Can Bottled Water Make You Beautiful?

In a fight to make bottled water more appealing than tap water, manufacturers have infused H2O with all kinds of vitamins and flavors, claiming certain brews can do everything from improving your immune system to curing a hangover. Meanwhile, a cup of tap water and a healthy diet could provide the same benefits as these "super waters". Now, Willow Water has arrived in the UK boasting beautifying benefits. It comes from the so-called famous "Holy Well of Cartmel" and contains high levels of calcium and salicin from white willow bark. The company claims salicin has anti-inflammatory properties, can improve your complexion and improve acne-prone skin.

So can this bottled water make you beautiful? Probably not. Dr. Eric Berger, a New York City cosmetic skin care specialist, says there aren't any scientific studies supporting the benefits of salicin in skin care and he calls the research study supporting Willow Water's claims "unimpressive" as there were zero skin samples taken or analyzed. The participants drank 3 bottles per day, a cost that adds up fast. "My patients would be better off getting a deep facial for $150 each month and drinking Brita filtered tap water," says Berger.

It's true, drinking tap water alone is beneficial to skin. "Water is as essential for skin health and beauty as it is for internal health," says Dr. Jeannette Graf, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and author of Stop Aging, Start Living. Drinking water and maintaining proper hydration will ensure your skin is getting adequate blood flow while the lack of water can be seen as a decrease in skin elasticity. Graf also doesn't know of any benefits of salicin when taken orally and advocates food sources such as milk or dark green vegetables for calcium. And she says, "New York City has one of the most pristine reservoirs and the water quality is excellent so I would imagine that drinking water in sufficient quantities is the most important thing." So fill up your water bottle at TapIt locations. And someone might want to tell ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell to lay off the Willow Water since she's been named as an early adopter of the not-so-magical drink.