The term peptide will not sound like something new to you if you have taken any biochemistry or biology classes. In fact, even cosmetic users have heard the term because it has been the marketing buzzword in the cosmetics industry for quite a while now. Peptide is basically the generic name of short strings of amino acids. The amino acids, in turn, are the basic components of all proteins.

According to Loti Labs, the cosmetic industry is one of the prime users of this component, as a huge number of products are advertised as having peptides as a major component.

So, how exactly does peptides help your skin? And, why does your skin need synthetic peptides over the naturally occurring ones? Let’s find out!

The way peptides work on the skin

You must be wondering, if peptides are present in the body already, then why would you need more? The answer is aging, and the fact that you keep losing one per cent of collagen each year after turning thirty. Now, it is not like you can simply slather a bit of peptide onto the skin to give it that extra boost. The way peptides work on the skin is more complicated than that.

To your body, the peptides are signals that there is a need to heal. It tells your body to increase collagen production in the areas that need healing. So, suppose you are trying to heal from the injury in the ankles, the peptides send signal to the body for focusing repairing efforts in the ankle joints. In the same way, when the skin starts to age prematurely, the peptides signal the skin to increase collagen production to plump up the skin and restore the healthy skin barriers.

When exogenous peptides are introduced in the skin through a serum or a moisturizer, it makes the skin think that there has been a wound or injury. Thus, it boosts the process of boosting up collagen.

Why does your skin need synthetic peptides?

The promise of a younger looking skin with just a bit of peptide is too good to let go. So, should you just go ahead and lather natural peptides on the face to look younger? Well, it’s not that simple.

Peptides are not stable as water solutions. Also, due to the amino acid functionality, naturally occurring peptides are charged in a way they do not penetrate the skin easily. Even when they’re able to penetrate the skin, the enzymes break them down and make them inactive.

Synthetic peptides solve these issues, because in their case, a carbon chain is attached to the peptides to stabilize it and intensify its skin penetration. Non polar carbon chains are used which can increase the penetration up to five times more. So, the peptides are modified in this way which makes them more effective for the skin.

And, now you have a basic idea about how peptides work. Time to get some peptide-enriched cosmetics, right?