Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as pal-GHK
A topical collagen peptide that firms and smooths skin.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
Applied to skin, it tells the skin to make more collagen to firm and smooth.
Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 is a cosmetic collagen-signal peptide, often paired with Matrixyl.
What it's used for
A topical collagen-signal peptide used to firm skin and smooth lines, often paired with Matrixyl in serums.
How does Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 work?
What it does in the body, and where.Palmitoyl tripeptide-1 is GHK with a palmitic acid tail, and it is usually sold alongside Matrixyl rather than on its own.
- 01GHK signals collagen productionThe same tripeptide as GHK-Cu, here without the copper and with a fatty tail instead.
- 02The palmitoyl tail carries it through the skin barrierSame solution as Matrixyl.
- 03It is normally paired, not used aloneMatrixyl 3000 is this plus palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7, and most published claims are for the combination.
Where this compound is thought to act.
What else is it used for?
Each use below 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.
- Firming skin and smoothing lines, applied to the skinOTC / supplement
- Boosting collagen productionEarly research
The published record
6
Records indexed for Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1
3 in humans, 2 of them original studies.
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person. Human means indexed under humans, which includes reviews and work on human cells. Original studies exclude reviews and lab work on human cells.Last updated 12 September 2026.
At a glance
Four things to know about Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1
Evidence
OTC / supplement
Category
Skin and cosmetic
Common vial
Varies
Half-life
Not measured, and not the right question
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.Serum, per product, daily. Not cycledCommunity practice
Used daily as part of a routine. The effect depends on continued use and returns to baseline when you stop, so there is nothing to cycle off.
How long does it stay in the body?
The half-life, and where the figure comes from.Not measured, and not the right questionNo figure
This is a topical cosmetic ingredient. A blood half-life measures how fast something leaves the bloodstream, and these are not intended to reach it in meaningful amounts. What matters for a topical is how much penetrates the skin and how long it stays in the tissue, which is a different measurement and one that is rarely published.
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
What does it cost?
Typical dose and cost, in plain numbers.Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 is not injected
It is taken on the skin (topical). Applied as a topical product at the concentration the manufacturer sets. There is no injected dose.
Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 starts at $99.00 across 3 vendors, typically $0.50 – $1.00 per mg.
4 listings, last read Sep 6, 2026. Shipping and card fees are not included.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Room temperature, out of light. Cap it tight after each use.
Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 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
- A known allergy to this ingredient or to others in the same product
- Broken, cracked, or actively irritated skin
- Anyone who wants established safety data, because none exists for this compound in humans
Stop and get help
- A rash that spreads beyond where you applied it
- Swelling of the face, lips, or eyelids, or any trouble breathing
- Burning that does not settle after rinsing it off
- Anything unusual, since there is no known safety profile to compare it against
Common effects
- Very safe on the skin.
- Beyond the above, unknown. There is no reliable human data on what this compound commonly causes
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.Not as a medicine. Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 is sold without a prescription as a supplement or cosmetic ingredient, which is a different thing from being approved as a drug.
- Approval statusOTC / supplement
- RouteOn the skin (topical)
- CheckedJuly 2026
What has happened recently
We have not yet written a full regulatory note for this compound. The status above is current as of the date shown.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
- DoseFrom product labeling and published use.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- Sources
- Reviewed22 July 2026
What else is like Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1?
Others in Skin and cosmetic, side by side.If you're weighing Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, it's worth reading Tetrapeptide-21, PTD-DBM, and AHK-Cu in the same class.
A topical collagen peptide that firms and smooths skin.
- Dose
- Serum, per product
- How often
- Daily
A topical peptide for firmer, plumper skin.
- Dose
- Serum, per product
- How often
- Daily
A hair-regrowth peptide from a single Korean lab, tested only in mice.
- Dose
- Topical, per product
- How often
- Daily
GHK-Cu's less-studied cousin, sold mainly for hair.
- Dose
- Topical serum, per product
- How often
- Daily
Guides for this compound
- How to Reconstitute a Peptide
Mix peptide powder with bacteriostatic water, step by step.
- 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
- CIR Expert Panel safety assessment of Tripeptide-1, Hexapeptide-12, their metal salts and fatty acyl derivatives, and Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, International Journal of Toxicology(2018)Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 is GHK with palmitic acid attached, and it is one of the ingredients this assessment concluded is safe in cosmetics at present practices of use and concentration. What that conclusion rests on is worth reading plainly: acute oral toxicity in ten rats, skin irritation in three rabbits, a guinea pig maximization test, human patch tests in ten and fifty-two subjects, and two Ames tests, all on trade-name mixtures containing 100 to 1,000 ppm of the ingredient. Reproductive, developmental and carcinogenicity data were neither found nor submitted. The Panel's reasoning turns heavily on how little is used, with typical concentrations under 10 ppm. This is a safety conclusion about a topical at trace concentrations. It says nothing about whether the ingredient does anything. The Panel is explicit that its conclusion applies only to the named sequences GHK, VGVAPG and GQPR, because INCI ingredient names are not sequence-specific and two different molecules can carry the same label. The name palmitoyl oligopeptide was retired for this reason. Reading an ingredient list does not tell you which molecule is in the jar.
Last reviewed 22 July 2026
Beyond these, 6 records are indexed. Browse the records