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Decoding

Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening)_Dosage, benefits & legal status

Also known as Peptiboost Lightening, CG-TGP2, Oligopeptide 34

By the Peptide Decoding Editorial Team

Published November 9, 2026

Sold as 13 amino acids, and not one published formula can be built from 13 amino acids.

Skin brighteningCosmetic peptide (topical)Cosmetic

InSkin and cosmeticTaken without a needle

OLIGO-34

Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening)Code name

No sequence has been published anywhere. The residue count is left blank on purpose rather than set to 13. The supplier claims 13 amino acids and names eight of them, arginine, aspartic acid, isoleucine, glutamine, leucine, serine, threonine and tryptophan, and every other source repeating the figure reproduces that same list, so it is one claim restated rather than independent confirmation. Checked against the three molecular formulas in circulation, the claim does not hold: one of them has six nitrogen atoms where a 13-residue backbone needs at least 13, one has 16 where the named residues force at least 18, and the third has a workable nitrogen count but cannot be reproduced from any 13-residue combination of those eight amino acids. Until the supplier publishes a sequence or a registry assigns an identity, the honest entry is blank.

Dose0.005 to 0.05% of the finished formula (supplier)

FrequencyAs the product directs

RouteOn the skin (serum or cream)

StatusCosmetic ingredient

CycledDaily and ongoing, as a leave-on product

Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.

See how this dose compares across the library →

What is Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening)?

Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.

Overview

This is a skin-brightening ingredient, sold for dark spots and uneven pigment. It is in products you can buy today, so it exists and it is in circulation. The problem is what happens when you try to find out what it is. The company that sells it says it is a peptide of 13 amino acids and names eight of the amino acids involved, but will not publish the order they come in. Three chemical databases each list a different molecular formula for it. Work through the arithmetic and none of the three can be a 13-amino-acid peptide made of those eight building blocks. One of them has only six nitrogen atoms, and a chain of 13 amino acids needs at least 13 just to hold itself together. That same formula turns out to match a completely different peptide, so the database record looks like a case of mistaken identity. Its own supplier's leaflet lists the registry number as not assigned, while catalogs sell it under two different numbers. None of this means the ingredient does nothing. It means nobody outside the manufacturer can say what it is.

The technical version

Oligopeptide-34 is a synthetic cosmetic peptide sold for pigmentation, supplied by GfN & Selco as Peptiboost Lightening and traceable in the literature to the development code CG-TGP2. The supplier describes it as 13 amino acids drawn from eight named residues and publishes no sequence. Three different molecular formulas circulate on chemical databases, and none of the three can be constructed from 13 residues of those eight amino acids. Its own supplier leaflet records the CAS number as unassigned while two catalogs publish numbers anyway. The ingredient is real and is in finished products on sale, including an injectable skin booster, but its identity on paper does not hold together.

What it's used for

Sold as a cosmetic raw material for hyperpigmentation, age spots and reduced tanning after sun exposure. Present in finished products on sale, including Skin Authority's Brightening Serum, and as one of seven peptides in Aquashine BR, an injectable skin booster.

How does Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening) work?

What it does in the body, and where.

The claimed mechanism is conventional for a brightening peptide. What is not conventional is that the molecule's identity cannot be pinned down from any public document.

01
What the supplier says it does
The leaflet claims four things: less melanin synthesis and less tyrosinase activity inside melanocytes, fewer melanosomes handed over to keratinocytes, less lymphocyte proliferation in the dermis, and more fibroblast division with more collagen, elastin and fibronectin. The first two are the standard targets for this category and are the same ones Oligopeptide-68 is sold against. The leaflet cites no study for any of the four.
02
The 13-residue claim, and why the formulas cannot support it
The supplier says 13 amino acids and names eight of them: arginine, aspartic acid, isoleucine, glutamine, leucine, serine, threonine and tryptophan. Three formulas circulate for this INCI name. C38H68N6O8 carries six nitrogen atoms, and a 13-residue chain needs at least 13 from its backbone alone, so that one is arithmetically impossible. C53H84N16O21 carries 16, while one arginine plus one glutamine plus one tryptophan already force a minimum of 18 in a 13-mer, and its molecular weight implies an average residue mass well below what those residues would give. C64H94N18O22 has a workable nitrogen budget and a plausible weight, and no combination of 13 residues from those eight amino acids reproduces its carbon, hydrogen and oxygen counts. These are calculations done here against the published formulas, not a claim any source makes.
03
One of those database records is a different molecule
C38H68N6O8 at about 737 daltons is an exact match for a palmitoylated hexapeptide, palmitoyl-Val-Gly-Val-Ala-Pro-Gly, a well-known and entirely different cosmetic ingredient. One commercial page makes the mix-up visible by carrying that lipopeptide's title, a second source's formula and weight, a structure identifier that resolves to the first formula, and boilerplate text describing a 13-amino-acid peptide, all on one page. Vendor-supplied synonyms are the likely route. The practical lesson is that the most authoritative-looking record for this ingredient is the one most clearly wrong.
04
Where it probably comes from, unconfirmed
Two peer-reviewed papers tie the name to the code CG-TGP2, and a marketplace listing attributes CG-TGP2 to Caregen, a Korean ingredient developer. That would make GfN & Selco a redistributor rather than the originator, and it fits the injectable product, since the skin booster containing this peptide is Caregen's. No document opened here states the relationship, so it is left as a likely attribution. One wrinkle against it: the marketplace listing describes a double-layered encapsulated material, while the Selco leaflet declares a plain unpreserved powder, so the two may not be the same preparation.

