Peptides: The future of anti-aging

I'm going to give you a more objective view of the benefits of peptides and growth factors in facial care, share with you my selection of the best serums and, most importantly, tell you when not to apply an EGF-based product.

Peptides: What are they?

Before I tell you about the best cosmetic products containing peptides, I'll give you a quick summary of what a peptide is and how they can help your skin.
Peptides are made up of amino acids, just like proteins. The difference between a protein and a peptide is that a protein is a very long chain of amino acids, often with a 3D structure. In humans, all proteins are made up of 20 amino acids, which I remember having to memorize in my first year of medical school.

The 4 categories of peptides

But let's get back to what we're interested in: why are peptides so widely used in facial skincare? Because they act at the heart of our cells, sending messages that signal the need to produce more collagen, hyaluronic acid or elastin, for example, to reduce wrinkles, or to reduce pigment production to reduce skin spots. These types of peptides are known as signaling peptides. The problem is that not all peptides are created equal, but rest assured that I have carried out some research to bring you the products containing the most promising peptides. The signalling peptides I've just mentioned, but also transport peptides such as manganese peptide or copper peptide, which was discovered in 1973 and has been the subject of a number of studies on its action on collagen production.
The third class are peptides that act on neurotransmitters, such as argireline, but there are many others. This type of peptide blocks synapses and prevents muscle contraction. In cosmetics, this is particularly interesting for dynamic facial wrinkles such as frown lines, crow's feet and forehead wrinkles. But as far as I'm concerned, on the forehead, this type of peptide will have enormous difficulty in reaching the subcutaneous muscles, because there's a layer of fat between the skin and the muscles. But one area where I'm particularly interested in this type of peptide is around the eyes, because the skin is very thin and the muscle is stuck to the skin with no fat between the skin and the muscle. When you have a product containing this type of peptide, it's really interesting to apply it to the eye contour area.

Peptide cosmetics

And I'm going to start with the interesting products that contain peptides to combat dynamic wrinkles.
The Ordinary has several, one of which is specially dedicated to the 10% argireline solution. The big advantage of this product is its high argireline concentration for maximum effectiveness, but the disadvantage is that it's a monoactive product.
Personally, my favorite product is buffet, which also has acetyl hexapeptide 8, the other name for argireline, in 4th position. But the advantage of this one is that it contains another neurotransmitter-inhibiting peptide with a long name: diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate, produced by Syn-Ake. But that's not all, it also contains two well-known signaling peptides, matrixyl and matrixyl 3000, which have been the subject of scientific studies. It also contains a post-biotic, amino acids and hyaluronic acid. In short, this is an excellent peptide serum that also has a very strong moisturizing action. The texture is slightly jelly-like but pleasant.
There are other, less comprehensive serums that also contain peptides targeting neurotransmitters and therefore dynamic wrinkles. For example, l'oréal's Revitalift Filler serum contains high- and low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid, as well as Syn-Ake's famous peptide diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate and a vitamin C derivative, making it a good moisturizing serum that unfortunately contains fragrance.
Another product I won't dwell on because I've already talked about it in numerous videos is Niod's fractionate eye contour, which also contains 3 peptides that target dynamic wrinkles, signal peptides that target collagen production and a draining peptide, making it a good eye contour serum.

Now I'm going to talk specifically about serums that target collagen production.
One serum that is simply excellent is the peptide booster from Paula's ChoiceIn this product, there are 8 different peptides targeting multiple issues, wrinkles, spots and hydration. There are also a number of amino acids with moisturizing virtues, but not only that: cells can use them to create new peptides. Finally, there are a number of plant extracts, notably ginseng. A very pleasant serum to use, it can be easily integrated into a skincare routine and is suitable for all skin types.

