Pep rally: Why beauty keeps cheering for peptides

By Julia Wray | Published: 11-Apr-2022

Skin-savvy consumers not only recognise peptides but trust them to do the job, so it’s little wonder that novel peptides with diverse endgames keep hitting the market

With ‘skintellectualism’ well and truly established among cosmetic product end consumers, there are a number of ingredients and categories that evoke instant recognition and interest. Hyaluronic acid, AHAs, BHAs, niacinamide, vitamin C, coenzyme Q10 and, of course, peptides.

A favourite among both end users and beauty brands, 2022 to-date has seen the launch of peptide-containing goods from the likes of Biossance (Squalane + Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping Serum), Murad (Targeted Wrinkle Corrector, formulated with acetyl hexapeptide-8), Dermalogica (Awaken Peptide Eye Gel) and iNNBEAUTY Project (10+10 More-Sturizer with 10% peptide complex).

When quizzed as to why peptides are so popular, Pascaline Citron, Marketing Communications Manager at Sederma (a Croda business), replies: “To put it simply, because they work.”

Sederma is something of a pioneer in peptides having launched Matrixyl in 2000, the world’s first Matrikine – Sederma’s word for its extracellular matrix-derived peptides – dedicated to anti-wrinkle efficacy.

“Peptides are small linear chains of amino acids, naturally present in the body,” Citron explains. “Proteins are also composed of amino acids, but they are bigger: some hundreds of amino acids for proteins versus a maximum 20 amino acids for peptides.

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