This review is long overdue and I'm catching up this week on some older posts. I was really excited for the new launch of the Paula's Choice Peptide Booster earlier this year. Details per Paula's Choice:
Unlock firmer-looking skin with eight powerful peptides that make skin more resilient and reduce the appearance of lines. Each peptide precisely targets concerns of loss of firmness, dullness, wrinkles and discolorations. Silky, lightweight gel absorbs instantly. Use alone or add to your moisturizer or serum.
Why is it different?
Peptide Booster is the only peptide-enriched serum that delivers a concentrated dose of eight highly-targeted peptides, hydrating amino acids, and repairing ingredients. Together, they quickly help skin feel firmer and more resilient, and reduce the appearance of lines.
What does it do?
Helps skin to look and act younger by targeting precise areas to address concerns like loss of firmness, dullness, wrinkles and discolorations. A true anti-aging multi-tasker, it accelerates your results when added to any skincare routine.
How to use
Apply once or twice daily to face, eye area and neck after cleansing, toning and exfoliating. Dispense a pearl-sized amount alone or add to your favorite serum or moisturizer. If applied alone, follow with the rest of your routine, including eye-area products.
This is a liquid serum textured product that's exactly what it says-a peptide booster. Now we all know why we love peptides as they are our anti-aging wonders. Peptides are short short chains of amino acids (building blocks of the body). They're short proteins that bind to receptors on the skin which signal the brain to do something. They trigger a response in the body based on the receptor it binds with. They help stimulate collagen production, improve elasticity and hydration, help cellular renewal and turnover. They help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, improve skins firmness, elasticity and also help with it's overall resilience. While they're anti-aging they also help keep the skin healthy and functioning at it's best. I must use some kind of peptide serum everyday-it's a skincare minimum for me. It's maintenance and a non-negotiable. I highly recommend anyone who interested in anti-aging to use some kind of peptide loaded booster, serum or product.
This Paula's Choice Peptide Booster launched right after Drunk Elephant Protini and I really wanted to compare both and see how they performed. They each have pros and cons. Paula's Choice is a light serum texture that absorbs quickly, it can be mixed with another product easily as well because of the easy liquid serum texture. It layers easily. Protini has a gel cream texture and it could be mixed with another product but I definitely prefer the ease of the liquid serum texture of the Paula's Choice. You have to think about how you're layering Protini more. It's not enough moisture to be a stand alone cream for me, yet it's heavier than a serum so it has to go on last. Neither have a scent so no difference there. They both have the same amino acids so difference there either. The Paula's Choice is $52 and Protini is $68. They're different sizes but I did run out of the Peptide Booster before I did the Protini with daily use.
Besides textural differences, there are differences in the extra additives of the products. Protini has extras like glycerin, pygmy waterlily stem cell extract (anti-inflammatory), soybean folic acid ferment extract, marula oil, B9, sodium hyaluronate & linoleic acid. Peptide Booster has extras like glycerin (hydrating), glycoproteins (protein linked to sugar, found naturally in body, hydrating and reinforces skin barrier), phospholipids (naturally occurring in body, hydrating & replenishing), licorice root extract (brightening, soothing), yeast extract (calming, soothing, hydrating, contain beta-glucan), panax ginseng (antioxidant), PCA/sodium PCA (hydrating, soothing), guava (antioxidant), acai (antioxidant) & red algae (soothing, hydrating).
The actual peptides used in the products are different as well. Paula's Choice contains 8 peptides while Protini has 9. They share two of the same peptides-Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 & Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7. The rest of the peptides are different. Paula's Choice uses: Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 , Myristoyl Hexapeptide-16, Myristoyl Pentapeptide-17, Hexanoyl Dipeptide-3 Norleucine Acetate & Azelaoyl Bis-Dipeptide-10. Protini uses: sh-Oligopeptide-1, sh-Oligopeptide-2, sh-Polypeptide-1, sh-Polypeptide-9, sh-Polypeptide-11, Copper Palmitoyl Heptapeptide-14 & Heptapeptide-15 Palmitate.
They also have different effects. I noticed much better results with Protini than I did with Paula's Choice. They both improved my elasticity and helped with fine lines, Protini was just more powerful. I got quicker, more noticeable and longer lasting effects. I could see the difference quickly when I quit using Protini. When I quit using the Peptide Booster the results were less noticeable. Meaning the Paula's Choice did less for me. So in conclusion while I loved the texture of the Paula's Choice Booster more, Drunk Elephant Protini was more effective so it wins the repurchase for me. I think the Paula's Choice is a great serum and your results may be different than mine. Both are a good choice to add some peptides into your routine. Your skin will thank you.
My review on Protini is HERE.
Ingredients
Water (Aqua), Glycerin (skin-replenishing), PEG-8 Dimethicone (texture enhancer), Tripeptide-1 (skin-restoring), Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 (skin-restoring), Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 (skin restoring), Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 (skin restoring), Myristoyl Hexapeptide-16 (skin-restoring), Myristoyl Pentapeptide-17 (skin-restoring), Hexanoyl Dipeptide-3 Norleucine Acetate (skin-restoring), Azelaoyl Bis-Dipeptide-10 (skin-restoring), Glycoproteins (hydration), Phospholipids (skin-replenishing), Adenosine (skin-restoring), Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate (skin-soothing), Arginine, Valine, Glycine, Alanine, Glutamic Acid, Serine, Threonine (amino acids/hydration), Yeast (Faex) Extract (skin-soothing/hydration), Isoleucine, Proline, Histidine, Phenylalanine (amino acids/hydration), PCA (skin-replenishing), Phytic Acid (antioxidant), Panax Ginseng Root Extract (plant extract/antioxidant), Sodium PCA (skin-replenishing), Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract (guava fruit/antioxidant), Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract (acai/antioxidant), Ahnfeltiopsis Concinna Extract (algae/hydration/texture enhancer), Dextran (natural sugar/hydration), Hydrolyzed Silk (texture enhancer), Lecithin (skin-restoring fatty acid), Glyceryl Polymethacrylate (film-forming agent), C12-16 Pareth-9, Trideceth-12 (emulsifiers), Sodium Lactate (hydration), Carbomer (texture enhancer), Aspartic Acid (amino acid/hydration), Polysorbate 20 (emulsifier), Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, PEG-8 (texture enhancers), C11-15 Pareth-7 (emulsifier), Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride (texture enhancer), Phytosteryl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate, Ectoin (hydration), Citrate Buffer (pH adjuster), Trimethylsiloxyamodimethicone (texture enhancer), Phenoxyethanol (preservative), Sodium Hydroxide (pH adjuster), Ethylhexylglycerin (hydration).
I was just wondering your thoughts about using both in a routine? Because they have different peptides would it be beneficial to use both or would that be too much for the skin?
In theory you could, sometimes more is not always better. You can always try it and see what you think, versus try them separately and see if there really was a difference using both at the same time.