the grams of protein by the calories you can see how much of each calorie comes from protein. This also has all the amino acids for your body to be able to absorb it.
I prefer to use this in cooking as it makes for a great thickening agent to replace corn starch and flour in recipes. It is nearly tasteless so you can add it to savory or sweet recipes. Though i’d recommend the slightly less nutritious chocolate version if you want this as a beverage.
I was super happy when i first found this product like a hidden gem but now that it has caught on it has shot up in price to match most other protein powders.

Fyi most protein supplements only have a density of around 15% same as greek yogurt while this has 25%.
This is also helpful for skin, especially with a red light. I’d recommend the youtube channel ‘what i’ve learned’ if you want more understanding on that though.

I’m on my 2nd container and use 2 scoops daily. I started on july 31, 2022 and today is sept 6, 2022.

I have osteoarthritis in my thumbs and so far i have not noticed a difference in the pain level, still a lot of pain.

I either mix with fruit and almond milk which or with yogurt, fat free cottage cheese, and fruit.

Sometimes a clump of collagen will collect in the yogurt/cottage cheese mix but it’s easy to fix. I do notice a different consistency (a little thicker) but i like that.

The thing i’m most happy about is the skin on my arms and legs had shown less crepe-y look, my fingernails are growing quicker and i hope at some will show less lines. I have one fingernail that always splits in the same spot. I’m hoping that will go away too but it’s too soon to tell now.

It also feels like my hair is growing faster too.

Might update if i see anything worth changing.

I purchased this product for joint pain and thinning hair. I am currently on my third month and have felt a difference in joint pain for the better and also new hair growth. My only dislike is the taste. Someone had said it smells like dog pee and unfortunately it does. However, i think i’m pretty used to it now but i don’t sip on it! It only dissolves well in warm/hot liquids. After it cools i throw it back to get past the taste and smell. Overall it’s worth purchasing. Amazon does have the best price unless they have a special at whole foods with prime.

Ok so this is my first time ever trying anything like this. I had my nails done a few months back, and it really took it’s toll on the health of my nail beds. I noticed my hair thinning out too (welcome to mid 40s) so i did my research and tried this.

1). First and foremost: this is truly tasteless! At first i could taste it, but that’s because i was mentally telling myself i was trying something different. I mixed it in my morning coffee or my juice and truly, i can’t taste it.
2). My nails are growing back faster and more healthier. I have had to trim them back twice in a month, and this is not my normal.
3). My hair stopped falling out with each shampooing i did. Now this took about 30 days to notice, however, i feel my hair is different and i am not complaining.
4). My skin feels a bit firmer, and not as blotchy.

My teenage daughter thought this was a soap product and added it to the washing machine…not sure if it made my clothes younger lol! But i can say this product works.

The best part of using this collagen product is the ability for me to quickly add it to my water bottle every morning before heading out to work. This is my expresso! After having kids my joints have never been the same, weaker and more prone to pain, i wanted a product that can support joints but also help with my skin-the hyaluronic acid is for skin elasticity and hydration. Unlike other, this one also has vitamin c. One scoop is all you need and it can be added to hot or cold beverages. Taste even better when added to smoothies!

Love the benefits of this product! Been taking it for a couple of weeks now and it’s been a little experiment with what drinks i can and cannot add it to. I’m the beginning i didn’t taste it at all but now, i can taste it in my drinks and have to hold my breath while i chug it down! Idk why but it’s really yucky. The bad taste isn’t strong it’s a subtle, funky flavor. I even decreased my dosage from 2 scoops to 1 hoping it wouldn’t be so icky, but it still was. I’ll continue trying to perfect a beverage that masks the weird flavor of this collagen peptide powder. I still recommend based on the benefits though!

I lost a lot of hair due to the covid shot. Had a very tender head after. Been using this for about six months and it’s helped. 2-4 scoops a day in coffee or other drink. Good for skin as well.

I put this in slightly warmed milk and it dissolves easily into the milk on its own. I put it in hot (or warm) coffee and i have to force the clumps apart. Then i have to deal with the residue on the spoon that’s hard as a rock and won’t wash off easily. Also, i don’t like the taste. A lot of the taste is in the scent, so i try to hold my breath and stay far as possible when scooping it in and then i try not to breathe when drinking it. I guess unflavored doesn’t mean no flavor (though some people seem to be immune to the smell/taste)

It does not relieve pain. It dissolves easy in coffee most of the time, and the flavor is barely noticeable. As to if it actually works. Hard to tell. The only thing i notice is that my finger nails seem to be stronger.