The ingredient library
Every active across the five Peptide Renaissance formulas: what it is, what it is understood to do, and which products it appears in. Including the unglamorous ones, because a formula is only as good as the parts nobody advertises. The emulsifiers and texture agents that complete each cream are printed in full on the pack.
How to read this page
Each entry gives the INCI name you will find on the carton, so you can check the claim against the pack in your hand.
We write what an active is studied for and what it is understood to do. Cosmetics work on the appearance of skin, and we keep our language inside that.
Every ingredient here is in a formula for a reason we can state, at a level that does something — and where a formula is fragranced, we say so.
INCI: Copper Tripeptide-1
A three–amino-acid peptide (glycine–histidine–lysine) that binds a copper ion, first isolated from human plasma in 1973. It is among the most heavily researched peptides in skincare, studied for its role in signalling the skin’s own remodelling pathways and for delivering copper — a cofactor the enzymes that build collagen and elastin depend on. Chosen here for the appearance of firmness and density.
In: Face Serum · Body Cream
INCI: Acetyl Octapeptide-3
An eight–amino-acid peptide developed as a topical approach to the lines that come from repeated movement. It is modelled on a fragment of SNAP-25, a protein involved in releasing the signal that tells a muscle to contract. Applied to the surface it is used to soften the look of those lines over time, without affecting expression itself.
In: Face Serum
Also known as Argireline
The best known of the movement-targeting peptides and a close relative of SNAP-8, working on the same signalling step with a six–amino-acid chain. We use it alongside the structural peptides rather than instead of them: one group softens the appearance of lines already forming, the other supports the matrix underneath.
In: Eye Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
Matrixyl family · lipidated messenger peptide
A three–amino-acid sequence attached to a palmitic acid tail so it can move through the skin’s lipid layers. The sequence mirrors a fragment released when type I collagen breaks down — a signal that fibroblasts read as a cue to rebuild. Used for the appearance of firmness and for smoothing fine surface lines. With Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 it forms the pairing sold as Matrixyl 3000.
In: Eye Cream · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
Lipidated messenger peptide
Almost always partnered with Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, and for good reason: while the tripeptide signals for renewal, the tetrapeptide is studied for moderating the low-grade inflammatory signalling that accelerates visible ageing. On reactive or heat-stressed skin this is the ingredient doing the quiet work.
In: Eye Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
KTTKS sequence, lipidated
A five–amino-acid fragment of type I procollagen, again given a fatty tail for delivery. One of the earliest messenger peptides to be studied seriously for topical use, and the fourth member of the peptide complex in the eye formula.
In: Eye Cream
INCI: Sodium DNA / Polydeoxyribonucleotide
Purified, low-molecular-weight DNA fragments obtained from salmon milt — a material with a long history in Korean aesthetic medicine and, increasingly, in topical cosmetics. The fragments are studied for their interaction with adenosine receptors in skin, associated with hydration and the look of recovery in stressed or compromised skin. Ours is a 99% PDRN grade.
In: Eye Cream · Face Serum · Capsule Cream · Body Cream
INCI: Hydrolyzed Collagen
Whole collagen is too large to travel into skin on its own. Hydrolysed collagen is that molecule cut into small water-loving peptides that sit at the surface, holding moisture and smoothing the way light falls across the skin. In the Capsule Cream it is held in visible beads that stay intact in the jar and release only when you press them in.
In: Capsule Cream · Body Cream
The salt of hyaluronic acid
More stable and more readily absorbed than hyaluronic acid itself. It holds many times its own weight in water; blended across molecular weights, the larger fractions smooth and soften at the surface while the smaller ones settle deeper into the stratum corneum. The reason a peptide formula feels cushioned rather than tight.
In: Eye Cream · Face Serum · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream
INCI: Glycerin
Unglamorous and irreplaceable. Glycerin draws water into the upper layers and helps the barrier’s own lipids organise correctly — one of the few ingredients with decades of evidence behind it and no meaningful downside. It appears near the top of every LilyDee ingredient list, which is exactly where it should be.
