Tested 23 peptide products and 18 retinols over the past six months. The results were not what the marketing told me to expect. Most peptide creams in the $35 to $80 range do almost nothing on the surface they are sold to treat, because the peptide molecules never reach the cells they are signalling to.
There is a moment that happens to every woman who starts taking her skin seriously. You are standing in front of a shelf. The drugstore cleanser is sitting next to the $80 cleanser. They are both, technically, cleansers. They both have water and a surfactant and a few stabilising ingredients. And you are trying to work out, in real time, whether the $80 version actually does something the $8 version does not.
I spent three years ping-ponging inside the korean vs japanese skincare debate before I realised the rivalry was pointless. I’d buy a Korean 10-step routine, feel overwhelmed by step five, abandon it for a Japanese minimalist cleanser and one ‘perfect’ cream, and then spiral into wanting more targeted treatments again. The battle consumed my bathroom and my budget.
