Medik8 Liquid Peptides On your shelf ✓
Our read, in one look
Glycerin is the reason to consider this serum, with Pro-vitamin B5 behind it.
The case for it
- Glycerin, strong evidence for hydration
- Pro-vitamin B5, strong evidence for the barrier
- No fragrance, alcohol, silicones or parabens
Mind this
- Morning or evening, whichever suits your routine
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readMedik8 Liquid Peptides is a serum built around Glycerin, Hyaluronic acid and Pro-vitamin B5. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and sensitive skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
Skip it if you already own something similar: it's a solid, honest basic rather than a must-have upgrade.
The formula, drawn
Every ingredient in label order, coloured by the job it does here.
19 of the 35 sit above the 1% line. The other 16, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Hydrators
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
- No fragrance anywhere on the label
What it delivers
How it feels A light, fast-absorbing texture that layers cleanly under the rest of your routine, with no greasy film. (estimated from the formula)
What's in it that matters
Classic humectant with strong evidence for improving skin hydration and supporting barrier when combined with emollients.
Water-binding molecule that increases hydration; works best under occlusive/emollient layers to reduce evaporation.
Humectant and soothing ingredient that helps calm irritation and supports barrier repair and recovery.
Collagen signaling tripeptide that supports firmness and elasticity when used with other peptides but human data mostly come from blend studies.
Topical peptide that targets expression lines by interfering with neurotransmitter release offering modest wrinkle smoothing with limited high quality clinical data.
Sold as Matrixyl synthe'6 and marketed on stimulating six matrix constituents at once. The placebo controlled data behind it is real, small, and all of it comes from its own manufacturer.
How to use it
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
Where it acts
The same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Glycerinderived from what it is
- Hyaluronic acidderived from what it is
- Pro-vitamin B5derived from what it is
3 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend. 3 did not, so they are not on the diagram: no source and no honest derivation means no dot.
Against the average serum
It scores lower than the median serum on brightening.
On hydration, barrier repair and anti-aging it is level with the median, so that is not what sets it apart.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
The full ingredients list, decoded
Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first). We link the 18 our library knows, name what each one does, and flag anything that can irritate or clog. The rest we leave plain, nothing is hidden.
All 35 ingredients, decoded
- Aqua (Water)Solvent (base)
- GlycerinHumectant
- Butylene GlycolHumectant
- Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7Signal peptide
- Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1Signal peptide
- Copper Heptapeptide-14 Pantothenate
- Heptapeptide-15 PalmitateEmollient (ester)
- Arginine/Lysine PolypeptideAmino acid (NMF)
- Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38Signal peptide
- Carnosine
- Acetyl Hexapeptide-8Neuromodulating peptide
- Pentapeptide-18Neuromodulating peptide
- Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5
- Tetrapeptide-21
- Sodium HyaluronateHumectant
- Inulin
- Alpha-Glucan OligosaccharideHumectant (sugar)
- Lactic Acid/Glycolic Acid Copolymer
- PanthenolHumectant
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Ethylhexylglycerin down, these 16 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- EthylhexylglycerinPreservative booster
- Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin
- Dunaliella Salina (Green Algae) ExtractBotanical extract
- Polysorbate 20Emulsifiermild irritant
- Caprylyl GlycolPreservative booster
- Citric AcidExfoliantmild irritant
- Glyceryl Caprylate
- PantolactoneSkin conditioning
- Phenylpropanol
- Polyvinyl Alcohol
- CarbomerThickener
- Potassium SorbatePreservative
- Sodium BenzoatePreservative
- Sorbic Acid
- PhenoxyethanolPreservativemild irritant
- Xanthan GumThickener
Copy the raw INCI list
Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Copper Heptapeptide-14 Pantothenate, Heptapeptide-15 Palmitate, Arginine/Lysine Polypeptide, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Carnosine, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Pentapeptide-18, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Tetrapeptide-21, Sodium Hyaluronate, Inulin, Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide, Lactic Acid/Glycolic Acid Copolymer, Panthenol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Dunaliella Salina (Green Algae) Extract, Polysorbate 20, Caprylyl Glycol, Citric Acid, Glyceryl Caprylate, Pantolactone, Phenylpropanol, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Carbomer, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Sorbic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Xanthan Gum
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
Compare it with…
All 11 comparisons
- Liquid Peptides vs The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
- Liquid Peptides vs The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (Original Formulation)
- Liquid Peptides vs The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (with Ceramides)
- Liquid Peptides vs CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum
- Liquid Peptides vs The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%
- Liquid Peptides vs La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum
- Liquid Peptides vs Eucerin Anti-Pigment Dual Serum
- Liquid Peptides vs The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG Eye Serum
- Liquid Peptides vs The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum
- Liquid Peptides vs Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6
- Liquid Peptides vs Celimax The Vita A Retinal Shot Tightening Booster
Common questions
Is Medik8 Liquid Peptides good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, dehydrated, sensitive skin. Medik8 Liquid Peptides is a serum built around Glycerin, Hyaluronic acid and Pro-vitamin B5. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and sensitive skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
How do you use Medik8 Liquid Peptides?
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
What are the key ingredients in Medik8 Liquid Peptides?
The actives that do the work are Glycerin, Hyaluronic acid, Pro-vitamin B5, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Argireline, Matrixyl Synthe'6. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
Does Medik8 Liquid Peptides contain fragrance?
No. By our reading of the ingredient list it is fragrance-free, which is a plus for sensitive or reactive skin.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows Medik8 Liquid Peptides beside a cross-section of skin, with 2 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Glycerin and Pro-vitamin B5 in the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer where most skincare works. Depths come from the same sourced layer data as the rest of this site, and any ingredient whose layer is not established is left out rather than guessed.
