Collagen has had main character status in beauty for years. We’ve applied it in serums, drunk it in shots, injected, lasered and used radiofrequency to stimulate it. But as consumers get savvier about the science of aging, the spotlight is shifting to other players in the skin architecture. Enter elastin, the overlooked protein that works in tandem with collagen, which experts predict could be next in line for an industry takeover.
“Collagen has certainly been the hot topic of the last three to four years,” says Dr. Ash Soni, founder of UK-based The Soni Clinic, who has started to advise patients on products and treatments to reduce elastin loss. “Elastin is equally as important as collagen in my opinion as a plastic surgeon and an aesthetic doctor. Elastin hasn’t been talked about enough in the consumer space. They both play different roles in the skin, and are both important for different reasons to maintain the youthfulness and health of our skin quality.”
The word ‘elastin’ often follows the word ‘collagen’ in beauty and aesthetic circles, because together they’re known for forming the underlying structure of the skin, says Suzanne Scott, global associate beauty director at Seen Group. The two proteins have different functions with collagen providing structural support, acting almost like a scaffold for the skin, while elastin allows it to stretch and spring back into place.
Skin elasticity matters more than ever. As GLP-1 medications fuel rapid weight loss, often accompanied by changes in facial volume and increased laxity, interest in elastin is growing as people look to address concerns around skin firmness and sagging.
Why has elastin been left out of the conversation?
Part of the answer lies in biology. “Collagen makes up roughly 70-80% of the dry weight of the dermis, whereas elastin accounts for only 2-4%,” says Hannah Biggerstaff, head of product futures at luxury skincare label Medik8. “Naturally, early cosmetic marketing gravitated toward the sheer abundance of collagen. From a formulation and biological perspective, the industry focused on collagen first, because collagen was simply easier to study, easier to claim, and far easier to stimulate.”
Unlike collagen, which is more abundant in the skin and can be stimulated as its levels decline with age, elastin is harder to replenish. That complexity has also made elastin a more difficult proposition for aesthetic medicine. “Part of collagen’s commercial success, in my view, is that it offers a straightforward message: supporting collagen helps support firmer skin,” says industry leading expert in skin health and laser treatments Jasmina Vico. “Elastin is harder to explain, because simply producing more of the protein does not necessarily restore elasticity.”
The challenge begins at a molecular level. The skin must first produce tropoelastin, the building block of elastin, before assembling it into a functional network of elastic fibers. As skin ages, these fibers become damaged, and the body’s ability to rebuild them diminishes. “Stimulating its production is one thing, but restoring the skin’s natural elasticity and ability to bounce back is something far more complex,” says Vico.
