Where the numbers come from

Alloi Skin publishes claims that can be checked. Each one traces to a named, dated study of a single ingredient at a stated dose, and we say what kind of study it was.

VitalCopper Renewal Face Serum is a copper peptide face serum built on two actives, Copper Tripeptide-1 and Matrixyl® 3000. The three figures below come from research on those ingredients, not from a trial of the finished serum.

Every figure on this page is read straight from the study record it came from, and used consistently across our materials.

Last reviewed 18 August 2026.

Matrixyl® 3000

39.4% reduction in the surface occupied by deep wrinkles over 60 days

Sederma / Croda (2015)

  • Supplier data (unpublished)
  • n = 23 women aged 42-67 (face study); 28 women aged 51-72 (papillary dermis study); 10 skin explants aged 30-66 (ex vivo)
  • 2 months
Read the full record →

Copper Tripeptide-1

55.8% reduction in facial wrinkle volume versus a vehicle-only serum over 8 weeks

Badenhorst T (2016), Journal of Aging Science

  • Human in vivo (topical), peer-reviewed
  • n = 40 women aged 40-65
  • 8 weeks
Read the full record →

Copper Tripeptide-1

Improved procollagen synthesis in 70% of subjects, versus 50% with vitamin C and 40% with tretinoin

Abdulghani AA (1998), Disease Management and Clinical Outcomes

  • Human in vivo (topical), pilot
Read the full record →

How much copper peptide is actually in the bottle

Percentage claims in this category are usually impossible to check, because brands rarely say whether the number means pure peptide, a diluted solution, or a share of a blend.

Copper Tripeptide-1

1% Copper Tripeptide-1 solution in VitalCopper Renewal Face Serum, used at 20% of formula for 0.20% pure Copper Tripeptide-1 (2,000 ppm). Disclosed in full, because most percentage claims in this category don't say whether they mean pure peptide, a diluted solution, or a share of a blend. That 20% inclusion sits at the top of the treatment tier this ingredient's own supplier publishes, four times the ceiling of what the same document calls daily-care dosing. The dose was set first. The formula was built around it.

Matrixyl® 3000

3% of the licensed complex in VitalCopper Renewal Face Serum, which is Sederma's recommended use level. The peptides themselves are present at parts-per-million, which is normal and correct for this ingredient class.

What Copper Tripeptide-1 and Matrixyl 3000 actually are

Plain definitions, the names these ingredients are sold and searched under, and an honest grade for how strong the evidence behind each one is.

Copper Tripeptide-1 · Copper Peptide

A copper-bound peptide the body makes naturally, used on skin to support its own repair signalling.

On the label as: Copper Tripeptide-1. Also called Copper peptide, Copper peptides, Glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine copper.

Evidence tier: Emerging human data. Peer-reviewed randomized double-blind trial data on facial wrinkle parameters, on top of extensive laboratory and wound-healing literature. Trial results across the literature are mixed.

Full ingredient record →

Matrixyl® 3000 · Peptide Complex

A licensed two-peptide complex from Sederma, made up of Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 and Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, used to support firmness.

On the label as: Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7. Also called Matrixyl 3000, Peptide complex.

Evidence tier: Mechanistic. Trials report reduced wrinkle depth and improved elasticity over two months. These studies are funded by Sederma rather than independently published.

Full ingredient record →

These citations support VitalCopper Renewal Face Serum.

Questions these numbers usually raise

Read all FAQs

Copper Tripeptide-1 works as a signal peptide rather than an exfoliant or an irritant. It signals dermal fibroblasts - the cells that build the matrix - to increase collagen production, while the copper it carries acts as a cofactor for lysyl oxidase, the enzyme that cross-links new collagen and elastin into stable fiber. It also helps rebalance the enzymes that break matrix down, so more of what is built is retained. That signaling mechanism is why it complements retinoids and acids instead of competing with them.

Matrixyl® 3000 pairs two matrikine peptides, palmitoyl tripeptide-1 and palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7. Matrikines imitate the fragments released when the matrix breaks down, so skin reads them as a repair signal and responds by rebuilding - collagen, fibronectin and glycosaminoglycans, the scaffolding and water-binding structure that keep skin firm and cushioned. The second peptide moderates the low-grade inflammatory signaling that slows that rebuild. VitalCopper licenses it at 3%, the concentration Sederma's clinical dossier is built on.

VitalCopper is built around two actives with peer-reviewed and licensed clinical backing. Matrixyl® 3000 at 3% is supported by Sederma's licensed clinical dossier, a 60-day study funded by Sederma at this exact concentration, showing a 39.4% reduction in the surface occupied by deep wrinkles and a 23.3% reduction in average wrinkle volume. Copper Tripeptide-1 is supported by Badenhorst et al. (2016), Journal of Aging Science, a peer-reviewed randomized double-blind clinical trial showing 55.8% reduction in visible wrinkle volume and 32.8% reduction in wrinkle depth vs. untreated skin, and 31.6% greater reduction than a Matrixyl® 3000-only formula. Full citations are available in our evidence section.

In a pilot clinical study comparing topical actives applied directly to skin, Copper Tripeptide-1 showed improved procollagen synthesis in 70% of subjects — compared to 50% with a Vitamin C cream and 40% with tretinoin (retinoic acid). In a separate randomized double-blind trial, Copper Tripeptide-1 also outperformed a Matrixyl® 3000-only formula in wrinkle volume reduction. Unlike retinol and tretinoin, no irritation or sensitivity was reported across either studied population. Sources: Abdulghani et al. (1998), Disease Management and Clinical Outcomes; Badenhorst et al. (2016), Journal of Aging Science.

Matrixyl® 3000 is a proprietary dual-peptide complex developed and patented by Sederma, a Croda company. Brands that use it at clinically meaningful concentrations do so under license, which also provides access to Sederma's clinical data. VitalCopper licenses Matrixyl® 3000 at 3% — the concentration the clinical data is built on — not a token inclusion at a fraction of that dose.

No, not the way retinoids do. Copper Tripeptide-1 does not accelerate surface turnover, so it does not thin the stratum corneum or raise photosensitivity. Daily sunscreen is still the highest-value habit in any routine.

Copper peptide is sold to formulators as a 1% solution. That is the industry's base format, and it is the number most serums print on the front of the bottle. What almost nobody publishes is how much of that solution actually goes into the formula.

VitalCopper uses it at 20% of the total formula. That is the top of the range this ingredient's own supplier defines as its treatment tier, and four times the ceiling of what the same document calls daily-care dosing. It works out to 0.20% pure Copper Tripeptide-1 in the finished serum, or 2,000 ppm.

Three numbers, all of them checkable. We publish all three because one number on its own does not tell you anything.

They start in different places. Retinol acts first on the epidermis, speeding up surface turnover, with the collagen change following from that. Copper Tripeptide-1 signals fibroblasts in the dermis directly, which is where collagen is made. Retinoids do also reach the dermis, so this is a difference of route and sequence rather than a hard split.