In: Eye Cream · Face Serum · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
INCI: Butylene Glycol
A light humectant that doubles as the solvent carrying peptides and PDRN evenly through the formula. It is what allows a serum to feel weightless rather than tacky, and it is why the actives are distributed consistently in every pump rather than settling.
In: Eye Cream · Face Serum · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream
Formerly Ceramide 3
Ceramides make up roughly half the lipid matrix holding your surface skin cells together. Ceramide NP is one of the forms your own skin produces, so replacing it is less a treatment than a restock. Critical after actives, in air conditioning, and through a dry Highveld winter. It is the ingredient the Repair Cream is built around.
In: Eye Cream · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
INCI: Squalane (plant-derived)
A saturated, exceptionally stable oil closely related to squalene, which human sebum already contains. It softens and seals without heaviness and does not oxidise the way many plant oils do — which is why it suits skin that wants comfort without congestion. Ours is plant-derived, from sugarcane.
In: Capsule Cream · Body Cream
Fractionated coconut lipid
A light, non-greasy lipid that carries oil-soluble actives such as tocopherol and gives a cream its slip. It is the reason the Capsule Cream can be massaged long enough for the beads to break down without ever feeling like it is dragging.
In: Eye Cream · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
Vitamin B3
One of the best-evidenced actives in all of cosmetic science, and one of the few that does several useful things at once: supports the barrier’s ceramide production, moderates oil, and is widely studied for the appearance of uneven tone and post-inflammatory marks. That last point matters enormously for deeper phototypes, where pigmentation after a breakout or a scratch outlasts the event itself.
In: Face Serum · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
Vitamin E
A fat-soluble antioxidant doing two jobs: protecting the formula’s own oil phase from going rancid, and helping skin defend against everyday oxidative stress. Small percentage, large consequence for shelf life and for skin comfort.
In: Eye Cream · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
Multifunctional preservation
Part of our paraben-free preservation system. It keeps water-based formulas safe over their full 12-month period after opening while also acting as a humectant and improving how the other actives dissolve. Preservation is not a compromise on a clean formula — it is what keeps one safe to use.
In: Eye Cream · Face Serum · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
Preservation booster · skin conditioner
Works with 1,2-hexanediol so that both can be used at low levels rather than either at a high one. It also conditions the surface and helps reduce the odour that develops when skin bacteria break down sweat — a small, practical kindness in a warm climate.
In: Eye Cream · Face Serum · Capsule Cream · Repair Cream · Body Cream
Low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid cut into fragments small enough to settle further into the stratum corneum rather than resting on it. We use it alongside sodium hyaluronate rather than instead of it: the two weights hydrate at different levels, which is why the Repair Cream feels cushioned for longer than a single-weight formula.
In: Repair Cream
INCI: Allantoin
A quiet, well-tolerated conditioning agent with a long record in dermatological formulating. It is used for comfort on skin that is dry, tight or reacting — the ingredient that makes a rich cream feel calm rather than merely occlusive.
In: Repair Cream
INCI: Adenosine
A nucleoside the skin already uses in its own energy metabolism, and one of the few actives with an approved anti-wrinkle functional claim in Korea. Studied for the appearance of fine lines and for supporting the skin as it renews.
In: Repair Cream
INCI: Parfum
Only the Repair Cream is fragranced, at a low level and to IFRA limits. We name it here as well as on the pack, because fragrance is the ingredient most likely to matter to reactive skin. Every other formula in the line is fragrance-free.
In: Repair Cream
No ingredient matches that search. Try “peptide”, “collagen” or “barrier”.
What is not in them
No parabens. No sulfates. No mineral oil. No synthetic colourant. Preservation is handled by 1,2-hexanediol and ethylhexylglycerin at low levels — a system chosen because it is well tolerated and well understood.
“The parts nobody advertises still decide how a cream behaves.”