Soie — Hand Beauty

Peptide Hand Serum: Why Peptides Belong in a Serum for the Hands

A peptide hand serum uses peptides as moisturising ingredients, to keep the skin of the hands moist and supple with a sense of firmness. It is formulated for the backs of the hands, where the signs of age appear first.

Names ending in "peptide" have become common on facial serums. Why they appear in a peptide hand serum is a different question, and the answer is not simply that face care has been transferred to the hands. It has to do with the hands themselves.

The backs of the hands have little sebum and thin skin, and dryness and the changes of age show there first: a loss of firmness and clarity, roughness, often before the face. This page explains what peptides are, why a serum for the hands includes them, how to tell them apart on an ingredient list, and how to use a peptide hand serum so that it lasts as a habit.

What a peptide hand serum contains

A peptide is a general term for an ingredient made of several amino acids joined in a chain. On a cosmetic ingredient list they appear under names such as acetyl decapeptide-3, oligopeptide-34 and caprooyl tetrapeptide-3, the middle of each name indicating roughly how long the chain is. A hand serum may contain several of them, each listed by name.

In a hand serum, peptides play the role of moisturising ingredients. They give moisture to the stratum corneum and keep the hands feeling supple and firm to the touch. They are not medicines that change something inside the skin; they are cosmetic moisturising ingredients that, layered day after day, help the hands hold their moisture.

Peptides became known through facial skincare, but the hands are washed far more often than the face and lose moisture more readily. That is why delivering them in the form of a serum, light enough to reapply after every wash, makes particular sense for the hands.

Why a serum for hands includes peptides: moisture and firmness

Soie measures the beauty of the hands by three things: moisture, smoothness and radiance. Of these, peptides are concerned with moisture and the sense of firmness that moisture brings. Smoothness and radiance follow once moisture is steady, which is why we begin here.

The nature of the back of the hand. With few sebaceous glands and thin skin, it needs its ability to hold water supported from outside.
The changes of age. What supports the water and firmness of the skin is said to lessen with the years, and the hands show that change before the face does. Hand care for each stage of life is covered on our page on the signs of age on the hands.
Working with other moisturising ingredients. Peptides do not act alone. Together with ceramides, which support the sebum film that holds water in the stratum corneum, and sodium hyaluronate, which holds water itself, they support the skin's own capacity to stay moist. The thinking behind ceramides is on our ceramide hand serum page.

Telling peptides apart on the label: moisturising and skin-conditioning

Look for peptides on an ingredient list and you will find names that sound alike but carry different roles.

Peptides (moisturising ingredients): acetyl decapeptide-3, oligopeptide-34, caprooyl tetrapeptide-3 and others, included to keep the hands moist and supple.
EGF and KGF (skin-conditioning ingredients): listed as oligopeptide-1 (EGF) and oligopeptide-41 (KGF). Though the names share the word "oligopeptide", these are classed as skin-conditioning ingredients, there to keep the skin of the hands in good condition.
Hydrolysed keratin: not one of the peptides meant here, but an ingredient for the nails and fingertips that often appears nearby.

What matters is not how a name sounds but the role stated beside it: moisturising or skin-conditioning. Since lists run, as a rule, from the largest quantity down, what follows water tells you the character of the formula. Reading a hand serum's ingredients as a whole is the subject of a journal piece.

Using a peptide hand serum so that it lasts

Moisturising ingredients serve the hands better layered each time moisture is lost than applied generously once. The hands are washed many times a day, and each wash takes a little of what was applied before, so the rhythm of a peptide serum follows the rhythm of washing.

After washing or wet work, dry the hands and take one or two pearl-sized drops on the back of one hand.
Bring the hands together to spread it, then work it in with the whole palm.
Stroke each finger lightly so that the serum reaches the creases over the knuckles.
Finish by pressing gently around the nails.

If firmness is your concern, give the backs of the hands most of your attention. The act of spreading the serum encourages circulation and, with the fragrance, becomes a moment of calm. By day, a light serum alone is enough; before bed or on very dry days, add a hand cream over it.

Nothing about peptides calls for a special technique. Continuing, and replenishing after every wash, are the conditions shared by every moisturising ingredient.

Frequently asked questions

What is a peptide?

A peptide is a general term for an ingredient made of several amino acids joined together. In cosmetics they appear on the ingredient list under names such as acetyl decapeptide-3 and oligopeptide-34. In a hand serum they are moisturising ingredients that give the stratum corneum moisture and keep the hands feeling supple and firm.

Why does a hand serum contain peptides?

To keep the hands moist and supple with a sense of firmness. The back of the hand has little sebum and thin skin, and shows the changes of age first. Peptides work with ceramides and sodium hyaluronate, also moisturising ingredients, to support the skin's own capacity to hold water.

Are peptides the same as EGF and KGF?

Both appear on the list under "oligopeptide" names, but their roles differ. Peptides such as acetyl decapeptide-3 are moisturising ingredients, while oligopeptide-1 (EGF) and oligopeptide-41 (KGF) are skin-conditioning ingredients, there to keep the skin of the hands in good condition.

When should I apply a peptide serum for hands?

At the turning points of the day: after washing or wet work, before going out and before bed. Moisturising ingredients serve the hands better when replenished each time moisture is lost, so apply after every wash rather than counting applications. A serum without stickiness can be used as often as you like by day.

Does a peptide serum replace hand cream?

By day, many people find a light serum alone keeps the hands moist enough, but the two play different roles. A serum layers water and moisturising ingredients into the stratum corneum; a cream protects with a film of oil. At night or on very dry days, a cream over the serum gives you both.

Soie's hand serum and its peptides

Soie (pronounced swah; French for silk) formulates Enlight Hand Serum, a beauty serum made only for the hands, with peptides (moisturising ingredients) such as acetyl decapeptide-3, oligopeptide-34 and caprooyl tetrapeptide-3, alongside five ceramides and sodium hyaluronate (moisturising ingredients) and EGF and KGF (skin-conditioning ingredients). Together they form the core of a formula that moisturises mature hands and keeps them in good condition.

Hydrolysed keratin and horsetail extract (skin-conditioning ingredients) care for the nails and fingertips, and over 95% of the ingredients are of natural origin. The texture sinks in without stickiness, so a phone or keyboard can be touched straight away. 30 mL, in five fragrances.