Skin & Aesthetics

A synthetic copy of a natural hormone that activates skin pigmentation. The same molecule is an approved medicine for a rare phototoxic disease and, separately, an unlicensed grey-market tanning product.

Grade A · Approved medicine or robust human trials.

A lab-made six-amino-acid peptide sold in anti-ageing creams as a topical Botox alternative, with a plausible mechanism but thin, mostly cosmetic-grade human evidence and a serious question over whether it can penetrate skin at all.

Grade C · Some human data, far from settled.

A tiny copper-carrying skin peptide with modest and mixed human evidence as a topical anti-ageing cosmetic, and almost none for the injectable 'whole-body regeneration' claims sold online.

Grade C · Some human data, far from settled.

A lab-made fragment of collagen, attached to a fatty acid so it can sink into skin, used in face creams to nudge skin cells into making a bit more collagen.

Grade C · Some human data, far from settled.

An unlicensed injectable peptide that darkens skin without sun exposure, sold illegally in the UK and linked to nausea, prolonged erections and worrying changes in moles.

Grade C · Some human data, far from settled.

Purified bits of salmon sperm DNA, not a peptide: a licensed wound-healing medicine in Italy and an injected 'skin booster' in clinics, but the anti-ageing evidence is small and the serums are barely tested.

Grade C · Some human data, far from settled.

A face-cream peptide marketed as a needle-free, milder cousin of Botox. The mechanism is plausible, but the evidence is thin and mostly from the manufacturer.

Grade C · Some human data, far from settled.

A synthetic copper-carrying peptide used in hair and skin cosmetics, with promising lab data but no human trials proving it works.

Grade D · No meaningful human evidence yet.