12 best peptide skincare products for smoother, younger-looking skin

Active ingredients like retinol, hyaluronic acid, and ceramides have been in the skincare spotlight for a long time now. But there’s another that receives much less attention even though it’s a powerhouse ingredient too: peptide.

What are peptides?

Peptides are relatively short chains of amino acids, which are protein’s building blocks. They help to support important protein structures like collagen and elastin fibres in the skin, which, in turn, keep the skin firm and able to bounce back.

But, besides making up our skin’s structure, peptides also act as signallers for collagen production, telling our bodies to make more collagen where they need it. Introducing certain peptides to your skin can “trick” your body into thinking that it needs collagen, thereby ramping up the amount it produces.

Peptides are the actives that you want to have in your skincare for skin that’s plumper and bouncier, be it in serums, eye creams, or moisturisers. And since peptides naturally occur in the skin, they’re considered much gentler than many other anti-ageing ingredients, thus suitable for most skin types too.

So, if you’re relying only on retinol to achieve the skin of your dreams, it’s time you start tapping on peptides. Read on, because we share the best peptide skincare products in Singapore for younger-looking skin!

Best peptide eye creams

COSRX Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream

The skin around the eyes is thinner and more prone to fine lines and wrinkles, which is why we’re starting off our list with CORSX’s Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream.

Snail mucin might sound icky, but it’s a hero ingredient that’s used in so many Korean skincare products for a reason – it moisturises and stimulates collagen production, so skin is supple and soft!

Peptides take centre stage alongside snail mucin in CORSX’s eye cream. The product contains five different peptides that’ll work alongside snail mucin to bring back the bounce into your skin.

Your skin will age as slow as a snail with this peptide skincare product!

COSRX Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream retails for S$34.93 on YesStyle.

Purito Centella Green Level Eye Cream

Peptides don’t feature in the name of Purito’s Centella Green Level Eye Cream, but they play an important role in restoring skin’s youthful glow.

This slim tube of eye cream is brimming with four types of peptides extracts (Palmitoyl Dipeptide-10, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, and Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12). These help to improve skin’s firmness and elasticity, so your tired under-eyes will be brought back to life.

Other notable ingredients are Centella Asiatica extract, a key ingredient in Korean cica creams that’s useful for hydrating and providing powerful antioxidant benefits, as well as panthenol, a vitamin B derivative.

Yes, you can bid crusty, dull under-eyes goodbye!

Purito Centella Green Level Eye Cream retails for S$20.31 on YesStyle.

KLAVUU Rejuve Pearlsation Multi Pearl Peptide Eye Cream

Pearlescent inside and out, KLAVUU’s Rejuve Pearlsation Multi Pearl Peptide Eye Cream’s elegant shimmer-shifting jar houses a formula that’s packed with Korean pearl extracts!

They take conchiolin, a protein that’s found within pearls, and put it in this eye cream. Applied to your under-eyes, it fills the layers and plumps skin up, giving you a glow that comes from within.

Peptides (like Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5) are also present in this eye cream, in small, molecular size, to stimulate collagen production in your skin. It’s the dream cream for under-eyes to take on a pearly radiance!

KLAVUU Rejuve Pearlsation Multi Pearl Peptide Eye Cream retails for S$32.18 on YesStyle.

Ole Henriksen Wrinkle Blur Bakuchiol Eye Gel Crème

Just how pretty are the lavender ribbons that streak through Ole Henriksen’s Wrinkle Blur Bakuchiol Eye Gel Crème?

They’re not just for show too: the purple swirls contain bakuchiol, the gentler alternative to retinol for smoothing wrinkles, whereas the clear strips are a blend of peptides, proteins and orchid stem cells.

The ingredients are great individually, but when you pump the bottle and they mix, they’re activated. Instead of sugar, spice, and everything nice, it’s bakuchiol, peptides, and orchid stem cells. Poof! The fine lines around your eyes will blur instantly like magic.

Ole Henriksen Wrinkle Blur Bakuchiol Eye Gel Crème retails for S$77 on Sephora.

Best peptide serums & ampoules

AMPLE:N Peptide Shot Ampoule

If glowing reviews are any indication of a product’s efficacy, then AMPLE:N’s Peptide Shot Ampoule is a peptide product you definitely want in your skincare.

What looks like glitter inside the AMPLE:N’s honey golden Peptide Shot Ampoule is actually a concentrated blend of three kinds of peptides (Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, and Palmitoyl Oligopeptide). Just imagine the peptide threads melting into the cracks of your complexion, firming your skin.

The other powerhouse ingredient within this formula is niacinamide, which we already know helps to build cells in the skin. At the end of the day, your skin will look plumper, firmer, and more even – it’s the perfect potion for mature skin.

