What are copper peptides (GHK-CU)?
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Copper peptides are naturally occurring complexes. GHK is the human copper-binding tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine – “it is found naturally in plasma, saliva and urine but reduces with age”(Pickhard 2015) ⠀
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The molecule has a high affinity for Cu II (copper ion), forming GHK-Cu. It is this complex that got everyone excited last year- for its wound healing properties, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and skin regeneration etc.
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Skin benefits:
✔ Accelerates wound-healing of skin & hair follicles (Pickart, 2008)⠀
✔ Anti-inflammatory⠀
✔ Antioxidant- neutralizes free radicals (Pickard 2015)⠀
✔ Stimulate hair growth (Patt, Duncan and Kalis, 1996)⠀
✔ Multiple Cellular Pathways in Skin Regeneration (Pickart et al, 2015)⠀
✔ Increase in collagen production (Pickart et al 2015)⠀
✔” Tightens loose skin and improve elasticity, skin density, and firmness, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, reduce photodamage, and hyperpigmentation, and increase keratinocyte proliferation”⠀
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Studies:
✏️ GHK can be used topically instead of corticosteroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (which have more side effects) in the treatment of inflammatory skin conditions. (Gruchlik et al, 2012)⠀
✏️ GHK protects keratinocytes from lethal UVB radiation (Cebrian et al, 2005)
✏️ GHK-Cu improves skin quality in women around the age of 50. GHK-peptides had a significant effect on collagen production – 70% of the women treated with GHK-Cu showed an increase in collagen production VS 50% treated with the vitamin C cream, and 40% treated with retinoic acid. (Abdulghani et al, 1998)
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Side effects:
Last year I talked about Copper Peptides and their ability to stimulate hair growth @shivasowner has done some amazing posts touching on this subject too. So if you are like me and suffer PCOS I would say use with caution and experiment with a sample or small size bottle if you can. I noticed a few random hairs growing on my face ( nothing too crazy but that got me started on the hair growth experiment (see my stories for more on this).
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My experience:
Personally, I noticed my acne scars seem to heal much faster and even the dark spots healed faster when I was using the CAIS but again, I was not really testing this product alone. During the few weeks that I used this alone without any collagen stimulating ingredients like acids, vitamin C, retinoids, peptides and some botanicals I was pretty unimpressed and eventually abandoned using it alone.
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Hair growth – Go to my stories to see the ever so random hair growth in my eyebrows and few spurts along the temple (but over time, I think this has more to do with the nutrient tablets I am taking than CAIS). So I felt there was a little material impact on hair growth for me to continue using it – seemed like a few random spurts of hair growth here and there.
Do we need it?
I think this is a fabulous ingredient but if you are not including it in your skincare don’t panic! If you are already using a stack of wound healing, skin regenerating and collagen synthesising ingredients like the usual suspects Vit C, retinoids, peptides your probably all good anyway.
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Repurchase?
Not for now as I am experimenting with a few other ingredients to understand how my blemishes and scars can heal better.
