NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum 3 is a watery copper peptide serum
Actives:
- 1% copper peptides
- 1% GHK peptide
- other peptides
- hyaluronic acid
On application:
Watery serum, runny to the point of inconvenience. Fragrance free. On the skin it feels like water which isn’t the best feeling, nor does it give a hydrated skin feel.
My thoughts:
I haven’t seen any effects. Unfortunately. Well, a bit with regeneration after shaving, but I know some recovery/ceramide serums that will do a better job. This product looks great on paper, but I wasn’t wowed with it. It’s just so risky for the price! I also find the texture unappealing and not corresponding to the price tag. If you need a copper peptide serum – get BasicLab, and you’ll at least see some action from the supporting cast if your skin doesn’t respond well to copper peptides (mine apparently doesn’t)
Should I use this serum in one skincare routine with retinal? vitamin C? – is a common question I get. To answer it, we need to pinpoint why some people say you can’t. This is one of the often-repeated skin care claims that no one can pinpoint the source of.
A copper peptide can lose copper and then become inactive. It can either be ‘taken away’ from it by another copper chelating molecule, or the pH of the environment can change, etc. Until now, using somewhat outdated data, it was argued that copper peptides could not be used with retinoids, vitamin C, acids, etc. citing as an argument the ‘stealing’ of copper by these molecules. The question is, theoretically, if you apply retinal at a concentration of 0.1% (10 times lower) 5 minutes after a cosmetic with 1% copper peptides, does it have a chance to steal copper from the peptide? Is the affinity of copper for retinal (which is not given much credit for its metal chelating properties) so high that this process will occur? I don’t think so. The same with cosmetics with vitamin C derivatives, even solutions of ascorbic acid – here with a few minutes of distance I would not have a problem. With acids? If you apply gentle acid toners a few minutes before the copper peptides, the skin is more likely to return to a pH that won’t hurt the copper peptides, but it depends on whether the acid is chelating or not. Even if the copper is detached from the peptide, we still have a peptide with its own effect.
A great video summarizing this by a cosmetic chemist familiar with copper peptide research is here: LINK
The answer, in my opinion, is this: ingredients with a chelating effect (mainly EDTA, but also phytic acid, citric acid, gluconolactone and more…) really should not be used in one routine with copper peptides, because there’s a high possibility that you actively lose money. The rest – no problem, nothing bad will happen, but rather keep a few minutes of waiting time between products.
However, I’m not entirely convinced about copper peptides themselves, despite the fact that they are very trendy at the moment – what I wrote above, the need to… just work around them is tiresome to me. In terms of scientific output, they are rather inferior to retinoids in terms of stimulating collagen synthesis and maintaining overall skin health. They are most promising in terms of skin regeneration after damage or post-inflammatory lesions, and this is where there is indeed the most data on the subject. There is also the issue that copper is a substrate for tyrosinase, so theoretically high doses could stimulate pigment production. But it’s theoretical – just like theoretically, copper is pro-oxidant, and when combined with a peptide, their complex is considered an antioxidant. Is the same thing happening when it comes to stimulating tyrosinase activity? What bothers me about copper peptides is precisely this complexity. I for one like things not to be difficult to understand and use. My skepticism about copper peptides is not limited to this product – I have the same problem with the BasicLab serum I tested recently. However, this does not mean that the products are not effective. I simply look at the issue as a whole.
For you, if: you want a product with a high concentration of copper peptides.
Not for you, if: you just need an effective serum that will make a difference.
Buy it here: https://niod.com/en-pl/copper-amino-isolate-serum-3-11-cais3-serum-100368.html
