Essential Skin Care Ingredient: Peptides

Hey guys! Today I'm going to be doing another essential skincare ingredient post like I promised. If you haven't read my previous post on antioxidants, read it here. Besides antioxidants, another ingredient that you absolutely should be incorporating into your daily skincare routine are peptides. These little guys stimulate collagen production, which is SO important for maintaining youthful skin. 

Peptides are basically amino acids that are produced naturally in our bodies. They are the building blocks of collagen, which is the main structural protein of our skin. Elastin is another protein in our skin which allows our skin to resume its shape after stretching or contracting. When we are younger, our bodies produce an abundance of both collagen and elastin. Unfortunately, production peaks in early adulthood and starts to slowly decline after. 

What can you do?

Thankfully, peptides have been shown to stimulate new collagen growth. Specifically, pentapeptides (one fatty acid combined with five amino acids) have been found to be really effective. One popular pentapeptide is palmitoyl pentapeptide-3, which has been trademarked as Matrixyl and is already used in many skin care lines such as the Olay Regenerist line. Matrixyl is awesome at producing collagen; studies have found that it can even double the amount of collagen in skin. 

My Picks

Bioelements Power Peptide Spray

Matrixyl is the peptide that I use, in the form of this Bioelements Power Peptide spray. I picked this up on Hautelook a couple of months ago and have been using it religiously ever since. The main ingredient is Matrixyl, and it also contains licorice root extract to brighten skin tone and white tea leaf extract to calm skin. I highly recommend this spray, it is so soothing and refreshing and a perfect way to get your daily dose of peptides. I usually spray it on my face after I apply my Retin-A and then let it absorb before applying my nightly moisturizer. 

Because it gradually stimulates collagen production, Matrixyl is viewed as a more long-term solution to keeping wrinkles at bay, therefore you really need to start using it now! There are also some peptides that are more of a short-term solution, namely Argireline (acetyl hexapeptide-3). This peptide works almost like Botox by inhibiting the release of neurotransmitters and preventing facial muscles from contracting and forming wrinkles. While that may sound appealing to older women with wrinkles, I plan on steering clear of this peptide because the effect only lasts a couple of hours after application anyways, and some fear that repeatedly freezing muscles can cause them to sag in the long run.

There you go, I hope this has been helpful to you! If you are not already using some sort of peptide in your skin care routine, go get one now, your skin will thank you later!

xoxo Patricia