The Power of Snap-8™ Octapeptide: Why Your Eye Serum Demands It

If you’ve done your homework on quality anti-ageing skincare, you’ve undoubtedly encountered the term “peptides.” While its name doesn’t reveal too much about what it does or how it works, this ingredient has found its way into many serums and moisturisers, and for good reason. They're not just a skincare buzzword – these compounds actively combat fine lines, wrinkles, acne, and aid in wound healing. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, luckily it’s not! 

Unfortunately, like most ingredients and products, not all peptides are created equal. In a bid to sort fact from fiction, let us jump straight to one of the best on the market: Snap-8™ Octapeptide. Here’s everything you need to know about this comprehensive peptide making serious waves in the global skincare industry. 

To translate the scientific jargon into simple terms, peptides are essentially short chains of amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. 

When referring to skincare, peptides are shown to play an important role in helping to boost collagen production, improve skin elasticity, heal wounds, and support acne treatment. What exactly does this mean? Simply put: more youthful-looking skin. Collagen is among the most abundant structural proteins found in your body. It is the main component of connective tissue and is located in your skin, bones, tendons, and ligaments. Collagen is made in your body from amino acids sourced through diet. 

Yet, while your body naturally produces collagen on its own, with age, collagen production slowly decreases, which is when we start to notice the onset of wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging skin. However, it’s important to note that lifestyle factors, including sugar consumption, excess sun, stress, smoking, and alcohol, can all interfere with collagen production, too. 

One of the most notable features of peptides is their miniscule size. Peptides are regarded for their ability to have a greater impact than many other skincare formulas like moisturisers and cleansers — which generally contain larger molecules — due to peptides’ small size, which allows them to effortlessly penetrate the skin’s surface and get to work on deeper layers. 

The quick recap: Peptides are amino acids that support collagen production and improve skin elasticity. While formulas vary in quality, these incredible ingredients have the potential to act as your golden ticket to slow down the ageing clock. 

Adding peptides to your skincare ritual is a no-brainer if youthfulness is the goal, and even when it’s not. This versatile ingredient has an impressive list of accomplishments under its belt, including the following:

• Strengthens your skin barrier — Your skin barrier plays a critical role in your body, particularly your skin health and immune system. Simply put, it is your first line of defence against unwanted invaders like bacteria, environmental pollution, toxins, and UV rays. Sadly, your skin barrier can become compromised from over-exfoliating your skin, smoking, poor sleep, and more. However, peptides are shown to improve the integrity and strength of your skin barrier. 
• Improves skin elasticity — As briefly mentioned, collagen isn’t the only type of protein in the body that consists of peptides; so too does elastin. Adding peptides to your skincare ritual may improve skin elasticity and firmness. 
• Decreases the appearance of wrinkles — As we know, collagen and elastin are the secrets to firmer, smoother, younger-looking skin. Wrinkles and fine lines generally form when collagen and skin firmness (i.e., elasticity) decline. As such, adding peptides to your skincare ritual may improve skin smoothness. In fact, some peptides deliver benefits comparable to anti-wrinkle injections. 
• May support acne treatment — While this isn’t standard across the board, you may find that specific peptides offer antimicrobial properties, meaning they help remove unwanted micro-organisations such as bacteria. In turn, this may support skin conditions like acne as it may reduce clogged pores and your immune system’s response. 

All this talk of peptides has likely got you wondering when we’d get to the good part. Yep, by “good part,” we’re clearly talking about Snap-8™ Octapeptide — the much-adored anti-wrinkle peptide taking the skincare industry by storm!

Let us simplify everything you need to know about Snap-8™ Octapeptide into just a few key bullet points: 

• What is it? As the name suggests, Snap-8™ Octapeptide is an octapeptide, meaning it’s an extended amino acid strand that consists of eight amino acids linked in a polypeptide chain. 
• What does it do? It is known as an anti-wrinkle peptide that helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. 
• How does it work? Similarly to anti-wrinkle injections, Snap-8™ Octapeptide works by inhibiting neurotransmitters from sending signals to specific facial muscles to help minimise the overuse of said muscles in a bid to reduce expression lines from forming and deepening. 
• Who is it for? It’s a highly effective ingredient for anyone wanting support with reducing the signs of ageing and those looking for a non-invasive alternative to anti-wrinkle injections. 

Let’s touch on the above details in a little more detail:

• It helps minimise the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles — As aforementioned, Snap-8 is designed to inhibit the release of neurotransmitters that signal specific facial muscle contractions. As such, the increased relaxation of said muscles helps reduce the depth and visibility of fine lines and wrinkles as the muscles aren’t being overused in repetition. In fact, a skin topography analysis was conducted on 17 women applying a cream containing 10% Snap-8™ twice a day for 28 days. The silicon imprints showed a 63% maximum reduction value of wrinkle depth. 
• It’s a safer, non-invasive, and more cost-effective alternative to anti-wrinkle injections — This one requires little explanation. Simply put, Snap-8™ can offer many benefits that are comparable to anti-wrinkle injections (i.e., muscle relaxation and reduced wrinkle depth and visibility), making it a potentially more desirable option for those wanting a less-invasive anti-ageing solution that doesn’t involve needles or a costly expense. 
• It’s highly accessible — Snap-8™ has grown in popularity in recent years, making it a headliner in many quality eye and face creams and serums. As previously mentioned, not all formulas are created equal, so do your research before investing in a new skincare product.