Peptides in Skin Care

What are Peptides and What Do They Do?

Peptides in skin care are considered to be the latest and greatest ingredients. They are being used more and more for their anti-wrinkle properties.
Peptides are proteins that occur naturally in the body. Like all proteins, they are composed of amino acids. There are only 20 different amino acids in the human body. Like words and sentences, different proteins in the body are comprised of different combinations and sequences of amino acids.

What are the benefits of peptides in skin care?

There are many different peptides and they all do different things. There are four important peptides in skin care:

Acetyl Hexapeptide-3

The trademark name for Acetyl Hexapeptide-3 is Argireline. This is the product that is marketed as “an alternative to Botox”, because it claims to relax certain types of facial wrinkles by inhibiting the release of neurotransmitters. In a clinical study published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, acetyl hexapeptide-3 at a 10% concentration was reported to reduce the depth of wrinkles up to 30% after 30 days of use.

Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-3

Palmitoyl pentapeptide-3 is also known as Matrixyl. It is the main ingredient in anti-aging products like Strivectin and was originally developed for use on stretch marks. It works by stimulating the deeper matrix layers of the skin to increase the production and synthesis of collagen and hyaluronic acid. It also helps the skin to heal wounds faster. Manufacturers of products containing Matrixyl claim that it is at least as effective against wrinkles as retinol without the common effect of skin irritation.
In clinical studies Matrixyl:
• Increased overall collagen synthesis by up to 117%
• Increased collagen IV synthesis by up to 327%
• Increased hyaluronic acid synthesis by up to 267%
Deep wrinkles were reduced by half and some smaller wrinkles and fine lines faded away completely. Every participant in the study showed a noticeable improvement within two weeks. The result was fewer wrinkles and younger-looking skin.

Palmitoyl oligopeptide

Palmitoyl oligopeptide is similar to palmitoyl pentapeptide-3, as it also stimulates the synthesis of collagen and hyaluronic acid in the deep layers of the skin. It also provides mild UV protection that helps protect the skin from sun damage. (You still need to use a SPF 15 sunscreen everyday!)
Palmitoyl Oligopeptide was developed as the result of research to duplicate the effects of retinoic acid (retinol) without skin irritation.
A group of volunteers used a cream with 3% Palmitoyl Oligopeptide for 28 days. These statistics were reported following image analysis of the volunteers:
• Surface roughness Reduced 17%
• Mean depth of wrinkles Reduced 23%
• Depth of main wrinkle Reduced 39%
• Skin thickness Increased 4%

Copper peptides in Skin Care

Copper peptides were the first peptides to be used in skin care. They have been used for many years because of their positive effect on wound healing. Although one small study suggested that copper peptides increased collagen production, the three peptides listed above are now the favored anti-aging peptides, while copper peptides are used more for wound healing.


Christiaan Janssens
Akwa