Forget about your health: The latest reason to take vitamins is for vanity’s sake. Just when you thought you couldn’t choke down another fish oil or Echinacea pill, beauty brands are getting in on the action. Pills and drink potions now promise to do everything from “increase bioavailability” to “promote draining action.” Here’s a test drive of some of the latest hopes-in-a-bottle.

The British brand Nude, which just came stateside (to Barneys and Space NK), has a cult following in the UK, but it was hard to feel the love when we were trying to swallow two funky-smelling horse-pill-sized Nude Detox Supplements (1) ($70 for 80 tablets) every morning. No pain, no gain, though, and after we took these supplements for the recommended 10-day period, skin was definitely clearer, lighter and brighter looking—all without decreasing alcohol intake!

Next up was Toki  (2) ($150), the beauty supplement that’s also a drink mix. Made of active collagen, calcium, and mucopolysaccharide to diminish signs of aging and improve skin texture, Toki is big in Japan, but we would rather take our vitamins swallowed, not stirred in a Metamucil-like concoction. No breakouts during the week plus that we drank Toki, but we didn’t see any miracles, either. This product seems better suited to skin with age spots.

Not a day goes by that our male CEO doesn’t drink a Borba Skin Balance Water (3), ($20 for four drinks and four drink packets), and his skin looks great. (Borba, a sponsor of Girls Night Out, graciously supplied us with several cases of Borba water.) While one coworker blamed a breakout on Borba water, the drinks are good for your health, since most Americans don’t get enough vitamins through diet alone. In any case, these refreshing drinks can even be mixed with organic vodka for a “healthy” cocktail.

There are a few popular supplements we didn’t get to try. Murad has a line of Internal Skincare supplements that build up, hydrate, and protect and a Firm and Tone Dietary Supplement Pack (4)($135) that does it all—but be prepared to take a lot of pills. To prep for a summer of beach blanket bingo, their Pomphenol Sunguard Dietary Supplement (5) ($35 for a 60-day supply) will help your skin fend off sun and free radical damage from within.

Nutriceuticals, the beauty supplements from N.V. Perricone M.D., are not for casual pill poppers. Perricone’s eight-pills-a-day Skin and Total Body Supplements ($140 for a 30-day supply) promise results with the use of topical products and a specific diet, but is it worth all that work for beautiful skin? If not, their DMAE Supplements (6) ($30 for a 30-day supply) have anti-inflammatory properties and enhance brain function while they tone muscles.

We've all been there with a bad, way-too-short haircut, watching Lifetime at 3am, searching for any infomercial that promises extreme hair growth in 5-10 business days. This may not be possible, but Kérastase Densitive Nutrient Caplets (7) ($59.95 for a 30-day supply) support the growth of thicker, denser hair and fight against thinning and hair loss.

Will all these miracle formulas work? There's only one way to find out, and even the most dedicated beauty devotees may find this a hard program to swallow.

~Lisa Raphael and Marcy Swingle