Supplements are just that, concentrated forms of nutrients that are already found in our food, some in more than sufficient amounts. Naturally, many of our foods have less than ideal nutrition levels compared to the past, which means “topping up” on certain nutrients might be worthwhile.

Visually well-designed packaging doesn’t necessarily make the consumable product more potent or even effective. Good supplements don’t necessarily look sexy, but discretion is still needed to tell the difference between simply boring generic design and downright sketch. Just knowing that companies are trying to capitalize on this trend can help you see when something is too good to be true.

We’re all guilty of wanting to be healthier and look the part, but the paths by which we get there are going to get even blurrier in the information age as our vanity can be realized with newer supposedly more innovative methods. Recall when the crowdfunded Soylent meal replacement became available for people who simply didn’t want to bother with cooking and eating.

But while we can reason that health food products are simply conveniently packaged forms of macro and micronutrients that science recognizes are essential to us, we need to ask ourselves if similar products targeted for beauty work by the same logic.