If I had to sum up my 2025 in two words, they would undoubtedly be ‘woo-woo’. Over the past year, cryotherapy and sound healing have felt like child’s play; you may as well sell them on vending machines for how common they’ve become. I have officially moved onto a higher realm, from reconsidering my entire life while floating in a Japanese watsu pool to hand-mixing herbs to create tea that balances my chakras. I’ll try anything for the feel-good plot.
So, a few weeks ago, when I landed in Bali for a vacation, I knew I needed to discover something equally whack—sorry, wellness-first—to keep the streak going. Everyone gets massages and scrubs, but what will fix me from inside out? What will look as silly and soul-y as it feels? Of course I turned to my trusty TikTok algorithm for notes; it knows me so well it could script my birth chart. And lo and behold, within seconds of scrolling, it throws up 48 Collagen Cafe, the party island’s first self-care bar that takes our obsession with the supplement to a whole new level.
There was a time when the ingredient would elicit a vague familiarity or demand context and decoding. Not anymore. First it slid into our night creams and face gels, then it entered the wellness spaces as powdered blends, and now you can Zepto a jar of marine collagen to your house in under 10 minutes. Your smoothie bar probably has it on their menu too.
48CC leans into this love for collagen and zhuzhes it up. Quick sleuthing revealed that the concept cafe, first launched in Paris, kicked its doors open in Bali in July and has since become aura-point paradise for internet girlies. Understandably so. Cafes around the world may spill the supplement in your matcha, promising to boost skin and gut health; here, you not only sip it in your drink, you also wear an anti-ageing LED face mask to enhance its effects (!!).
The setup was just extreme enough to have me down, and with some coaxing I also convinced my mother and my best friend (both notoriously sus) to join in. As our cab pulled up to 48CC, it felt nothing short of walking into the future. I was expecting soothing spa music, plush recliners, and the faint fragrance of lemongrass, but the mood was more Brat than Buddhist. A central bar was surrounded by industrial-looking highchairs. Everything from the artwork to the steel counter was a metallic chrome, while the playlist was a mix of soft techno and Sabrina Carpenter. They know their audience.
As we plonked ourselves onto the cold metal chairs expecting to see menus and cutlery, another surprise awaited on the table—a selection pink and purple Foreo massagers for firming, toning, cleansing, and shaping your face. The idea—our server explained—is to get a head start on some lymphatic drainage as you waited for your collagen drink to arrive. Flipping through the menu, I quickly realise 48CC isn’t playing when they say drink your health. Each bev lists a multitude of superfood ingredients and explains exactly what they will achieve.
The Leaf Shot combines coconut water with pandan and chlorophyll (yes, like photosynthesis!) for skin repair and detox; the Blue Latte pairs cashew milk with ginger, cinnamon, and phycocyanin, an immune-building antioxidant, to relieve joint pain and make you resilient. Obviously, each drink comes with a dollop of collagen mixed in. After much perusal, I settled on the Ube Latte, which fuses taro, soy foam and “secret oils” with coconut milk—no explanation for what the ‘secrets oils’ are when asked. But after days of picantes by the beach and struggling through my period, I thought I could use some of that hormonal support and skin-gut detox that the drink teased.
My mum got the cacao- and reishi-rich Chocollagen, while my friend picks the Slinky & Sporty: vanilla protein and bee pollen with mixed berries. Crafted in front of us, the drinks look nothing less than science experiments. Each ingredient is masterfully measured in beakers because “supplements have to be used with care”, the bartender explains, also readying three LED face masks for us to plug into shortly. The cafe truly goes ham on the idea of selling a wellness lifestyle. Just as gyms offer memberships, 48CC has a recovery club membership where people can access weekly collagen and red-light therapy.
On weekends, they host puppy yoga, run clubs, and meditation workshops, packaging the quest for longevity in every activity. But this lab-style focus on health does not take away from the aesthetic. Our drinks arrive in bubble jars topped with foam clouds in shades of pink, purple, and blue; you can tell they are made to be photographed.
Sipping in, I’m a little shook that something that’s purported to be a health drink could also taste this good. Halfway through our drinks, we take a break and strap on the Nooance LED face masks and set a timer for 10 minutes on the little remote control. Watching my mother’s face glow red behind the robotic mask sent me into a fit of giggles; I’ve never seen her look so unserious. A sceptic, she kept saying, “Nothing is happening,” as if one drink and a mask were going to roll back time on her skin by decades.
Truthfully, the jury is still out on just how effective collagen and LED therapies are; conflicting studies emerge each month with little confirmation. But as my face turned warm from the light sensors, I realised it didn’t matter. I may never know if the treatment stimulated skin health, but I do know how whimsical we felt while sipping hot-pink drinks with our faces tucked behind remote-controlled masks. And that thrill—and subsequent calm—makes the woo-ness of it all worth it.
I can’t help but imagine how sickeningly successful this concept would be in India. No one loves alien wellness propaganda like us city-dwellers: one step into Bandra and you can find sound healing but on a pool float in a luxury hotel and birthday parties that double as cacao ceremonies. The Physique 57 and Chakra Athletica-abiding fitness enthusiasts would sign up for a social collagen and red-light therapy membership before you can say ‘biohacking’.
Money-makers, if you’re listening: this is your chance to win over Instagram for a hot minute. Just be sure to make the seats more comfortable and add sanitisation tools to the counter; we’re too prissy to use communal tools without a cleanse. Maybe throw in playful tote bags so we can signal just how invested we are in irreverent wellness, and you have a bestseller on your hands.
