Skin and hair
Peptides for skin and hair: what each ingredient has behind it
Peptides are the fastest-growing claim on skincare labels: firming, smoothing, 'Botox-like', hair-thickening. This hub gathers every topical and cosmetic peptide in our encyclopedia, with the evidence grade we gave it and how much research exists, alongside our guides to reading labels and judging claims. It names no brands and recommends no products.
Updated 2026-10-03 · By the Grey Peptides Editorial Board · Counts computed from PubMed searches run 2026-10-03
25 ingredients, ranked by trial evidence
The table lists every skin and hair peptide we cover, sorted by how many PubMed records are indexed as randomised controlled trials. The grade is ours, from reading the studies; the counts come from the searches shown in our Evidence Explorer, where you can compare any four side by side. 12 of the 25 have no record indexed as a randomised trial, and a search match is an upper bound, not proof that a good trial exists.
| Ingredient | Status | Evidence grade | PubMed records | Indexed as RCTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyaluronic Acid HA, Hyaluronan | FDA-approved product | High | 60,502 | 1,927 |
| Botulinum Toxin BoNT, Botox | FDA-approved product | High | 32,082 | 1,686 |
| Collagen Peptides Hydrolyzed Collagen, Collagen Hydrolysate | Supplement | Medium | 29,138 | 1,170 |
| Afamelanotide Scenesse, Melanotan I | FDA-approved product | High | 1,281 | 8 |
| Argireline Acetyl Hexapeptide-3, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 | Research only | Medium | 92 | 3 |
| GHK-Cu Copper tripeptide-1, Cu-GHK | Research only | Low | 190 | 3 |
| Pal-GHK Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide | Research only | Medium | 314 | 3 |
| Matrixyl Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-3 | Research only | Medium | 54 | 2 |
| Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 Matrixyl, Pal-KTTKS | Research only | Medium | 54 | 2 |
| Acetyl Tetrapeptide-2 Uplevity, Uplevity e-Lift | Research only | Low | 2 | 1 |
| Decorinyl Tripeptide-10 Citrulline, T10-C | Research only | Low | 4 | 1 |
| Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 Pal-GQPR, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3 | Supplement | Low | 9 | 1 |
| Tripeptide-10 Citrulline T10-C, Decorinyl (trade name) | Research only | Low | 4 | 1 |
| Acetyl Hexapeptide-30 Inyline, Acetyl Hexapeptide-25 (former INCI) | Research only | Low | 0 | 0 |
| Acetyl Hexapeptide-37 Diffuporine, Ac-Ser-Pro-Ala-Gly-Gly-Pro-NH2 | Research only | Low | 0 | 0 |
| Acetyl Octapeptide-3 SNAP-8, Super Argireline | Supplement | Low | 0 | 0 |
| Acetyl Tetrapeptide-5 Eyeseryl, Ac-βAla-His-Ser-His | Research only | Low | 0 | 0 |
| AHK-Cu AHK copper peptide, Ala-His-Lys-copper | Research only | Low | 1 | 0 |
| Biotinoyl Tripeptide-1 Biotinyl-GHK, Procapil component | Supplement | Low | 0 | 0 |
| Leuphasyl Pentapeptide-18, Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Phe-Leu | Research only | Low | 29 | 0 |
| Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 Biopeptide EL, Pal-VGVAPG | Research only | Low | 2 | 0 |
| Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 Matrixyl Synthe'6, Matrixyl S6 | Research only | Low | 3 | 0 |
| Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 Syn-Coll, SYN-COLL | Research only | Low | 5 | 0 |
| Pentapeptide-3 Vialox, Pentapeptide-3V | Research only | Low | 8 | 0 |
| Syn-Ake Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate, β-Ala-Pro-Dab-NHBn·2AcOH | Research only | Low | 2 | 0 |
Approved drugs versus cosmetic ingredients
Two very different kinds of product share this page. A few members are approved medicines, such as botulinum toxin, injected by clinicians and backed by large trials and a label; our Argireline vs Botox comparison shows how wide the gap in evidence is. Most are cosmetic ingredients, regulated as cosmetics: products must be safe, but their claims are not approved by a regulator before sale the way a drug's are. The EU's cosmetic ingredient register lists 2,616 ingredient names containing 'peptide', and listing there is not an assessment of efficacy; our label decoder explains how to read those names.
What the evidence shows, in short
The strongest topical peptide evidence is still modest: small randomised trials for a handful of famous ingredients, mostly measuring wrinkles or skin texture with instruments over weeks, often funded by the companies that make them. Oral collagen peptides have the largest body of trials and meta-analyses, for skin hydration and elasticity. For hair, no peptide comes close to the placebo-controlled trials behind minoxidil and finasteride. Injecting copper peptides or other research peptides into skin is a different matter from applying them: FDA's compounding risk statement for injectable GHK-Cu warns of a possible immune reaction from aggregation and impurities, and no injected cosmetic peptide here has a published trial behind it.
Guides
- How to read a peptide serum label: Every INCI peptide name decoded, from the EU register.
- Copper peptides for skin: What GHK-Cu has and has not been shown to do.
- Copper peptides with vitamin C, retinol or acids: What the chemistry says about mixing them; no clinical study tests the combinations.
- Argireline vs Botox: A topical peptide against an approved injectable, trial by trial.
- Peptides for hair loss: GHK-Cu, Capixyl and PTD-DBM against minoxidil and finasteride.
- Collagen peptides: What the oral collagen trials and meta-analyses show.
- Icotrokinra (Icotyde): The first oral peptide drug for psoriasis, a skin disease, and what its trials showed.
How to use this hub
Start from the ingredient list on the box, not the claim on the front. Find each peptide in the table, check its grade and whether any trial exists, and treat 'clinically proven' as a question: proven in how many people, against what, for how long, and paid for by whom. A pleasant formula you will use every day, with sunscreen in the morning, does more for ageing skin than any single peptide on this page.
This page reports evidence and regulatory status. It is not medical or dermatological advice and does not recommend any product.