The Benefits of Copper Peptides for your Skin + The Best Products
Copper for your skin?
How would using a metal or element help your skin?
It sounds crazy but it actually works, and it works well.
Learn more about how using copper peptides can beneficially impact your skin and reverse the aging process in this post, including which products to use.
More…
Copper and your Skin
Copper makes the list of very important trace elements (or trace metals) that your body needs to survive and thrive.
You can consider copper in the same category in terms of its importance to your body and skin.
For instance:
It is well known that zinc deficiency can cause skin disorders, thyroid dysfunction and so on.
What is less well known is the importance of copper in certain functions in your body.
This probably has to do with the fact that most of us are NOT copper deficient (compared to zinc where many people are).
But like other ingredients and products we can take advantage of the beneficial effects of copper by creating special products, serums and creams which penetrate into the skin and provide certain benefits.
Remember:
There is a big difference between using products orally (by mouth) and transdermally (through the skin).
You can think back to the case of Vitamin C.
Even though we know that vitamin C is very important for your skin, it doesn’t matter how much vitamin C you take by mouth – none of it actually makes it to the skin.
For this reason Vitamin C serums are amazing for your skin!
Because you can bypass the oral route and skip straight to the source.
This analogy is helpful when we consider using copper, because the same logic applies.
So how does copper help?
As far as your skin is concerned copper is critical to the production of a special ingredient known as collagen.
You know… that stuff that helps your skin look younger, feel firmer and reduces wrinkles?
The very same stuff that declines with age.
So how does it work?
Without getting too technical you can think about it like this:
Copper is part of a larger molecule which is known as an enzyme.
These enzymes initiate and start important reactions in your body, such as the production of collagen/elastin, melanin formation and so on.
The problem is that these enzymes only work if copper is attached to them.
So if you have low copper concentrations then the enzymes don’t work as well.
If the enzymes don’t work as well then elastin and collagen synthesis will be decreased.
Make sense?
So with this logic we can apply copper directly to the skin to enhance the function of these critical enzymes!
The Benefits of Copper Peptides for your Skin
So now that we know how copper works in the skin we can start to talk about the benefits you might get while using it.
It turns out that because copper is so important that it influences MANY systems in the body.
We will limit our discussion to the benefits of your skin (but just realize that copper is also important for regulating inflammation and so on).
The benefits of copper peptides on your skin include:
- Promotion of collagen and elastin production = firmer and tigher skin
- Increased wound healing
- Fighting infections (bacteria and fungus)
- Reduction of fine lines and wrinkles
Because of these beneficial effects copper has been added to multiple medical devices and even used in post surgical healing!
Relevant to this article is the fact that copper peptides have a beneficial effect on the AGING PROCESS.
This means that copper can (and should) be used as part of a multiple step skin care regimen designed to target and reverse the aging process.
Copper is also valuable for those people who may not be able to tolerate high concentration vitamin C serum or don’t have tretinoin available.
Studies have shown that copper peptides, when applied to the skin, show a boost to collagen types I, III and V:
This may be the reason that copper as an anti-aging effect.
Furthermore copper is also beneficial because it actually helps to balance out the bacterial/fungal concentrations on your skin and it is considered “biocidal”.
You know if you’ve suffered from acne before that an imbalance in bacteria on your face can lead to hyperpigmentation, cysts and acne.
Copper may help to regulate a normal bacterial concentration on the skin.
Side Effects of Using Copper Peptides
With all of these benefits does using copper peptides come at a cost?
Copper peptides are generally very well tolerated which means that they have few side effects.
Some people have reported the following symptoms when using copper, however:
These side effects tend to disappear once you discontinue copper and they tend to be rare.
In most cases these side effects occur when copper is combined with other powerful ingredients such as Vitamin C serum and Tretinoin.
The Best Copper Peptide Products & Where to get them
Because copper peptides are relatively new to the cosmetic world they are not necessarily easy to get.
Really only high quality products will contain enough copper to promote a difference.
It’s also important to make sure that if you decide to use copper peptides that you get your copper in the right formulation.
Copper can exist in both the metallic and ionic form and most people are used to thinking about copper in the metallic form.
But when we are talking about the skin you want your copper to be in the ionic form because if it isn’t then it can’t bind to enzymes and promote the functions we want.
Ionic formulations of copper do NOT look like the “standard metallic copper” that you are used to and they do not have the classic copper appearance.
This means when you open your copper containing product you shouldn’t expect it to look copper!
So where can you get the right type of copper peptides in the ionic form?
I’ve provided a list below!
The Clue copper contains copper bound to a 5 chain pentad peptide.
This formulation also contains other anti-oxidants such as Vitamin A and B complex vitamins.
Combination copper tri-peptide growth factors with 15% L-ascorbic acid.
Super serum advance + is a great product because it combines vitamin C serum with copper for an even greater effect.
Watch out for side effects when using this product, however, because Vitamin C and copper make a potent combination.
As long as you have normal skin (and not sensitive skin) you should be fine, but be weary if you have super sensitive or light skin.
The Neova creme contains a copper peptide complex formulated in a moisturizer.
Make sure to use this at the end of your skin care regimen and after you cleanse/tone your skin.
Who should use Copper Peptides
So should you jump into using copper peptides?
Maybe! But it’s not for everyone.
The people who stand to benefit the most from using copper peptides usually fall into one or more of the following categories:
- Those people who want to prevent the aging process from occuring
- People who suffer from advanced age spots and wrinkles
- Those who don’t mind the price tag and want to try it out
- People who have failed Vitamin C therapy and Tretinoin therapy
- Aged skin (usually 40+)
- Those people who do NOT have sensitive skin (Fitz type I and II)
These general guidelines may help to determine if copper will work for your skin type!
Final Thoughts
Copper is another great potential anti-aging tool that can be used to fight the aging process.
I find the most success when recommending the use of copper peptides in combination with Vitamin C and/or Tretinoin.
Be careful when using this combination, though, because it can be tough for your skin to handle if you have sensitive skin!
Now I want to hear from you:
Have you tried using Copper peptides before?
Did they help your skin?
Did you tolerate them okay?
Leave your comments below!
