When it comes to age-defying skincare, there are plenty of buzzy ingredients that promise to turn back the clock and reveal firm, glowing skin in quick time. But thanks to real, clinically backed results, one do-it-all ingredient has recently risen to the top: peptides.

If you’re new to peptides, here’s a simple explanation: They are the essential building blocks of proteins. “Proteins serve a multitude of important roles in our body, especially for healthy, youthful-looking skin,” says Dr. Frauke Neuser, Principal Scientist at Olay. Examples of skin proteins include collagen, elastin and keratin, which provide much-desired firmness and flexibility. Adding peptides to a skincare routine means boosting your skin’s ability to create these important proteins. Peptides’ other superpower? “They have been shown to play a key role in the regeneration of skin,” says Neuser.

A high-performing peptide has a starring role in Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, a drugstore dupe that’s widely praised as the best anti-aging cream in the affordable-skincare world and beyond. Its potent, moisture-binding formula draws hydration into the skin, protects the skin’s barrier from outside aggressors and visibly reduces the look of fine lines and wrinkles—all hallmarks of peptide power.

Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream is rounded out with other active ingredients, including hyaluronic acid and niacinamide. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance that’s the gold standard for long-lasting hydration, while Olay’s signature vitamin B3—otherwise known as niacinamide—is a multi-tasking hero ingredient with major texture-smoothing properties and the ability to improve skin’s resilience. It’s also a key driver in cell generation, which slows down as we age, resulting in a dull, uneven skin surface. “Ingredients like vitamin B3 have been shown to promote healthy skin-cell turnover, helping to make skin look and feel smooth and radiant,” says Neuser, who notes that it only takes 28 days of use for Regenerist to speed up this process.

Every minute, Olay sells 20 of these red jars around the world.

But, as we all know, the proof is in the results. In a blind clinical study by Good Housekeeping, this under-$40 cream, with its rich yet lightweight texture, crushed the anti-aging-skincare competition, imparting better hydration than $100, $200, $300 and even $400 creams on the market. Better yet, it delivers fast-acting performance—increasing skin moisture by an average of 50 percent over a 24-hour period—plus coveted long-term outcomes, like improving skin’s texture by 10 percent in just four weeks. The numbers for Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream face moisturizer speak for themselves: Every minute, Olay sells 20 of these red jars around the world. With these undeniable results and an unbeatable price, it might just be time to try it yourself.

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