Sophia Bull and Joan Attia of Lucas Meyer Cosmetics explain what peptides are, what they do, and then we will investigate why there is so much attention on them right now
What is a peptide?
A peptide is a short chain of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds in a linear chain. For use in cosmetics, generally the chains are limited to 3 to 10 amino acid units due to factors like bioavailability in the skin, stability, or price. To be performant, peptides must balance efficacy and bioavailability within the skin or the scalp.
After topical application, to help the peptide penetrate through the stratum corneum, a lipophilic barrier, there are several strategies that can be employed. The peptide can be designed with an octanol-water partition coefficient (logP) close to 1 and with low molecular weight or encapsulated within a delivery vehicle like a liposome. Chemical modifications like fatty acid grafting can also improve penetration or the formula itself can be designed with penetration enhancers like lecithin or surfactants
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