Copper Tripeptide-1

Copper Tripeptide-1, also known as Cu-GHK or under its trademarked name, Iamin®, has been known as a skincare ingredient since 1985, when its wound healing activity was first described.

It is a carrier peptide naturally found in human plasma, consisting of glycine, histidine, and alanine, whose job is to carry around copper atoms. Copper ions are important to many metabolic processes, but free copper can be toxic.

Copper tripeptide has been proven to be a good skincare ingredient for the treatment of wounds and scars; the copper complex promotes the synthesis of collagen, elastin, proteoglycans, and glycosaminoglycans, prevents overgrown collagen aggregates from forming, and controls the inflammatory and antioxidant response of healing skin tissue. Basically, it makes sure that everything heals as normally as possible.

In healthy skin, copper tripeptide acts as an anti-aging ingredient, stimulating the formation of new, healthy collagen. So far there have only been four studies made in vivo (on volunteers). All of them observed significantly reduced wrinkles, as well as increased skin elasticity, density, and thickness.

As an added bonus, according to the test-tube studies, it seems that this peptide can also pass into the deeper layers of the skin.

We’d advise a bit of caution with this ingredient, though, as copper can be toxic when applied in huge amounts. So give yourself a break from Cu-GHK every once in a while.