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The Basics: What Are Peptides and What Do They Do?
Peptides are strings of amino acids, which are the building blocks that make up proteins in our body, including collagen in the skin. Loss of these proteins leads to wrinkles, brittle nails and dry hair that’s prone to breakage.
Peptides serve as the building blocks for not only new collagen, but also elastin fibers. The fibers are the building blocks of our skin and add to tissue firmness and elasticity.
Aside from being essential to the skin’s structure and function (important factors in firmness, texture and overall appearance), peptides are found in every human cell and play an important role in how the body functions, often acting as a biologic messenger. We need peptides at all times. If we are deficient in them, our body cannot function. Peptides have a myriad of uses in the body, from being the building blocks for enzymes, hormones and an energy source.
How Peptides in Your Skin Care Work
So if peptides are already present within the body, why do we need more of them? The answer, according to experts, is aging. People lose 1% of their remaining collagen per year after age 30, and the skin’s natural communication channels also slow.
But simply slathering peptides onto your skin doesn’t necessarily give you more of them. Your body sees these peptides as ‘signals’ that you need to heal, which tells your body to produce more collagen where you need it most. If you are healing from an injury in your ankle, those peptides will signal your body to focus its repair efforts in that joint. If your skin is aging prematurely, those peptides might signal your skin to boost its production of collagen and even hyaluronic acid, plumping up your skin and restoring a healthy skin barrier. When you introduce exogenous peptides onto the skin in the form of a moisturizer or serum, it tricks the skin into thinking there’s been an injury or wound, and it stimulates your collagen-boosting processes.
When it comes to skin care, not all peptides are created equal. While there are hundreds of peptides, there are specific peptides that are more efficacious for the skin than others. For example, carrier peptides deliver trace minerals to the skin to boost collagen, while enzyme inhibitor peptides work to slow down the skin’s natural breakdown of collagen. Signal peptides send messages to different parts of the skin to promote collagen, elastin and other proteins; and neurotransmitter peptides, touted as “Botox-like,” block the release of chemicals that cause the muscle contraction of expression lines, thus smoothing wrinkles.
How to Get More Peptides
When it comes to enhancing the skin, doctors recommend getting peptides from topical skin care products. However, she stresses the importance of looking at the product’s formulation: the stability of its ingredients and its ability to penetrate the skin barrier. This is where a consultation with your dermatologist may be helpful.
Finding the right product type can go a long way too. For example, instead of choosing a peptide-enriched cleanser, look for products that are not easily washed off the skin, like a moisturizer, eye cream or serum.