WHERE THIS COMPOUND IS THOUGHT TO ACT:

Skin

What else is it used for?

Each group carries its own evidence level.

Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.

The identity problem, and it is the reason to read this page

none

lab-analysisThe supplier's own leaflet records the CAS number as not assigned, printing "-/-" for both CAS and EC. Two commercial catalogs nonetheless publish 2227218-62-2, and a third source publishes 1228379-73-4.
lab-analysisThree mutually exclusive molecular formulas circulate: C38H68N6O8, C53H84N16O21 at 1281.61, and C64H94N18O22 at 1467.57. Checked against the supplier's own 13-residue description, none of the three can be built.
No dataThe PubChem record under this name, compound 71435492, gives C38H68N6O8, a formula that matches a palmitoyl hexapeptide rather than any 13-residue peptide. Treat that record as contaminated and do not cite it for identity.
No dataNo sequence appears in any of the fourteen manufacturer, registry, catalog and literature pages checked. Two suppliers describe it only as a proprietary or specific sequence, consistent with a trade secret.
lab-analysisFDA's substance registry returns no record under this name. A positive control with the same query shape returned a record for ACETYL TETRAPEPTIDE-15 the same day, so the empty result is the registry's. Two other FDA substance resources were unreachable from here, so this is an absence in one registry rather than across all of them.

What the supplier publishes, and what it leaves out

Supplement or cosmetic

lab-analysisPeptiboost Lightening, article number 7387. Leaflet dated May 14, 2025, published by Selco Wirkstoffe Vertriebs GmbH of Wald-Michelbach, Germany, with no named author. Declares a single INCI, Oligopeptide-34, as a white to off-white water-soluble powder with no preservative and no stabilizer, use level 0.005 to 0.05%, stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, 24 months, vegan.
No dataThe document contains no study, no sample size and no method for any of its four mechanism claims or its five claimed benefits.
lab-analysisOther products in the same supplier line are blends with several declared ingredients, so this one being a single-INCI powder is a real distinction rather than an omission.

The only figures anyone publishes, and where they come from

Early research

human-earlyA cosmetic brand's education article reports melanin production down about 33% and tyrosinase activity down 65% in stimulated human melanocytes, pigmentation reduced 47% against 27% for vitamin C and 40% for arbutin, and an 8-week panel of 22 Asian subjects in which 84% rated the result good or very good.
No dataThat article cites no study, gives no in-vitro sample sizes, names no methods, and attributes the ingredient's development to an unnamed Asian biopharmaceutical company. It is brand education material, published May 2019, and is the sole source for every number above.

Peer-reviewed literature, and why neither paper studies this peptide

Early research

human-earlyA 2017 open-access paper names oligopeptide-34 as a component of two injectable skin-booster formulations at 2 micrograms per mL. In vitro it used fibroblasts from a single 42-year-old donor at two passage numbers, with replicate counts not reported; the human arm was five women aged 45 to 48 given intradermal injections before abdominoplasty.
No dataThat paper is internally inconsistent about which of its two test products contains the peptide, and it never tests the peptide alone. Nothing in it is attributable to Oligopeptide-34.
ReviewA 2018 review mentions oligopeptide-34 once in its introduction as an example of a biomimetic peptide, with no residue count, no mechanism and no data.
No dataThere is no peer-reviewed characterization, no sequence publication, no monotherapy efficacy trial and no safety study of this peptide.

