Best Peptides for Skin & Hair — 2026

GHK-Cu is the copper(II) complex of the tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine, a molecule Pickart and Thaler first pulled out of human plasma in 1973. The free peptide (GHK, C14H24N6O4) weighs about 340.4 Da; bind it 1:1 to copper and you get the neutral GHK-Cu complex (C14H22CuN…

AHK-Cu (Ala-His-Lys-Copper) is a copper chelating tripeptide related to but distinct from GHK-Cu (Gly-His-Lys-Copper). Where GHK-Cu is the most-studied copper peptide and naturally occurs in human plasma, AHK-Cu is a synthetic structural analog with enhanced copper-chelating affi…

TB-500 is a synthetic peptide fragment of thymosin beta-4 (Tbeta4), a 43-amino-acid protein that is one of the most abundant intracellular actin-sequestering molecules in mammalian cells. With a molecular weight of approximately 4963 Da, TB-500 encompasses the active region of th…

BPC-157 (Body Protection Compound-157) is a synthetic pentadecapeptide consisting of 15 amino acids (Gly-Glu-Pro-Pro-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Ala-Asp-Asp-Ala-Gly-Leu-Val) derived from a partial sequence of human gastric juice protein BPC. It has a molecular weight of 1419.53 Da and a CAS …

Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 (INCI: Acetyl Hexapeptide-3 in older nomenclature, commercially known as Argireline) is a synthetic hexapeptide designed as a competitive inhibitor of the SNARE complex at the neuromuscular junction. Its amino acid sequence (Ac-Glu-Glu-Met-Gln-Arg-Arg-NH2) mi…

Snap-8 (INCI: Acetyl Glutamyl Heptapeptide-1) is a synthetic octapeptide designed as an analog of the N-terminal fragment of synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25), which is the molecular target of botulinum toxin A (Botox). Where Botox cleaves SNAP-25 systemically a…

PDRN (Polydeoxyribonucleotide) is a biotechnological compound derived from salmon sperm DNA (Oncorhynchus mykiss) through extraction, purification, and fractionation. It consists of polynucleotide chains with molecular weights ranging from 50 to 1500 kDa. PDRN is widely used in A…

GHK-Cu + BPC-157 + TB-500 blend for skin and recovery

Melanotan I (afamelanotide) is a linear synthetic analog of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) with the substitution of norleucine at position 4 and D-phenylalanine at position 7. Unlike Melanotan II (which is cyclic), Melanotan I is a linear peptide that is significant…

Melanotan-II (MT-II) is a synthetic cyclic heptapeptide analog of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) engineered in the late 1980s by researchers at the University of Arizona, most prominently Mac Hadley and Victor Hruby, who were searching for a way to stimulate skin pi…

RU-58841 (also known as **PSK-3841** or **HMR-3841**, and commonly written simply as **RU** in hair-loss forums) is a **non-steroidal androgen receptor antagonist** originally developed by Roussel Uclaf (later absorbed into Sanofi) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The compound …

**Clascoterone** (brand name **Winlevi**; development codes CB-03-01 and, for the alopecia formulation, Breezula) is a **first-in-class topical androgen receptor (AR) antagonist** approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in **August 2020** for the treatment of **acne vul…

**Finasteride** is an orally-active **selective type II 5α-reductase inhibitor** that blocks the conversion of testosterone to **dihydrotestosterone (DHT)**, the primary androgenic driver of both **benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)** and **androgenetic alopecia (male-pattern hai…

Minoxidil is an FDA-approved treatment for pattern hair loss. Originally an oral blood-pressure drug, its hair-growth side effect led to the topical products (Rogaine) at 2% and 5%. It is a potassium-channel-opening vasodilator and a prodrug -- activated in the scalp by sulfotran…

**Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens)** is a small palm native to the southeastern United States whose berries have been used medicinally for over a century for urogenital conditions. Historical use in traditional American Indian medicine and 19th-century eclectic medicine was for pros…

**Pygeum** (*Prunus africana*, formerly classified as *Pygeum africanum*) is a lipophilic bark extract derived from the **African cherry tree** — a large, slow-growing evergreen hardwood species native to the mountainous forests of sub-Saharan Africa, from Cameroon and Kenya thro…

Biotin (vitamin B7, also called vitamin H from the German *Haut* for "skin" and historically named coenzyme R, factor W, factor R, factor X, vitamin Bw, or Bios II in various discovery-era nomenclatures) is a water-soluble vitamin that serves as the covalently-attached prosthetic…

**Collagen peptides** — also sold as **hydrolyzed collagen**, **collagen hydrolysate**, or simply "collagen powder" — are **low-molecular-weight protein fragments** (typically **2-10 kilodaltons**, averaging around 3-6 kDa for most commercial products) produced by enzymatic hydro…

Hesperidin is the signature flavanone glycoside of citrus fruit — specifically the 7-O-rutinoside of hesperetin — and it is the single most abundant flavonoid in the white pith and peel of sweet oranges, lemons, tangerines, and grapefruit. The compound accumulates at notable conc…