These Are The 2 Collagen-Boosting Treatments That Actually Are Worth The Money

The beauty world can be oh-so-expensive, no? Every time I walk the beauty aisles of a department store, I'm simply shocked at how much an eye cream costs these days! Now, I'd like to take a moment to clarify that I'm a big proponent of caring for your skin—I'm not someone who thinks it's all superfluous and overpriced. Some things are expensive and—and here's the most important part—worth it. 

So I guess my stance on the state of expensive skin care is this: Spend as much money on skin care as you'd like; just make sure you're getting your money's worth. 

Taking her top stop is the collagen-boosting, scar-smoothing, and all-around-resurfacing laser! "So there's surgery, but everything outside of that—what can we do to help us look and feel our very best? The No. 1 thing is the laser," she says. "It's the absolute gold standard in skin rejuvenation. After doing a laser, your skin will produce around 40% more collagen1. That is a humongous needle move."

While I've personally not tried a laser (yet), almost everyone I know who has said they're worth the money. Just know that lasers may require downtime (the extent of which is laser-dependent) and that the full slope of the results will reveal themselves with time. 

"It takes up to three months to see the result of a laser, so be patient with it," Glasgow assures. 

"The other thing that's so fantastic that you can do with your esthetician and at home is this pro device, the microcurrent," she says. "It's one of the best ways to produce collagen and elastin, strengthen your skin, bring fresh oxygenated blood flow to the surface, and move out all the fluid."

"Professional treatments are going to be stronger than [at-home tools]," she says, noting that there are still incredible options to use on yourself. Her favorite microcurrent brand is NuFace, which we've thoroughly tested several tools from and agree on its efficacy. (Read more about the device here.) 

Microcurrents aren't just an investment cost-wise but time-wise as well. While just doing it once will give you a temporary lift, you really should use them consistently to see the best results. "It's also cumulative—so if you do it every day or you have a treatment once a month, you're going to see lots of results, such as strengthening and building muscle to lift, tighten, and tone," she says. 

Your skin care products don't work as well if you're not setting your skin up for success. Your night cream will hydrate your skin just fine, but it will hydrate it better if you actually get eight hours of sleep. A calming face cream will help manage inflammation in the skin, but it won't have as much to deal with if you're not stressing your body out to begin with. 

In the same vein, these procedures can improve the appearance of the skin on their own—but you'll get better results if you're also making smart lifestyle and skin care choices.

Let's start with the most obvious: Wear sunscreen! UV exposure is the No. 1 cause of skin aging and can account for up to 80% of all visible signs of aging on the skin. 

But you'll also want to create a skin care routine that you can stick to consistently, will treat your skin gently, and won't trigger inflammation (which can undo any wrinkle-reducing benefits since inflammation breaks down collagen). 

Outside of skin care, be mindful of getting enough sleep, find a stress management practice, and eat a robust diet full of antioxidants, fatty acids, and amino acids. You can also consider folding in a beauty supplement, such as a collagen powder.