As far as trending terms go, the buzzy "beauty supplement" is certainly rising in rank. Despite the hype, it's a bit of an elusive umbrella term—what makes a product so beneficial for beauty-minded folk? 

Well, by definition, beauty supplements are capsules, powders, gummies, or liquids with healthy ingredients for skin, hair, and nails.*

Sure, you can find many of the same ingredients formulated into topicals, but ingesting them can help your body enhance its natural antioxidant power.* Beauty from the inside out, as they say...

Join us as we walk through how to find the right beauty supplement for your skin and hair goals and the options we believe are the very best.* 

"While there is no such thing as a miracle pill for skin or any 'skin glow' shortcut, beauty supplements usually contain ingredients we know to play important roles in skin functions and overall health,"* notes board-certified dermatologist Ava Shamban, M.D., founder of Ava MD Dermatology, the SkinFive and The Box by Dr. Ava.

Let's break down some of those vetted ingredients, shall we? 

The term antioxidants casts a rather wide net: You have your vitamin alphabet, with vitamins A (think beta-carotene), C, E, and so on, but you also have phytochemicals from loads of unique plants brimming with carotenoids and polyphenols, like astaxanthin and pomegranate extract. 

Ah, the famous B vitamin. It's believed to naturally promote healthy hair because it is involved in the production of keratin, or the main component of hair.*

Biotin also plays a key role in supporting healthy, strong nails: Biotin has been shown to support thickness and firmness of nails1 in several human studies; one, in particular, found that those who took biotin supplements had 25% thicker nail beds2 than the placebo group.* 

Studies have shown that taking collagen peptides will support skin elasticity and hydration levels and promote youthful texture3.*

Especially type I, as this type is especially abundant in the skin, where it's "responsible for keeping it pliable and young-looking,"* says Gretchen Frieling, M.D., a board-certified dermatopathologist. 

In fact, one small study showed that when people took an oral supplement containing mainly hydrolyzed type I collagen3, after 60 days their facial lines and wrinkles appeared smoother, and the skin maintained healthy moisture levels.*

Collagen supplements also provide many of the amino acids and nutrients needed for hair growth.*

Oral forms of HA have also been shown to support skin hydration and appearance.

In fact, research has shown that people who took 120 milligrams of hyaluronic acid a day for 12 weeks had help maintaining healthy skin aging4 compared with those who took a placebo.* 

Good fats are a staple in a balanced diet, and it turns out those beloved fatty acids can support your overall skin and hair health as well.

In fact, research suggests5 that omega-3 fatty acids can support your skin and hair health when they're taken along with other antioxidant supplements.* 

Specifically for skin, healthy fats—namely, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA)6—help seal in moisture, keeping your skin barrier strong.

Board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, M.D., agrees: "Natural fats maintain the integrity of the outer skin layer," he once told us about vitamin F in skin care. 

On the topic of healthy skin lipids, we'd be remiss not to mention ceramides.

Ceramides are naturally present in your skin cells7, and they act like the glue that helps keep said skin cells together, keeping moisture in and environmental aggressors out.

They decline with age (and, thus, your skin barrier becomes weaker), which is why experts point to phytoceramide supplements (or ceramides derived from plants) to help your body promote its natural levels.*

Given the research on the gut-skin axis8, optimizing your gut function can work wonders for your skin as well.

In fact, a comprehensive review has found probiotics to be a useful tool in supporting a balanced inflammatory response in the skin8; one of the studies reviewed even documents that a probiotic supplement improved skin appearance in 80% of the 300 participants. 

Now that you have a baseline knowledge of the best ingredients for beauty supplements, we can chat about which products fit the bill.

Below, find the best beauty supplements to buy, depending on how you want to approach your hair, skin, and nails.*

We get it: Browsing all the available options can make your head spin (even if we did narrow it down to a solid 13). At the very least, see below for some important criteria to consider on your search. 

Are you partial to a powder? A softgel capsule? An on-the-go stick? Knowing your format of choice is important before starting a supplement routine—after all, it's difficult to stick to the regimen if you don't exactly favor the form. You might as well choose a type that aligns with your lifestyle, flavor preferences, etc. 

A well-rounded beauty supplement will have a cocktail of skin- and hair-supporting ingredients jam-packed into each serving.*

Those are additional, incremental nutrients or bioactives, and we support those thoughtful multi-ingredient formulas. That's not what we mean here: On the quest to find the cleanest formulas, we suggest looking out for excipients (aka, the "Other ingredients" list) like gums, fillers, corn syrup, synthetic dyes, and sugar alcohols—if you'd like to use a supplement that has them, that's fine; just know that truly premium formulas tend to skip these additives. 

Transparency is important—this is true for any product you buy, topicals and supplements included. When it comes to beauty supplements, any benefits listed should come with supporting science.

Additionally, quality testing—from the raw material to the finished product—should be rigorous and transparent to ensure purity and potency (and ultimately, peace of mind).

Some brands employ third-party lab testing, in which an organization not affiliated with the brand or manufacturer analyzes the products and their benefits; that way, you can have a better sense of their testing results with minimal biases. 

RELATED: 3 Common Myths About Skin Supplements & The Facts

At mindbodygreen, our expert-vetted dietary supplement product selections and recommendations in the supplement space elevate quality, efficacy, innovation, and safety.

Our team ensures that each supplement product is thoughtfully formulated--from the active ingredients to those "Other ingredient" excipients too. We are highly preferential towards clean formulas that are plant-centric (and oftentimes vegan or vegetarian) as well as free of GMOs, gluten, soy, dairy, major food allergens, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, synthetic dyes, and more.

Overall, we recommend products with clean ingredients at efficacious doses in bioactive forms. Whenever possible, we celebrate and elevate plant-origin (i.e., plant-sourced) ingredients from a variety of botanicals.

Ingredient source and innovation are top of mind for our critical reviews and selection of supplement products. We prioritize forward-thinking formulations and delivery formats that are genuinely helpful in transforming your health.

We include supplement brands and products that prioritize quality. This includes robust manufacturing practices and comprehensive purity and potency testing.

You can learn more about mindbodygreen supplements+ manufacturing and quality testing practices here.

RELATED: The 8 Best Hair, Skin & Nail Vitamins From A Ph.D. Scientist

Beauty supplements range far and wide, but we view these 13 as the very best.

At the end of the day, though, let's not forget: "While some indigestible beauty supplements can be beneficial, none replace whole food nutrition," says Shamban.