Understanding Peptides: The Building Blocks of Life

Just as retinol—the 90s star of anti-aging concoctions—enjoyed a revival in the 2010s, peptides have broken through the noise of marginally effective compounds and empty promises, maturing into powerful cornerstones in the worlds of skincare, muscle growth, and overall health.

But what exactly are peptides, what can they do, and why do we love them so? Today’s exploration will cover the nature of peptides as building blocks, their benefits and uses, and their rise to popularity in the past few years. We’ll also recommend a popular new peptide delivery product that those with compromised skin barriers swear by, which might just become another don’t-leave-home-without-it staple for you. 

Chem Lab 101: What Are Peptides?

Amino acids are a large group occurring in over 500 forms in nature, but the 22 α-amino acids that appear in the gene code of all living things are the ones we're most selfishly interested in. Peptides are short chains of these amino acids. 

They are part of the biological polymer and oligomer crowd, which includes famous members such as nucleic acids, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. A single polypeptide with a molecular mass of more than 10,000 daltons (not the Lucky Luke Daltons) or multiple polypeptides strung together form a protein—the superstar of all things alive, youthful, and growing. 

Types of Peptides

Polypeptides

Polypeptides are long chains of amino acids that form proteins. These proteins are essential for crucial bodily functions, including maintaining healthy skin and muscles. For example, collagen, a polypeptide protein, provides structure and strength to the skin, while other proteins are crucial for muscle repair and growth.

Peptide Hormones

Peptides are versatile active compounds that can also act as hormones, meaning they carry a large and responsible load of helping to manage and regulate many critical bodily functions necessary for survival and quality of life, such as metabolism, growth, gut health, and mood. For instance, one of the most talked about hormones today, insulin, is a peptide hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels and metabolism, and growth hormone is another peptide that regulates growth and cell reproduction, necessary to renew tissues and organs for a solid and healthy, vital body and brain.
 

The Role of Peptides in Skincare

In skincare, peptides are highly valued for their consistent and reproducible beneficial effects on skin health. These tiny building blocks are crucial in promoting collagen production, which is essential for maintaining the skin's firmness and elasticity. By stimulating collagen production, peptides also help improve the skin's texture and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, making them an unsung hero of non-invasive rejuvenation.

Collagen peptides, specifically, are widely recognized for their anti-aging properties. Collagen is an essential structural protein that supports the skin's fresh and plum appearance, which we did not know how to appreciate in our teens (appreciate your collagen, dear friends). However, its production naturally declines with age. It is not something you did; it cannot be entirely prevented or stopped as it is a natural occurrence of aging, but we can slow it down and delay the visible results of this decline on our skin.  

By incorporating collagen peptides into skincare routines, we can help counteract some of the most prominent (and quite frankly annoying) signs of skin aging. These peptides work by helping the skin produce more collagen, resulting in improved skin elasticity, smoother, plumper skin, and a youthful appearance.

Boost Collagen Production

Peptides play a crucial role in signaling your skin to produce more collagen, making it look young and vital for longer. They also provide structure and firmness to the skin and help plump out some of the first lines that have begun to grace our faces.

Improve Elasticity

Another significant benefit of peptides is their ability to improve the skin’s elasticity. You can think of elasticity in terms of blowing up a fresh ballon, which will, once deflated, revert to its stretchy original shape. But, if you’ve got a balloon forgotten from some birthday long gone, have blown it up multiple times, or have left it out in the sun for days, and you deflate it now, it will not bounce back to the original form, but rather be a wrinkly thinned out semblance of its previous elastic and perky self.

As we age, the skin does the same. It starts to lose firmness, leading to visible sagging and wrinkles aided by gravity's constant bullying (Sheldon was right: “Oh gravity, thou art a heartless b****.”). In this situation, peptides help by improving the skin's elasticity, reducing sagging, and creating smoother, more toned skin.

Reduce Inflammation

Inflammation is a normal bodily reaction designed by evolution to resolve a problem in a particular body region by raising the temperature and delivering more protective fighter cells, oxygen, and nutrients to the area to, for example, resolve an injury, ward off a pathogen, or seal a wound.

Some peptides possess anti-inflammatory properties that can be beneficial for soothing irritated or inflamed skin. These peptides work by calming the skin and reducing redness and subjective discomfort of the problem, making these excellent friends to sensitive or reactive skin.

Hydrate and Moisturize

Hydration is youth, and the body composition's water percentage falls as we age. Peptide-infused skincare products have a very advantageous benefit for aging skin - they provide deep hydration. They help strengthen the skin barrier, designed as a protector to keep the moisture inside and the harmful substances and toxins out of the skin. A healthy and robust barrier (you want it robust) retains the essential moisture within the skin layers, allowing the skin to stay plump and healthy.

FOREO SUPERCHARGED™ Barrier Restoring Essence Mist 

Considering all we’ve said, peptides deserve all the love and recognition we can muster, keeping this meaty machine going and revving up to its optimal levels. When it comes to dry, cracking, aging skin with compromised barrier function, peptides are best applied topically, and there has yet to be such a pleasant, hygienic, and effective way as face misting. Offering a reliably consistent high-quality dispersion of the formula, the FOREO SUPERCHARGED™ Barrier Restoring Essence Mist is an absolute market hit designed to replenish and fortify the skin's natural barrier while offering a quick refreshing burst of moisture.

It's formulated with 2% Niacinamide to brighten the complexion, a blend of 9 Peptides that firm and plump the skin, calming Cica to soothe irritation, and hydrating Panthenol and Allantoin which lock in moisture and support barrier function. This essence mist is perfect for those with sensitive skin or those who prefer fragrance-free skincare options, providing a gentle yet effective way to nourish, hydrate, and protect the complexion. It’s also a practical solution for skin that needs hydration multiple times a day, but you don’t always have access to a washroom to wash your outside-world hands before touching your face.

Peptides for Muscle Growth

While mainly used in skincare, peptides are also popular in the fitness community for their muscle-building properties. Muscle is good, and you want a lot of it as it will protect your bones and joints as you age and keep your metabolism in check by soaking and burning the surplus glucose that could start causing metabolic problems in the future.

Peptide supplements can enhance muscle growth by promoting growth hormone release, which stimulates muscle repair and growth. Additionally, they improve the post-exercise recovery process by reducing inflammation and promoting tissue repair. Dysregulated growth is not good, but a little help with a natural muscle recovery process is very welcome and can spare you the post-leg day masochistic hours.

Behind the scene, hidden by the screen of what they create, peptides calmly form the microscopic life-supporting building blocks - building and repairing tissues, boosting collagen, smoothing out wrinkles, and giving your skin back that glow that time demands as a toll, like a merciless ferryman of Dante's "Inferno." So, if you were looking for a refreshing new addition to your skincare routine, in that case, peptides are what you're looking for and are worth investigating - especially if you’re the proud and somewhat frustrated owner of moody, dry, or sensitive skin.