EGF: Epidermal growth factor

Another product that may not be cheap, but is extremely effective, is protini power peptide serum from Drunk elephant. It's an exfoliating serum with 10% of lactic acid formulated at a PH of 3.5, which is perfect for this type of exfoliating serum, but for the purposes of this video, I'm interested in the 11 signaling peptides. If you look closely at the formula, you'll find classic peptides that boost collagen production, as well as Sh-Oligopeptide-1 and Sh-Oligopeptide-2, which are two growth factors. The first is EGF Epidermal growth factors and the second is insulin like growth factors. EGF is a growth factor naturally present in the skin that stimulates cell growth and collagen production. And our body secretes it, particularly after a wound, to help repair damaged tissue. Several studies have shown that EGF is genuinely effective in skin regeneration, but I think this active ingredient has two drawbacks. The first is that it's made up of 53 amino acids, so it's much bigger than conventional peptides, and will have a harder time penetrating the skin barrier. The other thing is that, with growth factors, there are two legitimate reasons for the precautionary principle. If you have redness of the face due to small vessels called telangiectasia, I wouldn't use a product containing EGF because it could potentially encourage the production of new vessels. The other case in which I'd be cautious is if you've already had skin cancer, or if you have precancerous skin lesions, because it's logical to think that an active ingredient that promotes cell growth isn't ideal in these cases.
To be clear, I'm not saying that EGF is mutagenic - it doesn't cause skin cancer - but knowing that it can stimulate cell growth, it can perhaps accelerate an already existing lesion.
But back to the power peptides serum: in addition to lactic acid and peptides, it contains numerous humectants like sodium PCA, hyaluronic acid and amino acids, as well as nourishing ingredients like squalane and marula oil. To sum up, this is a very good multi-function serum with a pleasant texture, but its major drawback is its price. Many other products also contain EGF, such as Inkeylist's 15% vitamin C and EGF, which contains 15% ascorbyl glucoside, a vitamin C derivative, and 1% EGF. It's a rather thick and sticky serum, but has a certain effectiveness, particularly in combating hyperpigmentation. Another peptide serum is Klairs' Midnight Blue Youth Activating Drop, which contains EGF and another peptide. It's a very light serum with a bluish color derived from guaiazulene, and is very easy to apply.

Copper peptides

The last type of peptide I'd like to talk about is copper peptides, which are peptides that transport copper as their name suggests, but also have a signaling action at cell level, telling them to produce more collagen. The copper peptide is composed of 3 amino acids, making it a tripeptide. It is naturally present in our bodies. It was discovered by Dr Pickart 49 years ago, and has been extensively studied ever since. Various studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in increasing the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid by dermal cells.

One product that has succeeded in sublimating copper peptide is NIOD's copper amino isolate serum 311, which contains 1% of copper-bound copper peptide and 1% of free copper peptide, i.e. without the copper. It also contains other peptides targeting collagen production in fairly high concentrations, and hyaluronic acid. This serum is very fluid and bluish in color due to the copper. Concerning the copper peptide, we don't mix it with exfoliating acids or pure vitamin C, as this can destabilize it, and we don't use it at the same time as retinol, as a precaution.
The ordinary also has a serum with copper peptide, buffet + copper peptide, which is also an excellent product. I'm not going to go into detail about the composition, as I already mentioned the buffet serum at the beginning of the video.

How to use copper peptides

As for my use of copper peptides, I like to alternate them every other day with retinol.
I have presented a number of products that I consider effective and whose cosmetic ingredients have as solid a scientific basis as possible, yet it's difficult to assess the anti-aging effect of a peptide-based product quickly, which is why it's worth doing a little research. However, most of the products I've presented have a dual anti-aging serum as well as a moisturizing and soothing serum, and on this aspect you should notice a relatively rapid improvement in your skin's radiance. But as always, every skin is different and reacts differently to each product. The other thing is that, with the arrival of summer, we've slowed down on irritating active ingredients, and using products containing peptides allows us to have an anti-aging action without the irritation that retinol or exfoliating acids can cause. Despite all this, the drawback of peptides in anti-aging is that scientific proof of their actions is not yet as well-supported as for retinol, for example.