Ingredients | March 31 2025

Peptides in Skincare - Benefits, How They Work and Best Products

Peptides are becoming a staple ingredient in a range of skincare routines. They play a key role in many anti-aging products, boosting collagen and elastin levels and enhancing complexions.  

In this guide, we’ll explore what are peptides in skincare and what they do for the skin, shining a spotlight on their benefits. 

The foundation for skin health

Peptides are short chains of amino acids. There are 20 naturally occurring amino acids linked together by peptide bonds, and these can form a range of combinations that help with different skin concerns. 

Peptides are the building blocks for proteins including collagen and elastin. They act as messengers, signaling to your skin cells to produce these proteins. This leaves your skin firm and supple and enhances elasticity and hydration levels. 

While your body naturally produces peptides, their levels decline with age, leading to visible signs of aging such as wrinkles and sagging skin.

Different types of peptides and their roles

Peptides have their own functions, and these can be introduced into your skincare routine to target different concerns. There are three main types of topical peptides used in skincare. Understanding how each type works can help you choose the right products to reach your skincare goals.

• Signal peptides: These peptides stimulate collagen production, helping to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and creating firmer, more youthful-looking skin.
• Carrier peptides: These bring essential trace minerals for skin health, such as copper and manganese, directly to skin cells. They enhance your skin's elasticity, visibly improve the appearance of wrinkles, and support its structural integrity.
• Enzyme-inhibiting peptides: These inhibit the enzymes that cause collagen to naturally break down. By protecting your skin's collagen levels, these peptides encourage firmer skin. 
• Neurotransmitter-inhibiting peptides: These peptides interfere with the signaling pathways that cause facial muscle contractions – the repeated movements responsible for dynamic expression lines. Acetyl Octapeptide-3 and Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 work this way, functioning as botulinum toxin analogs by competing with nerve pathways to reduce the strength of muscle contraction. They are the mechanism behind wrinkle-modulating peptide products designed to target expression lines specifically.

How peptides work on the skin

Incorporating peptides into your skincare routine offers several benefits:

• Boosting collagen production: When peptides are introduced to your skincare regimen, enhanced collagen levels help to firm and plump your skin, reducing the appearance of sagging.
• Improving skin elasticity: Peptides make up elastin fibers that make skin look firmer, tauter, and more resilient. 
• Smoothing fine lines and wrinkles: Regular use of peptide-infused products can lead to a noticeable improvement in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, contributing to a more youthful appearance.
• Enhancing skin hydration and barrier function: Peptides strengthen the skin's barrier, helping to retain moisture and protect against environmental damage.
• Reducing redness: Some peptides possess properties that ease redness by calming irritated skin and promoting a healthier complexion.

How to add peptides to your routine

To maximize the benefits of peptides for the skin, consider the following points:

• Start early: Incorporate peptide-based products into your skincare routine in your late 20s or early 30s to proactively address signs of aging.
• Apply after cleansing: Use peptide-infused serums or creams after cleansing and toning, allowing them to penetrate deeply into your skin.
• Layering: Apply peptide products in order from thinnest to thickest, ideally before heavier creams or oils to ensure optimal absorption.
• Consistency is key: Use peptide products consistently, as directed, to achieve the best results. As they're not as strong as other ingredients like retinol, they can be used as part of your AM and PM routines. 

It's also important to consider what concern you're targeting. If you want brighter skin with an even complexion, for instance, ZO® Skin Health offers products like Brightalive® that are designed to enhance your appearance. Renewal Crème is ideal for addressing dry skin by improving hydration

Can You Use Peptides with Retinol?

Yes, and the combination is a logical one. Retinol drives cell turnover and stimulates collagen production at the dermal level. Peptides support collagen through a complementary route: they signal fibroblasts to produce collagen and help organize collagen fiber structure. Using both provides multi-mechanism support for the same outcome – improved skin firmness, texture, and reduced visible lines – without conflict.

Here is some layering guidance:

• Apply peptide serums before retinol in the PM system. Peptide products are typically lighter and absorb more quickly; retinol applied after allows it to sit on a freshly treated surface.
• If using separate AM and PM steps: peptides can be used AM and PM (they do not increase photosensitivity), while retinol is typically PM-only.
• Peptides also help buffer the skin barrier through retinol's adjustment phase, reducing the sensitivity that leads many people to stop retinol before results appear.

The key exception: avoid pairing peptides with high-concentration AHAs or BHAs in the same application step. Acids lower skin pH, which can reduce the effectiveness of some peptide formulations. Separate these into different sessions.

Do peptides work well with other ingredients? 

Peptides are generally compatible with hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid, enhancing moisture retention and skin plumpness. 

However, it's advisable to avoid combining peptides with strong exfoliants like alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs), such as glycolic acid, or beta-hydroxy acids (BHAs), such as salicylic acid, in the same routine, as this may reduce their effectiveness. 

Peptides complement anti-aging staples like niacinamide and ceramides, working together to even skin tone, improve barrier function, and ease redness.

ZO's Peptide Facial Refining Concentrate

Most peptide products use a single peptide type. ZO's Peptide Facial Refining Concentrate uses four distinct peptide technologies working simultaneously, each with a specific mechanism:

Here are the four peptides:

• Acetyl Octapeptide-3: A neurotransmitter inhibitor that blocks the SNARE protein complex responsible for muscle stimulation – reducing the appearance of dynamic expression lines at the source.
• Acetyl Hexapeptide-8: Competes with nerve pathways to reduce the strength of muscle contraction, relaxing the tissue that drives repeated expression lines.
• Volumizing Tripeptide: Mimics TGF-Beta to activate hyaluronic acid synthesis in keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts, supporting skin volume and a fuller-looking surface.
• Refining Peptide Complex (Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminobutyroyl Hydroxythreonine + Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminohydroxybutyrate): Stimulates DEJ (dermal-epidermal junction) protein expression, restructures and aligns collagen fibers, and produces a visible lifting effect.

The peptide facial refining concentrate is also formulated with ZPOLY® – ZO's proprietary polysaccharide complex – for barrier support and visible redness reduction.

Clinical evidence: In a 12-week clinical study, Peptide Facial Refining Concentrate was clinically shown to result in a visibly more balanced-looking facial geometry, for a naturally sculpted-looking appearance.

Protocol placement: The Applied AM and PM after Getting Skin Ready®, as a Step 3 Correct product. Designed to complement the outcome of injectable procedures, or as a standalone solution for those targeting expression lines and facial volume concerns without injectables.

Introduce peptides to your regimen with ZO®

If you want to introduce peptides into your skincare routine, we can help. You can find your ZO® regimen using our handy tool. We can then match you to the best products for your skin. 

We're also here to answer your questions and offer tips and advice about our products. Get in touch and we'll talk to you about ingredients suited to your skincare needs.