Where it is actually sold, including by needle

Supplement or cosmetic

lab-analysisSkin Authority's Brightening Serum lists Oligopeptide-34 second, after water and before glycolic acid and alpha arbutin, on the brand's own page. The position carries no concentration information, since the supplier's ceiling is 0.05%.
No dataA crowd-sourced ingredient database lists roughly 42 products containing it, including several Dermalogica items, consistent with the brand education article being Dermalogica's.
lab-analysisAquashine BR, an intradermal skin booster, is declared by a distributor as uncross-linked hyaluronic acid at 15 mg per mL plus seven peptides including this one, supplied as a 2 mL syringe with 27 and 30 gauge needle guidance. The composition is distributor-sourced; no manufacturer document declaring it was found.
lab-analysisAt least five research and raw-material catalogs sell the powder at 95% purity or better for research or manufacturing use. None sells an injectable preparation of the peptide on its own.

Often left out

The first error is quoting a molecular formula or molecular weight for this peptide at all. Three are in circulation, they disagree with each other, and none of them is consistent with the supplier's own description of 13 amino acids drawn from eight named residues. The second is citing the PubChem record, the most official-looking source available and the one most clearly wrong: its formula matches a palmitoylated hexapeptide, a different ingredient entirely. The third is publishing a CAS number, when the supplier's own leaflet prints the CAS field as unassigned. The fourth is reading the ingredient's high position on a product label as a meaningful concentration; the supplier's own ceiling is 0.05% and sub-1% ingredients can be listed in any order. The fifth is presenting the brightening percentages as research. They come from one cosmetic brand's education article with no cited study, no methods and no sample sizes for the cell work. The sixth is treating the two peer-reviewed mentions as evidence for this peptide, when one tests a seven-peptide blend and the other mentions the name once in passing.

The published record

Research index

Papers about Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening)

Searched: oligopeptide-34, CG-TGP2, Peptiboost Lightening.

Left out: oligopeptide-68 (THE critical rejection. Already on this site, sold for the SAME purpose (pigmentation), and one digit different in a numbered series. They are SEPARATE registry entries with DIFFERENT declared functions: Oligopeptide-34 is record 9816, function skin conditioning; Oligopeptide-68 is record 17621, function bleaching. A catalog also lists Oligopeptide-68 under its own CAS 1206525-47-4); oligopeptide-1 (on this site, 53 residues, EGF-derived. Separate INCI entry, and a prefix search returns it); nonapeptide-1 (on this site, pigmentation again, 9 residues. Excluded by INCI nomenclature against any 13-mer claim but it competes for the same reader); decapeptide-12 (on this site, pigmentation again, 10 residues. Same reasoning); palmitoyl hexapeptide-12 (NOT a relative, but critical: its formula C38H68N6O8 at about 737 Da is what the PubChem record for Oligopeptide-34 actually carries, so the contaminated database entry points at a palmitoyl hexapeptide. This is the exact collision that makes the PubChem record unusable); palmitoyl-VGVAPG (the same lipopeptide written as a sequence, for the same reason); Aquashine (the injectable skin booster containing this peptide as one of SEVEN. The only peer-reviewed work naming this peptide tests that BLEND and never the peptide alone, so blend results must never be attributed to the peptide); hyaluronic acid (the bulk of that injectable product at 15 mg/mL, and a term returning an enormous unrelated literature); Caregen (the LIKELY but UNCONFIRMED originator of CG-TGP2. A company name whose own site does not list this peptide anywhere reachable); tyrosinase (the claimed target, shared with at least four pigmentation cards already here); Oligopeptide-3 (a real numbering trap: substring matching on Oligopeptide-34 catches shorter and longer numbers. Near-misses actively rejected during research were Oligopeptide-3, -35, -24, -62, -72, -51, -133, Nonapeptide-34 and Tripeptide-34).

Europe PMC was searched on November 11, 2026 for these terms and returned nothing.

Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person.

Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening) vial rendering

Compound field notes

At a glance

Four things to know about Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening)

Evidence

Cosmetic

How much, and do you cycle it?

The range, and whether you take breaks.

0.005 to 0.05% of the finished formula (supplier), as the product directs. Daily and ongoing, as a leave-on product Community practice

A cosmetic ingredient with no established course. The only human figures cited anywhere ran eight weeks, in a brand education article with no methods.

Compare this against the whole library →

How long does it stay in the body?

The half-life, and where the figure comes from.

Not applicable to a leave-on topical, and none publishedNo figure

No pharmacokinetic work has been published. For a peptide of this claimed size in a leave-on cosmetic the live question is whether it penetrates the stratum corneum at all, and no penetration study was found. The injectable route bypasses that question entirely and has no published data of its own.

