Start with the job, not the pouch
Wellness aisles sell a morning greens scoop, a bedtime cocoa, a collagen gummy and a mint oral spray as if they were four flavours of the same ‘wellness’. They are four different jobs: a coloured fibre drink, an evening magnesium ritual, hydrolysed protein, and a fat-soluble vitamin. Read the panel for the molecule and the milligrams — then open the matching teardown.
This page is food-supplement framing only. None of these stacks treat disease. If a label implies a medicine, stop and read the MHRA / FSA line instead of a calculator.
Greens powders: algae and inulin, not a salad
Bloom Nutrition Greens & Superfoods hides sub-clinical scoops of spirulina, chlorella and enzymes behind chicory root and maltodextrin. The weighable stack on the teardown is a teaspoon of bulk 50/50 spirulina–chlorella plus inulin fibre in water or a smoothie — optional digestive-enzyme capsules if you actually want that layer.
You are paying for the sachet art and the bloating claim, not a proprietary vegetable. Food supplement, not a vegetable portion and not a detox.
Sleep powders: name the magnesium salt
Beam Dream is a cocoa ritual: magnesium citrate, L-theanine and micro-dosed botanicals. Citrate is cheap and can loosen stools. The dupe stack is unflavoured magnesium bisglycinate plus free-form L-theanine in warm milk — see the Beam teardown and the glycinate-versus-Beam guide.
Nutrition Geeks Magnesium Glycinate 3-in-1 is the capsule version of that gentler salt. Compare elemental magnesium milligrams, not pouch poetry. None of these is a sleep medicine.
Collagen: powder versus gummies
A month of collagen gummies is often ~75 g of peptides in a lot of sugar. 400 g of unflavoured hydrolysed collagen (CAS 92113-31-0) is the same protein at a few pence a serving — 10 g in water, coffee or soup. Gummies win on convenience; they usually under-dose.
The same gummy-tax logic hits creatine and biotin sweets. If you want those molecules, buy powder or a plain tablet and read milligrams per day — see the gummy-tax guide.
Sprays versus tablets: same vitamin, different bottle
BetterYou DLux 3000 is cholecalciferol in coconut oil with peppermint. A year’s 4,000 IU capsules is the same vitamin D3. Follow NHS / SACN winter advice; do not stack spray plus high-IU capsules without a clinician. Vitamin D is fat-soluble.
BetterYou magnesium ‘oil’ is a different story again — topical magnesium chloride brine, not an oral spray and not glycinate. See the transdermal-versus-oral magnesium guide. Do not treat a skin brine as a substitute for labelled oral milligrams.
One chemistry decision at a time
Pick the teardown that matches the label in your hand. Run the serving maths once. Then buy bulk powder, flakes or capsules sized for weeks, not a month of influencer packaging. Food supplements only — this site does not write prescriptions.
The same pouch-tax logic applies to mushroom coffee (weighable dual-extract plus your own brew), shilajit resin (tested fulvic extract, not an unassayed jar), sea-moss gel (hydrated seaweed, not a mineral miracle), berberine HCl capsules (not a GLP-1 substitute), rosemary scalp oil (about 2% essential oil in a carrier) and curcumin-plus-piperine capsules. Open the matching teardown; none of those are medicines.
FAQ
- Are these pages medicines or NHS treatments?
- No. They are food-supplement comparisons. They are not treatments for insomnia, deficiency disease, joint pain or immune conditions. Follow NHS / SACN advice on vitamin D; speak to a GP or pharmacist if you take medicines or have kidney, heart or swallowing problems.
- Is a greens powder the same as eating vegetables?
- No. Bloom-style scoops are a proprietary blend of small amounts of algae, fibre and flavour. Bulk spirulina–chlorella plus inulin is the weighable stack — still a supplement, not a portion of vegetables.
- Do oral sprays absorb better than capsules?
- BetterYou DLux is cholecalciferol in oil with mint. The molecule is vitamin D3 (CAS 67-97-0) either way. Sprays win on ritual and for people who dislike tablets; a year’s 4,000 IU capsules is the same vitamin without the oral-mist story. Dose still follows labelled IU, not the bottle shape.
More wellness & supplements guides
Wellness guide
The wellness gummy tax — and why ‘detox’ drinks are usually dye and carbon
Wellness guide
Magnesium glycinate vs Beam Dream — capsules, citrate and the cocoa tax
Wellness guide
Magnesium absorption decoded: transdermal sprays vs oral salts — and why bulk flakes beat branded oil
Wellness guide
Hydration science without the sachet tax — branded electrolytes vs DIY sodium and potassium
Related teardowns
Live stacks this guide points at — mix maths and DIY affiliate links on each page.
Wellness & supplements
Greens & Superfoods Powder
Bloom Nutrition
- Retail pack
- £32.45180 g (30 servings)
- Raw active
- Spirulina–chlorella powder + soluble inulin + enzyme stack9005-80-5
Seven proprietary blends hide sub-clinical doses of spirulina, chlorella and enzymes behind cheap chicory root and maltodextrin. Food supplement comparison, not a medicine.
Wellness & supplements
Dream Nighttime Sleep Powder
Beam
- Retail pack
- £72.0030-serving pouch
- Raw active
- Magnesium bisglycinate + free-form L-theanine + tart cherry extract14783-68-7 / 3081-61-6
Over £2.40 a cup for cheap, gut-irritating magnesium citrate and micro-dosed botanicals. Bisglycinate plus free-form L-theanine is the same night-time stack without the cocoa tax. Food supplement comparison, not a medicine.
