Best Ageless Advanced Peptide Moisturizer

Ageless Advanced Peptide Moisturizer is built around four named actives: Matrixyl Synthe'6, Syn-Coll, Ten's Up and DMAE, in a base with hyaluronic acid and botanicals such as rosehip, pomegranate, white tea and goji berry. This page is the routine guide: where the moisturizer goes in a morning and evening routine, how to time it around retinol, vitamin C, acids and copper peptides, and how to add Skin Perfection serum boosters to it at the right rate. For our full product review, ingredient breakdown and comparison with other creams, read the Ageless Advanced Peptide Moisturizer Review.

The Routine at a Glance

The general rule is thinnest to thickest. Water-thin serums go on clean skin first, the moisturizer goes over them, and sunscreen goes last in the morning. The moisturizer's job in this order is to hold the serum layer in place and add its own peptide layer on top.

Morning Routine With Ageless

Step by step

1. Cleanse. A light cleanse or a rinse is enough in the morning. Our Foaming Peptide Cleanser is an option if you prefer a full cleanse.
2. Serum. Apply a water-based serum to dry skin. In the morning, a vitamin C serum such as our Vitamin C Serum with Hyaluronic Acid pairs well with daytime sunscreen. If you skip vitamin C, our Hyaluronic Acid Plumping Serum adds a hydration layer.
3. Wait about a minute. Let the serum absorb until skin no longer feels wet.
4. Moisturizer. Apply a pearl-sized amount of Ageless to face and neck.
5. Sunscreen. Finish with a broad-spectrum sunscreen and let it set before makeup.

Why sunscreen is not optional in this routine

Peptides are only one side of the equation. In a 4.5-year randomized trial of 903 adults under 55 in Nambour, Australia, Hughes and colleagues (2013, Annals of Internal Medicine) found that people assigned to daily sunscreen showed no detectable increase in skin aging over the study, and skin aging from start to finish was 24% lower than in the group that used sunscreen at their own discretion. A morning peptide moisturizer and a daily sunscreen work toward the same goal from two directions.

Evening Routine With Ageless

Evening is where most of your other actives go, so the moisturizer's role changes slightly. It becomes the comfort layer that sits over stronger serums.

A weekly schedule that keeps actives apart

This rotation follows three rules we give every Skin Perfection customer:

• Retinol and copper peptides on alternate nights. If you use retinol every other night, put our GHK-Cu Copper Peptide Serum on the nights in between.
• Never layer copper peptides with vitamin C in the same application. That is why vitamin C stays in the morning and copper peptides stay at night.
• Keep acids on their own night. We do not recommend mixing acids with peptides unless you are an experienced formulator. Give AHAs a separate evening, and use Ageless over them only if your skin feels comfortable.

Where Ageless goes on retinol nights

Apply retinol to clean, dry skin, wait a few minutes, then apply Ageless. If your skin is still adjusting to retinol and feels dry, you can apply a thin layer of moisturizer first, then retinol, then a second layer. Our 2.5% Retinol Serum is a high-strength product, so the moisturizer layer matters on those nights.

Adding Serum Boosters to Ageless

Ageless is designed to be used on its own or with serum boosters for customized concentrations. Every Skin Perfection serum booster is 100% the branded ingredient it is named for, so the math is simple. Our house rate is 9 drops = 1% per fluid ounce. Kari's rule for every blend: use each booster at the highest rate its manufacturer recommends, not a starter rate.

Booster chart for 1 oz of Ageless

How to mix a boosted batch

1. Scoop 1 oz of Ageless into a clean, dry jar or airless pump bottle such as our 1 fl oz Silver Airless Pump Bottle.
2. Pick one booster per batch, or two at most, so you can tell what is working.
3. Count in the drops from the chart for the highest rate.
4. Stir slowly with a clean spatula for 60 seconds until the cream looks uniform.
5. Label the container with the booster, the percentage and the date.

Two practical notes from the formulating bench. First, liquid boosters thin a cream as you add them, so a batch with 90 drops added will feel lighter than the original jar. That is expected. Second, mix small batches you will use within a few weeks rather than boosting the whole jar at once, and keep booster bottles in the refrigerator after mixing.

Three boosted routines

What the Featured Actives Have Been Tested For

It helps to know what was actually studied, so your expectations for the routine are realistic.