AMPLE:N Peptide Shot Ampoule retails for S$33.73 instead of S$48.20 on YesStyle.

The Ordinary “Buffet” Multi Technology Peptide Serum

We can’t resist a sumptuous buffet, even more so when it comes to skincare.

The Ordinary “Buffet” Multi Technology Peptide Serum is a potent concoction of five well-researched peptide technologies, skin-loving amino acids, and plumping hyaluronic acid complexes. Let your skin feast on all that anti-ageing goodness, and it’ll maintain its firm, youthful appearance in the long run!

The Ordinary “Buffet” Multi Technology Peptide Serum retails for S$32 on Sephora.

Mizon Original Skin Energy Peptide 500

Mizon’s Original Skin Energy Peptide 500 is a multi-peptide ampoule that includes Oligopeptide-29, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, and Copper Tripeptide-1. Yes, we’re referring to copper peptides, which feature ever so often in skincare for their antioxidant properties and ability to stimulate collagen production.

It doesn’t even stop there. This ampoule is also spiked with hydrating hyaluronic acid and Centella Asiatica extract, so your skin really gets a shot of goodness all at once.

Mizon Original Skin Energy Peptide 500 retails for S$31.82 on iHerb.

Neogen Sur.Medic Azulene Soothing Peptide Ampoule

Who would have thought that the tiny blue capsules suspended in the rich sea of ampoules are bursting with not one, not two, but 10 different kinds of peptides?! Alongside azulene, the peptides soothe, smoothen, and strengthen the skin.

To lock in moisture, ceramides infused in the ampoule’s little white beads do the job. Happy and hydrated skin is what you’ll enjoy soon enough!

Neogen Sur.Medic Azulene Soothing Peptide Ampoule retails for S$33.40 on YesStyle.

Radiant Seoul Beauty Revitalizing Youth Protect Serum

Peptides are a powerhouse anti-ageing active, which is why you can expect to see them infused within Radiant Seoul’s Beauty Revitalizing Youth Protect Serum, a serum that makes mature skin look younger and keeps already young skin looking ever-radiant.

Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, nicknamed “botox in a bottle”, is one of the peptides in this serum. Made from a protein found in botox, it helps to relax the facial muscles to reduce those pesky forehead wrinkles as well as stimulate collagen production.

Skin that craves moisture will also be satisfied with hydrating caviar extract, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin C. And, who can resist the infused wild cherry and apple fruit extracts that burst with juicy antioxidant benefits?

Radiant Seoul Beauty Revitalizing Youth Protect Serum retails for S$14.67 instead of S$17.26 on iHerb.

Sympli Beautiful Firming Triple Peptide Serum

Firming up the skin doesn’t have to be a head-scratcher, especially when you’ve got Sympli Beauitful’s Firming Triple Peptide Serum in your arsenal of skincare products.

The dynamic blend of peptides that you’ll find in each drop of serum will bring renewed radiance to your skin, even as hyaluronic acid does its usual work of plumping your complexion.

If you’re not yet convinced that you need peptides in your anti-ageing routine, then good news. This serum is available in a 15ml trial size at an affordable price, so you can test peptides out, before committing to having them permanently in your skincare (we’re positive you will).

Sympli Beautiful Firming Triple Peptide Serum retails for S$5.75 (15ml, trial size) on iHerb.

Best peptide moisturisers

Derma E Skin Restore Advanced Peptides & Flora-Collagen Moisturizer

Shot through with peptides and plant-derived Flora-Collagen, this lush periwinkle moisturiser from Derma E packs a double punch of hydrating the skin and smoothing fine lines or wrinkles through increased collagen.

If your current moisturiser only works to hydrate, then, all the more reason to rely on peptides in this formula to plump, plump, and plump away!

Derma E Skin Restore Advanced Peptides & Flora-Collagen Moisturizer retails for S$35.11 on iHerb.

L’Oreal Paris Wrinkle Expert Moisturizer/Hydratant 45+

Uniquely, L’Oreal Paris’ Wrinkle Expert Moisturizer doesn’t use just peptides in its recipe. Instead, it has Retino-Peptide, a peptide combined with a stable form of retinol, to smoothen and firm the skin.

You heard right, it’s got two hero active ingredients laced in its anti-wrinkle formula, so you can fight signs of ageing whilst keeping your skin hydrated day and night.

L’Oreal Paris Wrinkle Expert Moisturizer/Hydratant 45+ retails for S$28.37 on Amazon.

Featured image credit: Pexels, COSRX

Related read: 23 best anti-ageing serums to add to your beauty stash in 2022