Wellness & supplements
Daily Collagen Beauty Gummies
Viral candy brands
- Retail pack
- £24.9960 gummies (30 × ~2.5 g servings)
- Raw active
- Hydrolysed collagen peptides (bovine or marine)92113-31-0
A month of gummies is often ~75 g of collagen in a lot of sugar. 400 g of unflavoured peptides is the same hydrolysed protein at a few pence a serving. Food supplement comparison, not a cosmetic medicine.
Wellness & supplements
DLux 3000 Vitamin D Oral Spray
BetterYou
- Retail pack
- £9.9515 millilitres (about 100 sprays)
- Raw active
- Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) 4,000 IU capsules67-97-0
The spray is cholecalciferol in oil with mint. A year’s 4,000 IU capsules is the same vitamin D without the oral-spray story. Food supplement comparison, not a medicine — follow NHS guidance on dose.
Wellness & supplements
BetterYou Magnesium Oil Spray
BetterYou
- Retail pack
- £12.95100 millilitres
- Raw active
- Magnesium chloride hexahydrate flakes7791-18-6
‘Magnesium oil’ is a saturated solution of magnesium chloride, not a lipid. Flakes from the same Dead Sea / Zechstein geology dissolve in water for pennies. Not a medicine; evidence for transdermal magnesium is mixed.
Wellness & supplements
Magnesium Glycinate 3-in-1
Nutrition Geeks
- Retail pack
- £14.0060 capsules (6–12 week supply)
- Raw active
- Magnesium bisglycinate powder or tablets (elemental Mg labelled)14783-68-7
Capsules of magnesium bisglycinate with a little B6 and D3 marketing — the same gentle Mg salt Beam’s dupe stack uses, without the £2.40 cocoa cup. Buy bisglycinate powder or tablets by elemental magnesium on the label. Food supplement comparison, not a sleep medicine.
Wellness & supplements
Creatine Monohydrate Daily Gummies
Viral candy brands
- Retail pack
- £28.0060 gummies (30 × 3 g servings)
- Raw active
- Micronised creatine monohydrate (200 mesh)6020-87-7
A 30-day tub is often 3 g creatine per day in a sugar gummy, not the 5 g used in most sports-nutrition trials, at roughly 90p a serving. 1 kg of micronised powder is 200 × 5 g servings. Food supplement comparison, not medical advice.
Wellness & supplements
Biotin Hair, Skin & Nails Gummies
Viral candy brands / Hairburst-style
- Retail pack
- £18.0060 gummies (30 × 2 gummies)
- Raw active
- Biotin (vitamin B7) 1,000 µg tablets58-85-5
A month of gummies is a few milligrams of biotin in sugar. NHS-style NRV is 50 µg; many gummies dump 5,000–10,000 µg because it is cheap and water-soluble. A year of 1,000 µg tablets is the same vitamin without the sweet. Food supplement comparison, not minoxidil and not a medicine.
Wellness & supplements
Organic Mushroom Coffee
Ryze
- Retail pack
- £38.0030 servings (180 g bag)
- Raw active
- 8-in-1 dual-extracted mushroom extract (30%+ beta-glucans)Blend
Heavily marketed low-ratio mushroom mycelium powder diluted with standard instant coffee. Food supplement, not a medicine.
Wellness & supplements
Pure Himalayan Shilajit Resin
Viral TikTok brands
- Retail pack
- £48.0030 g jar (30-day supply)
- Raw active
- Standardised 50% fulvic acid shilajit extract + zinc & boron stack479-66-3
Unregulated resin jars often lack a standardised fulvic-acid assay and have a poor heavy-metal record. A third-party-tested extract capsule is the less romantic, more measurable option. Food supplement comparison, not a medicine.
Wellness & supplements
Wildcrafted Gold Sea Moss Gel
Artisan sea moss brands
- Retail pack
- £28.00500 ml jar (14-day supply)
- Raw active
- Dried organic Irish sea moss (DIY gel) / bladderwrack kelp stack9000-07-1
£28 every fortnight for 90% boiled water and seaweed gel that spoils in two weeks. Dry Irish moss hydrates into litres of the same gel. Food supplement comparison, not a medicine.
Wellness & supplements
High-Strength Berberine Complex
Viral health drops
- Retail pack
- £34.0060 capsules (300 mg each)
- Raw active
- Berberine HCl 500 mg capsules633-65-8
Social-media ‘natural Ozempic’ branding on ordinary berberine HCl. A 60-capsule 300 mg tub is a short, pricey course next to 120 × 500 mg capsules. Not a medicine and not a substitute for prescribed drugs.
Wellness & supplements
Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil
Mielle
- Retail pack
- £11.5059 millilitres
- Raw active
- Rosemary essential oil (Rosmarinus officinalis)8000-25-7
A small dropper of cheap carrier oils with a little rosemary. 25 drops of steam-distilled rosemary in 50 ml of sweet almond oil is about 2% essential oil — the same order of strength, without the 59 ml brand tax.
Wellness & supplements
Turmeric, Ginger & Black Pepper
Nutrition Geeks
- Retail pack
- £13.0060 capsules (2 months)
- Raw active
- Curcumin 95% capsules with piperine (Bioperine-style)458-37-7
A standardised curcumin capsule with ginger and piperine — the same trio sold as ‘joint’ stacks everywhere. Buy 95% curcuminoids plus black pepper extract separately and you skip the Instagram brand tub. Food supplement comparison, not an arthritis medicine.
DupeStack provides chemical concentration data and educational mixing guides only. Wellness pages compare food supplements, not medicines or prescribed treatments. Always review the supplier Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and comply with UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and COSHH regulations when handling concentrated substances. Mixing and storage are at your own risk. Some links are affiliate advertisements (Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network, and Awin when those programmes are live). Commissions do not change listed concentrations or calculator output.