Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream and the Peptide Formulas Around It

Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream and the Peptide Formulas Around It

The Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream is a peptide moisturizer built around the brand's list of ingredients it leaves out. Here is how it sits beside the rest of the Drunk Elephant line, other peptide creams and peptide serums.

Drunk Elephant started small. Tiffany Masterson told Vanity Fair that she soft-launched in August of 2013 and launched officially in July of 2014, and she told Vogue Hong Kong she began with six products. The idea that held the brand together was a list, the Suspicious 6: essential oils, drying alcohols, silicones, chemical sunscreens, fragrances and dyes, and SLS. The brand leaves all six out, and that is the lens for the whole line.

Vanity Fair reported in January 2018 that the brand had just launched the Protini Polypeptide Cream, a day and night protein moisturizer. The brand says the drunk elephant protini polypeptide cream is formulated with nine signal peptides and pygmy waterlily, and the pot is refillable. It is a gel-cream and the brand says to use it morning and night on clean, dry skin.

The rest of this row shows how the line fits together. Protini Powerpeptide Resurfacing Serum pairs 11 signal peptides with 10% lactic acid. Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream is the richer option with a 6-butterlipid complex, and Lala Retro Nourishing Whipped Moisturizer has ceramides and five African oils. B-Hydra is a hydrating serum with pineapple ceramide and sodium hyaluronate. C-Firma Fresh is a 15 percent vitamin C day serum that you mix yourself from powder and liquid. D-Bronzi Bronzing Drops add a wash of color, and E-Rase Milki Micellar Water removes makeup without rinsing.

My test: use Protini alone for a week before you add anything.

Big numbers collage titled PROTINI POLYPEPTIDE CREAM, six products numbered one to six with each product set beside its number: Drunk Elephant, The INKEY List and The Ordinary
Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream

Drunk Elephant Protini and the Drunk Elephant line

Peptide creams from other brands

Peptide creams are a crowded shelf, so I sort them by texture. Shani Darden Hydration Peptide Cream is fast absorbing and made without oils, made with peptides, squalene, ceramides and niacinamide. The INKEY List Peptide Moisturizer is a lightweight cream with a dual peptide formula. Paula's Choice Pro-Collagen Peptide Plumping Gel-Cream is a gel-cream with three peptides listed as highlights.

The richer ones are next. goop Beauty Youth-Boost NAD+ Peptide Rich Cream adds biomimetic plant peptides and a postbiotic, and Alpyn Beauty Super Peptide and Ghostberry Barrier Repair Cream has 14 peptides and ceramides, designed, says the brand, for the harsh air of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. bonjout La Cream was formulated by the French pharmacist Natacha Bonjout and is an inverse emulsion that is 80 percent oil. epi.Logic The Total Package Moisturizer was designed by an oculofacial plastic surgeon and pairs peptides with bakuchiol. Sweet Chemistry Elasticity Reinforcing Hydra-Cream is water-based with a satin finish.

The pairing tip: apply a peptide cream to damp skin right after a hydrating serum, and use a pea-size amount of anything rich.

What I would skip: stacking two peptide creams in one routine. Pick one, and let a serum do the rest.

Peptide creams

Peptide serums for under a moisturizer

A peptide serum goes on before a moisturizer, so these are the thin ones. The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Hyaluronic Acid Serum combines Matrixyl 3000, Matrixyl Synthe-6 and Syn-Ake, and the brand advises patch testing first. Dr. Barbara Sturm Peptide Serum is infused with biomimetic peptides and an amino acid complex, and Kiehl's CollaShot Plumping Serum uses recombinant collagen polypeptides with vitamin B12, applied morning and night.

The others lean on extras. U Beauty The SMOOTH Dynamic Wrinkle Defense Serum combines a multi-peptide complex with stable retinol esters, copper peptides and centella exosomes. Caudalie Resveratrol-Lift is a retinol alternative serum with pro-collagen multi-peptides, and ALPYN Super Sculpt is a lightweight gel serum for the face, neck and décolleté with a tri-peptide complex. Auteur Definitive Collagen Activator has a collagen peptide complex, and MBR Modukine is a desensitizing serum with polypeptides.

How I would layer them: one peptide serum, then a cream from the row above, then sunscreen in the morning.

What I would skip: a serum with retinol esters or acids in the same night as a strong exfoliant. Give them different evenings.

Peptide serums

Fitting peptides into a simple routine

Peptides are protein fragments made of amino acids, and Drunk Elephant says its signal peptides bind moisture to skin. They are not a quick fix, so give any peptide product a few weeks. Start with one cream or serum, use it morning and night, and change nothing else for that time. Patch test anything new on your jaw first. A simple routine can be a cleanser, a peptide serum or cream, and sunscreen in the morning. If a formula tingles or stings, stop and go back to what you know works.

Eye, neck and retinol formulas for around the cream

If Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream is your peptide base, this last shelf covers the areas around it, starting with eyes. Drunk Elephant A-Shaba pairs 0.1% vegan retinol with 3% caffeine and copper peptides, Clarins Total Eye Lift uses Harungana as a retinol alternative, and Shiseido Benefiance has peptides and squalane. Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Lift + Sculpt is aimed at under-eye, lids, crow's feet and inner corners. Auteur Definitive Eye Cream is powered by peptides, and Augustinus Bader The Eye Cream is built on TFC8.

Next comes the neck. StriVectin TL uses Alpha 3 peptides, Nécessaire The Neck Serum has a 9% blend of five peptides plus niacinamide and rosewater, and MBR Cell-Power adds niacinamide with plant butters. Clarins Extra-Firming has sunflower extract, and Augustinus Bader The Retinol Serum is lightweight and hydrating. For retinol, Drunk Elephant A-Passioni has 1.0% vegan retinol, Kiehl's Micro-Dose comes in a daily-strength micro-dose, and Sunday Riley A+ blends retinoid ester and retinol with honey and CoQ10.

What I would skip: starting two retinols at once. Add one, keep it to evenings, and leave the peptide cream for the morning.

Firming eye creams, neck creams and retinols