Has your skin lost its youthful glow? Sun exposure and the effects of stress and a poor diet gradually take a toll on skin – robbing it of its vitality. Younger skin is supple and wrinkle-free because it still produces adequate quantities of collagen – the protein that gives skin its structural support.
Over time, production of this important protein declines and the collagen that’s still present becomes damaged due to the effects of free radicals. While there’s no magical cream that can completely reverse the skin aging process, there’s a type of skin ingredient found in some skincare creams called skin peptides that may help jump-start collagen production and counteract some of the effects of skin aging. Here we look at synthetic peptide vaccines for the skin!
How Do Peptides for Skin Wrinkling Work?
Peptides serve as messengers – telling fibroblasts, the cells that produce collagen, to start pumping out collagen again. Not only do peptides stimulate collagen production, they also turn off the production of an enzyme called collagenase that breaks down collagen. There are a variety of types of peptides – each with their own special mode of action. For example, signal peptides stimulate fibroblasts to produce collagen. Carrier peptides recruit elements that are needed for the skin repair process such as copper, while another type of peptide has a botox type anti-wrinkle effect when applied topically to the skin.
Do Peptides for Wrinkling Really Work?
One of the most popular types of skin peptides are copper peptides. Studies show that copper peptides help to stimulate the repair of wounded skin, but few studies have been done on skin peptides for rebuilding aging skin. One small study showed that the application of copper peptides to the skin of normal volunteers boosted the production of collagen precursors in seven out of ten of them – which is encouraging. Whether or not copper peptides actually boost collagen synthesis – they do have good moisturizing properties and are not harmful to the skin.
Where Do You Get Skin Peptides for Wrinkling?
There are a variety of skin care products that contain peptides including Olay Regenerist, DDF Wrinkle Relax, and Strivectin- SD. These products are expensive, but Neutrogena offers a less expensive cream containing copper peptides called Procyte which can be purchased online and at some drugstores.
Peptides for Wrinkling: The Bottom Line?
More research is still needed to show that skin peptides do what they’re supposed to do for aging skin – but it looks promising. If you have extensive sun damage, prescription retinitis may be a better option since they’ve been repeatedly studied and proven to work. At the very least, creams containing skin peptides are good moisturizers, and, hopefully, future studies will show that they help with wrinkles and aging skin too.
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