What is Peptide-rich Plasma®? It’s the secret sauce in Eighth Day’s groundbreaking products, and it might just be the reason why your skin suddenly looks so good.
Founded by Dr. Antony Nakhla, a reconstructive skin cancer surgeon specialized in wound healing, Eighth Day is built around the notion that aged skin is wounded skin—and, given the right tools, it can be healed. “The body only has a certain number of tools in its toolbox—whether you cut your skin open or fry it with UV light, your body’s repair mechanisms are the same,” explains Dr. Nakhla.
At the heart is Peptide-rich Plasma®: a patent-pending, nutrient-dense blend of peptides, growth factors and amino acids designed to harness and deploy the body’s innate repair mechanisms. It’s modeled after the cell-stimulating treatments Dr. Nakhla uses to treat open wounds during reconstructive surgery—from procedures involving dried cell membranes to medical PRP (platelet-rich plasma, in which a patient’s platelets are extracted from his or her own blood and either injected or placed directly on the skin).
“Until now, this is something we have been unable to replicate,” says Dr. Nakhla. “We’re talking about cells that speak to one another and have these incredible healing abilities.” Like an army of telephone operators deep within the skin, peptides are signaling molecules which send messages to individual cells, instructing them to perform specific functions—from secreting more collagen or hyaluronic acid to producing more blood vessels and replicating. Peptide-rich Plasma® is a bespoke cocktail of peptides, growth factors, and amino acids chosen to mimic this effect. “We’re tricking the cells into doing what we want them to do: Restore, repair, renew,” says Dr. Nakhla. The result is more moisture-locking hyaluronic acid, fresh collagen and elastin fibers. Together, they help to fill in fine lines, refine surface texture, and provide skin with more structure, cushion and bounce.
“I think of it like a protein shake for the skin,” Dr. Nakhla says of the signature blend, which includes 24 bioidentical actives and took him four years to formulate and stabilize in a clean formula. “There’s no smoke and mirrors—just real science, real results, and real change.”