• Matrixyl Synthe'6 (palmitoyl tripeptide-38). Supplier materials from Sederma describe clinical testing over two months in which forehead wrinkles and crow's feet were visibly reduced, measured by wrinkle volume, depth and smooth surface area. A 2017 review by Schagen notes a 28-day study of 32 women with crow's feet using a product containing palmitoyl tripeptide-38 along with other ingredients, where an increase in dermal density and elasticity was measured.
• Syn-Coll (palmitoyl tripeptide-5). The same review reports dose-dependent wrinkle reduction measured by PRIMOS in creams containing 10 to 25 ppm, and an 84-day, twice-daily study in 60 volunteers.
• DMAE. In a double-blind split-face study, Uhoda and colleagues (2002) found a 3% DMAE gel increased measured skin firmness in 30 volunteers. A 2005 review by Grossman describes a placebo-controlled trial of a 3% DMAE gel used daily for 16 weeks, with measured improvement in the look of forehead lines, fine lines around the eyes and overall appearance of aging skin.

Wondering whether a serum or a cream should carry your peptides? See Peptide Serums vs Peptide Creams for how the two formats compare.

An honest caveat from the Schagen review: many peptide trials test the peptide in a finished moisturizer with other actives, so results cannot always be credited to the peptide alone. That is exactly why we recommend changing one booster at a time.

How Much to Use and How Often

• Amount. A pearl-sized amount covers the face. Add a second pearl for the neck and chest.
• Frequency. Twice daily gives the fastest visible results. Peptide routines are cumulative, so consistency matters more than any single application.
• Timeline. Skin often feels more hydrated within days. The study timelines above ran 4 to 16 weeks, which is a fair window to judge firmness and lines.
• Tracking. Take a photo every two weeks in the same light and position.

Common Routine Mistakes

• Applying the moisturizer before a water-thin serum. Serum first, cream second, so the water-thin layer touches clean skin directly.
• Using copper peptides and vitamin C together. Keep them in separate applications, morning and night.
• Using starter rates in boosted batches. Use the highest manufacturer rate from the chart. If your skin is sensitive, patch test on the inner arm for 24 hours and start at the lowest recommended rate, then work up.
• Skipping sunscreen. The 24% difference in the Nambour trial came from daily use, not occasional use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Ageless Advanced Peptide Moisturizer morning and night?

Yes. Twice daily is our recommendation for the fastest visible results. In the morning, follow it with sunscreen. At night, apply it over your evening serum.

Should Ageless go before or after retinol?

After, on most nights. Apply retinol to clean, dry skin, wait a few minutes, then apply Ageless. If your skin is dry while adjusting to retinol, apply a thin layer of Ageless first, then retinol, then more Ageless.

Can I add copper peptide serum to the same routine?

Yes, on the evenings you do not use retinol, and never in the same application as vitamin C. Apply the copper peptide serum first, then Ageless.

How many drops of a serum booster go into Ageless?

Use the highest rate the manufacturer recommends, with our house rate of 9 drops per 1% per fluid ounce. For example, Snap-8 or Argireline at 10% is 90 drops in 1 oz, and Matrixyl 3000 at 8% is 72 drops.

What is the difference between the Ageless moisturizer and the Ageless serum?

The Ageless Advanced Age-Defying Serum is a 1 oz airless serum with eight actives, including Matrixyl Synthe'6, Syn-Ake, Syn-Coll and Snap-8. It goes on before the moisturizer. Using both gives you a serum layer and a cream layer from the same family.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

About the Author
Written by Kari Thomas, cosmetic formulator and founder of Skin Perfection.

Sources

1. Hughes MCB, et al. Sunscreen and prevention of skin aging: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2013;158(11). DOI 10.7326/0003-4819-158-11-201306040-00002
2. Schagen SK. Topical peptide treatments with effective anti-aging results. Cosmetics. 2017;4(2):16. DOI 10.3390/cosmetics4020016
3. Uhoda I, Faska N, Robert C, Cauwenbergh G, Piérard GE. Split face study on the cutaneous tensile effect of 2-dimethylaminoethanol (deanol) gel. Skin Research and Technology. 2002;8(3):164-167. PubMed 12236885
4. Grossman R. The role of dimethylaminoethanol in cosmetic dermatology. American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. 2005;6(1):39-47. PubMed 15675889
5. Sederma (Croda Beauty Actives). Matrixyl synthe'6 supplier overview, GCI Magazine, 2011. Supplier article