Skip to main content

Collagen Types · Elasticity and barrier repair

Type III collagen: elasticity and repair.

Type III is studied alongside type I. We read what the sources say about it, and what they do not.

A fine delicate net of pale translucent threads forming a light mesh (AI-generated illustration)

In short

  • A 2025 review says type III collagen enhances skin elasticity and assists barrier repair.1
  • A 2018 study reports that healthy young skin forms a type III collagen-rich dermal papilla, and that a gel with 20% type III and 80% type I collagen was more elastic than a gel of type I alone.2

01

What it does

The Chinese Journal of Biotechnology review lists type III collagen as one of five collagens with key roles in skin aging, and says it enhances elasticity and assists barrier repair.1

02

The type I to type III balance

One laboratory study looked at the mix of the two collagens.

In healthy young skin, the study says, the dermis forms a type III collagen-rich dermal papilla, where capillary vessels supply oxygen and nutrients to basal epidermal cells.2

It reports that a gel with a ratio of 20% type III to 80% type I collagen, similar to baby skin, resulted in higher elasticity than 100% type I collagen (p < 0.05), and that human dermal fibroblasts in that gel showed high mitochondrial activity.2

03

The eggshell membrane result, and how to read it

The same study found type III collagen increased in the skin of hairless mice treated with solubilized eggshell membrane, and reports that applying it improved human arm elasticity and reduced facial wrinkles.2

Treat that as one study of one ingredient. One of its authors is affiliated with a company, Almado Inc., and the abstract does not give the size of the human group, so we cannot judge how strong the human finding is.2

What we could not confirm

The gaps, stated plainly.

  • Whether raising type III collagen in adult human skin has a lasting effect on elasticity. The gel and mouse results do not show that.
  • The size and design of the human arm and face measurements in the 2018 study. The abstract we read does not give them.

Questions

Common questions.

What is type III collagen for?

A 2025 review says it enhances skin elasticity and assists barrier repair.1

Why is a 20/80 mix of type III and type I mentioned?

A 2018 laboratory study used it because it resembles baby skin. A gel at that ratio was more elastic than a gel of type I alone.2

Keep reading

Back to the full guide: Collagen Types.

More in this guide

Related research

From our library

Sources

Where every claim comes from.

Numbers in brackets link to these entries. Journal entries were read as their PubMed record, and study details come from PubMed, the US National Library of Medicine. See every source on the Research Desk, organised by page.

  1. [1] Chinese Journal of Biotechnology (Li and colleagues), via PubMed. Roles of different types of collagen in skin aging and their research progress.
  2. [2] Cell and Tissue Research (Ohto-Fujita and colleagues), via PubMed. Solubilized eggshell membrane supplies a type III collagen-rich elastic dermal papilla.

This page is general information drawn from published reviews and studies. It is not medical advice and makes no claim about any Vanu Health product. The image is an AI-generated illustration, not a study image. Last updated October 30, 2026.