Compounds / Peptides marketed for skin and hair

Peptides marketed for skin and hair

These are compounds sold for skin and hair — this is not a recommendation list, and nothing here is ranked. Of the 7 we track with this claim, 6 have any registered human trial at all, 3 have one that actually studied skin and hair, and 1 is FDA-approved for any indication.

This is the category where the registered trials come closest to matching the marketing, because cosmetic endpoints are cheap to measure and some of these are decades-old cosmetic ingredients. Applying something to skin and injecting it are different questions, and the trials usually studied the first.

Afamelanotide
Scenesse · Melanotan-1 · Melanotan I
Approved for a rare light-sensitivity disorder. Frequently confused with Melanotan II, which is a different molecule and is not approved anywhere.
Studied for skin and hair
22
Registered trials
Thymosin β4
Tβ4 · TB4 full protein
The full protein, distinct from the TB-500 fragment sold online. Real research programme — mostly eye drops and wound healing.
Studied for skin and hair
18
Registered trials
GHK-Cu
Copper peptide
One of the few where the trials roughly match the marketing — skin. The hair-growth claims are not what's being tested.
Studied for skin and hair
2
Registered trials
LL-37
Cathelicidin · hCAP18 fragment
The body’s only cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide. Two registered trials — and published human trials that were never registered.
Trials, but not for skin and hair
2
Registered trials
TB-500
Thymosin Beta-4 fragment
The one human trial under this name is a heart study. Not a single registered trial tests it for the injury recovery it's sold for.
Trials, but not for skin and hair
1
Registered trials
Melanotan II
MT-2
One registered human trial, for vitiligo — not the tanning or libido uses it is sold for.
Trials, but not for skin and hair
1
Registered trials
KPV
Lysine-Proline-Valine · alpha-MSH 11-13
An alpha-MSH fragment marketed for inflammation and gut health. Zero registered human trials.
No registered trial
0
Registered trials
Read this
Marketed for is not tested for
A compound can be sold for skin and hair and studied for something else entirely — that is the most common pattern on this site, not the exception. A row saying "trials, but not for skin and hair" means registered studies exist and none of them asked this question. It is not a claim that the compound does nothing.

See all 42 compounds →