You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.

What does it cost?

Typical dose and cost, in plain numbers.

Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening) is not injected in the forms covered here

It is taken on the skin (serum or cream). The supplier's leaflet gives a use level of 0.005 to 0.05% and describes the material as a neat water-soluble powder with no preservative or stabilizer, so unlike most cosmetic peptide actives there is no carrier solution to work back through. One consequence worth knowing: in the one finished product verified here the ingredient is listed second, right after water, and that tells you nothing, because anything under 1% can be listed in any order. There is no established injected dose; the one injectable product containing it is a fixed blend and does not declare the peptide's concentration.

Cost per month

—

Cost per dose

—

Typical dose

0.005%–0.05% / formulationCommunity practice

Selco leaflet for Peptiboost Lightening, article 7387 →

How do you store it?

Before mixing, and after.

Room temperature, out of light. Cap it tight after each use.

Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening) ships as a cream, gel, or serum. Keep it at room temperature away from sun and heat unless the label says otherwise. Refrigerating an emulsion can split the texture. Watch for color, smell, or separation changes and stop using it if any appear.

What are the side effects and cautions?

Known cautions and warnings for this compound.

Who should avoid it

Check these before anything else.

Taking any molecular formula for this peptide from a chemical database, since three circulate and none is consistent with the supplier's own description
Reading the position of the ingredient high on a product label as a high concentration, since the supplier's use level is at most 0.05% and ingredients below 1% may be listed in any order
Treating the published brightening percentages as independent evidence, since the only figures come from a cosmetic brand's education article with no methods and no citation
Confusing it with Oligopeptide-68, also covered here. They are separate registry entries with different declared functions, and the numbers differ by a digit

Stop and get help

These are emergencies. Seek care.

A leave-on cosmetic, so there is no course to stop. Discontinue on irritation as with any topical
For the injectable form, anything beyond brief redness at the injection site needs the clinician who performed it, since no published safety data exists for this peptide given that way

Common effects

Expected, and usually mild.

None published. The supplier's document contains no tolerability section, and no study of the isolated peptide exists at any level.

Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.

Is Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening) approved?

And where the numbers on this page come from.

Not as a medicine. Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening) is sold without a prescription as a cosmetic ingredient, which is a different thing from being approved as a drug.

Approval status
CosmeticSold without a prescription as an ingredient in cosmetics, such as skincare and hair products. The FDA does not approve cosmetics before they are sold, and being easy to buy says nothing about whether it works.
Route
On the skin (serum or cream)
Checked
9 November 2026
Dose
From the concentration range manufacturers formulate at. This is a product strength, not a dose set by a regulator or a trial.
Vial size
From what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
Sources
Selco leaflet for Peptiboost Lightening, article 7387 GfN & Selco product page, Peptiboost Lightening COSMILE Europe ingredient record, Oligopeptide-34 FDA Global Substance Registration System search, Oligopeptide-34 PubChem compound 71435492, titled Oligopeptide-34 International Dermal Institute, Oligopeptide-34 Gazitaeva and colleagues, injectable skin-booster formulations Skin Authority, Brightening Serum product page

What has happened recently

A cosmetic ingredient, so no approval exists or is required. The INCI name is registered in the European cosmetic ingredient system with a declared function of skin conditioning and synthetic origin, under a different record and a different declared function from Oligopeptide-68. FDA's substance registry holds no record under this name, verified against a working positive control, though two further FDA substance resources could not be reached from here, so this is one registry's silence rather than a general absence. The supplier is GfN & Selco, whose distribution arm publishes the leaflet; two peer-reviewed papers tie the name to the code CG-TGP2 and a marketplace listing attributes that code to Caregen in Korea, so the make the supplier a redistributor. No document opened here confirms that, so it is recorded as unconfirmed. A 2025 systematic review surfaced in a literature search filtered on this peptide and could not be opened from here, so whether it mentions the ingredient is unknown.

You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.

What else is like Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening)?

Others in Skin and cosmetic, side by side.

If you're weighing Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening), it's worth reading Oligopeptide-68, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, and Palmitoyl Tripeptide-8 in the same class.

YOU ARE HERE

OLIGO-34

Oligopeptide-34 (Peptiboost Lightening)

Sold as 13 amino acids, and not one published formula can be built from 13 amino acids.

Supplement or cosmetic

Dose: 0.005 to 0.05% of the finished formula (supplier)
How often: As the product directs

OLIGO-68

Oligopeptide-68

A real TGF-beta-1 fragment with four extra residues nobody explains.

