Can Eating Sardines Actually Give You Better Skin?

Reported by Harper's Bazaar.

Sardines have officially entered the beauty canon. What started as a niche TikTok corner — tinned fish devotees swearing their skin had never looked better — has snowballed into a full-blown wellness-meets-skincare moment, with millions of converts and a growing body of expert opinion to back it up. According to Harper's Bazaar, New York-based esthetician and acne specialist Sofie Pavitt and supermodel Anok Yai have been eating sardines for their skin long before the algorithm caught on.

The science is straightforward, even if the trend is noisy. Omega-3 fatty acids — found in sardines, mackerel, and salmon — reinforce the skin's lipid barrier, lock in hydration, and actively reduce inflammation. "Omega-3s are huge," Pavitt says, particularly for clients managing acne. Registered dietitian-nutritionist Lauren Manaker expands the case beyond skin: tinned fish delivers high-quality protein, vitamin D, selenium, and — when you eat the soft bones — a meaningful hit of calcium. Board-certified dermatologist Shirley Chi adds that sardines are especially appealing because their small size means lower mercury exposure than larger fish. The consensus from experts is that consistency beats perfection here: eating fatty fish two to three times a week is where the visible skin benefits begin to compound.

From Spanish Tapas to American Grocery Aisles

The cultural shift has been good for business. Fishwife co-founder Becca Millstein launched the brand over five years ago, inspired by the effortless, high-quality tinned fish she encountered living in southern Spain — a stark contrast, she noted, to the commodity-grade canned fish back home in New Hampshire. Her company sources from certified-sustainable fisheries in Cornwall, U.K., and off the Iberian Peninsula, with each tin hand-packed in Spain. The sardine wave — which picked up serious momentum around 2023 and spawned micro-trends like sardine girl summer — has translated directly to sales: Millstein reports sardine velocity running two to three times higher than baseline, with the brand hitting a significant growth milestone in early 2026.

For the omega-3 curious who can't get behind the taste, fish oil supplements exist — but experts are measured about their utility. Chi is firm that whole food sources offer far superior bioavailability than any capsule. Pavitt flags an important nuance for acne-prone skin specifically: avoid algae-based vegan omegas, which she finds reliably breaks out her clients. A sunflower omega supplement is the better plant-based alternative. Manaker echoes the flexibility — salmon, mackerel, and other fatty fish deliver a near-identical nutritional profile to sardines, so the best fish for your skin is simply the one you'll actually eat.

The sardine-to-skin pipeline isn't magic; it's nutrition doing what nutrition does when you give it time — so add a tin to your rotation and let consistency do the heavy lifting.

Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.