My Review of Sourse’s “Glow Bites” Collagen Chocolate

I love me some collagen supplements. Truly. A few months ago, I started adding collagen powders to my coffee and saw a tremendous difference in my hair, skin, and nail health. I can’t grow long nails — period — but collagen supplements and nail strengthener polishes have started to change that.

As an avid collagen ~lover~, Sourse sent me their new Collagen Infused Glow Bites. Basically, they’re candy-coated dark chocolate pieces — kind of like a larger M&M.

The dosage is 2 chocolate pieces a day. TRUST ME… It’s so hard not to want to eat more. The chocolates taste DELICIOUS. I have looked forward to it every day. So taste-wise, these things are G-R-E-A-T.

I’ve been taking this supplement for about 2 months. I like that they’re only 20 calories, and they also contain Spirulina. Spirulina is a cyanobacterium aka a blue-green algae protein. It contains beta-carotene, which is excellent for combating acne and promoting clear skin.

The chocolates also contain ceramides (Sourse calls them “Ceramosides”). In short, ceramides keep skin cells together, and they create a barrier to prevent permeability. This helps lock moisture into the skin. Typically, we see ceramides added into various skin creams. For my oily skin peeps, sometimes creams can get a bit heavy (however, I believe that people with oily skin should still use moisturizers! Don’t skip out on those!). Ingesting ceramides is a great alternative to achieve glowy skin without creating excessive grease/oil on your face by applying a heavy cream. This is because when you’re ingesting it, you’re increasing hydration internally. If you’re not taking steps to keep your skin moisturized, your skin may over-produce oil to compensate for it’s dehydration. A targeted supplement that includes ceramides can help balance hydration/oil levels, both internally and externally, so this may help oily folks.

For background, I have combo skin. What works for me is using The Ordinary’s Niacinamide on my forehead to reduce oil. I have not seen a DIRECT correlation between the Sourse Glow Bites + the lessening of oil production on my forehead, but I wanted to include the science behind this product as much as I could to showcase all of the benefits it tries to provide. I personally think adding a combination of products — both things that you can use internally and externally — can definitely aid your skin in whatever you are trying to accomplish (whether it be acne, oil, glowy/dewy skin, etc.).

While using a combination of collagen supplements like Sourse and nail strengtheners, I can say the most significant difference I’ve seen with this product is in my nails. They’re probably the longest and strongest that they’ve ever been — which is something that I’ve been really trying to work on. On top of that, I’ve tried to cut back on my horrible habit of biting my nails, so that’s probably helped my case, too. I do think taking collagen has helped, though. I’ve taken a bunch of hair, skin, and nails supplements in the past, but collagen has shown the most significant difference for me out of all of the supplements that I’ve tried.

My hair also seems to have gotten longer within 2 months, too. I don’t have the exact measurements, so take this with a grain of salt, but I HAVEEEE looked in the mirror and thought, “wow, my hair is long.”

Collagen makes up 75% of the dry weight of our skin. Its amino acids can help repair our bones, joints, and tendons, while also keeping our skin plump and fighting wrinkles. So naturally, we would want more of it in our skin, yes? Everyone seems to be on an anti-aging mission, including myself (even though I totaaaallyyy look 15 when I’m 23, hah!).

Out of all of the ways you can use collagen, ingestion and injection prove to be the most effective. It tends not to absorb as well when it’s just topically applied on-top of skin, so these other methods are better.

Studies on collagen supplements’ effectiveness are still being performed, but some research has found it to be pretty dang effective in increasing the skin’s elasticity. For example, a 2014 study showed that women who ingested collagen supplements for 8 weeks showed a significant improvement in skin elasticity compared to those who did not. When ingested, collagen peptides travel throughout the body and stimulate cells to produce new collagen. They move from the dermis to the epidermis (the outer-most layer of skin), which is where the results can be seen.

The most important factor when choosing a collagen supplement is that it’s CLEAN. Which… Sourse Glow Bites are CLEAN collagen! They are plant-based and gluten-free phytoceramides. Most collagen supplements have iffy sources. They can be sourced from unknown origins and can be made up of ground animal skin (that could potentially carry diseases like mad cow disease if the source is super, super obscure). Some collagen supplements have even been known to have a toxic metal called cadmium.

Most collagen supplement companies are required to follow good manufacturing practices that prohibit the use of heavy metals and the incorporation of certain cow parts that could heighten the risk of mad cow disease being prevalent.

I still would learn to use a more clean collagen like Sourse if you want to be extra careful. I’m still learning and researching collagen more and more everyday, so do your own research for yourself and decide if it’s right for you!

Collagen has quite an impressive resume of benefits, so regardless, I like to incorporate collagen supplements as much as I can into my diet to continually promote the health of my joints and hair/skin/nails. I personally don’t think it could hurt, AND out of a lot of supplements that I’ve tried… I have seen the most benefits with collagen, so I really enjoy it.

Now, why chocolate? Why not a pill? Sourse claims that chocolate improves the absorption of vitamins. I can kind of attest to that — I take a Sleep supplement from Good Day Chocolate, and even though it’s only 1 MG of melatonin (I used to take like 10 MG), it knocks me OUT so much better and faster. Thus, it’s said that only 20% of nutrients from a pill are absorbed because your body is working sooo hard to digest the pill, allowing for absorption hours after ingesting. However, with chocolate, the vitamins are instantly absorbed as you eat it. Therefore, you can absorb 90% of the vitamins instead of just 20% from a pill.

Because I love taking collagen so much, being able to TREAT myself by taking 2 yummy, yummy, yummy Sourse chocolates a day is a win for me! I really enjoy these, and think that they’re a fun, delicious way to get your collagen fix — especially if you want to avoid collagen powders.