Supplement or cosmetic

Dose: Serum, per product
How often: Daily

PALMITOYL-HEXAPEPTIDE-12

Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12

Pal-VGVAPG, one of the two original palmitoyl peptides Sederma launched in 1992. Judged safe as used in cosmetics; the firming evidence is thin.

Supplement or cosmetic

Dose: A few ppm in the finished product (up to 0.002%)
How often: Daily

PALMITOYL-TRIPEPTIDE-8

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-8

A skin-calming ingredient built from three residues of a natural anti-inflammatory hormone, backed mainly by supplier tests.

Supplement or cosmetic

Dose: Serum or cream, per product
How often: Daily

Compare cosmetic peptides See all needle-free options

Guides for this compound

mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
How to Read a Peptide COA
What the purity number does and does not tell you, and how to spot an edited report.
How to Vet a Peptide Vendor
Independent COAs, HPLC purity, and the red flags that mean walk away.

Sources

Selco leaflet for Peptiboost Lightening, article 7387(2025)
Dated May 14, 2025, published by Selco Wirkstoffe Vertriebs GmbH, Wald-Michelbach, Germany, with no named author, and hosted on the manufacturer's own domain. Declares one INCI, Oligopeptide-34, as a white to off-white water-soluble powder with no preservative and no stabilizer. CAS and EC are both printed as "-/-", meaning unassigned. Use level 0.005 to 0.05%. Storage 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, minus 20 for long term, 24 months. Vegan. Describes the peptide as 13 amino acids and names eight residues. Claims reduced melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity, reduced melanosome transfer to keratinocytes, reduced dermal lymphocyte proliferation, and increased fibroblast division with more collagen, elastin and fibronectin. Contains no study, no sample size and no method for any claim.
GfN & Selco product page, Peptiboost Lightening(2026)
Repeats the leaflet's single-INCI declaration and the same mechanism claims. Confirms that Peptiboost Lightening is a trade name for the neat peptide rather than a blend, which separates it from other products in the same line that declare glycerin, water and several other ingredients alongside their peptides.
COSMILE Europe ingredient record, Oligopeptide-34(2026)
Confirms the INCI name with declared function skin conditioning and synthetic origin, under record 9816. Carries no CAS number. The separate record for Oligopeptide-68 is 17621 and declares a different function, bleaching, which is how the two are told apart.
FDA Global Substance Registration System search, Oligopeptide-34(2026)
Total 0. No substance record under this name. A positive control with the same query shape returned one record for ACETYL TETRAPEPTIDE-15 the same day, so the empty result is the registry's and not the query's.
PubChem compound 71435492, titled Oligopeptide-34(2026)
Gives the molecular formula C38H68N6O8. Six nitrogen atoms cannot support a 13-residue peptide backbone, and that formula at about 737 daltons matches palmitoyl-Val-Gly-Val-Ala-Pro-Gly, a different cosmetic ingredient. Recorded here as a contaminated entry and not as evidence of identity. The arithmetic is this page's, not PubChem's.
International Dermal Institute, Oligopeptide-34(2019)
Published May 1, 2019 by Dr. Diana Howard for the International Dermal Institute, a cosmetic brand's education arm. Reports melanin production down about 33% and tyrosinase activity down 65% in MSH-stimulated human melanocytes, pigmentation reduction of 47% against 27% for vitamin C and 40% for arbutin, and an 8-week panel of 22 Asian subjects of whom 84% rated the outcome good or very good. Cites no study, names no methods, gives no in-vitro sample sizes, and attributes development to an unnamed Asian biopharmaceutical company. The sole source for every figure here.
Gazitaeva and colleagues, injectable skin-booster formulations(2017)
Peer-reviewed and open access. Names oligopeptide-34, coded CG-TGP2, as a component of two injectable formulations at 2 micrograms per mL. In vitro used human skin fibroblasts from a single 42-year-old donor at passage 7 against passage 15 across three arms, with replicate counts not reported. The human arm was five women aged 45 to 48 given intradermal injections before abdominoplasty. The paper's own description of one test product does not list Oligopeptide-34, so it is internally inconsistent about where the peptide sits, and it never tests the peptide alone.
Skin Authority, Brightening Serum product page(2026)
The brand's own page. Publishes the full ingredient list with Oligopeptide-34 second, after water, followed by glycolic acid, methyl gluceth-20 and alpha arbutin. The position carries no concentration information, because the supplier's ceiling for this ingredient is 0.05% and ingredients below 1% may be listed in any order.