# AHK-Cu (topical)

GHK-Cu's hair-targeted sibling; scalp serum users report baby hairs, but data stop at a dish.

- Page: https://peprank.xyz/peptides/ahk-cu
- Category: Skin & hair (Supplement)
- Also known as: copper tripeptide AHK; Ala-His-Lys copper(II); alanyl-histidyl-lysine copper; copper peptide hair serum
- Routes: Topical
- Sequence: AHK (Cu(II) complex)
- Safety tier: Strict: Caution · Balanced: Caution · Evidence only: Clean
- Risk axes (0 none to 3 severe): Seen harm 0, Mechanism 1, Data gap 3, Silent harm 1, Product 2
- Positive: 46% of 20 graded reports glowing or positive, shrunk toward the 49% all-report average by 8 reports' weight
- Rank: #13 of 23 supplements
- Graded reports: 20 (Glowing 1, Positive 8, Mixed 7, Nothing 3, Negative 1)
- Evidence: Animal only — in-vitro and ex-vivo only (human hair-follicle organ culture, dermal papilla cells); no clinical trial
- Access: Grey market
- Onset: Baby hairs typically reported after 8-12 weeks; 'feels thicker' sometimes within weeks
- Lasts: Only while used; daily leave-on application
- Cost per month: ≈ €13–90 (researchers' estimate)
- Updated: 2026-10-30

## What users report

A young, enthusiastic but small topical community (mostly 2025-2026, DIY serums from raw cosmetic powder or premade GHK/AHK sprays). Under half the first-hand reports are clearly positive: new baby hairs at the hairline and temples, a thicker feel, less shedding, usually after 2-3 months. Almost everyone also runs minoxidil, finasteride/dutasteride, microneedling, red light or injected GHK-Cu, so the peptide's own share is hard to see; several are 'feels thicker, too early to tell'. One user saw a heavy shed on a strong 8% GHK/AHK spray. Since mid-2026 many have switched to injecting it, which is a different, unvetted route (see caveat). Felt nothing: ~15% of reports felt nothing; another ~35% were mixed or unattributable.

**Effects:** new baby hairs at hairline/temples after 2-3 months; hair feels thicker; less shedding for some; eyelash/brow and beard fill-in (a few reports)

**Downsides:** DIY mixes leave hair stiff or scaly, HA bases feel tacky; possible shed on high-strength (8%) sprays; slow; most cannot separate it from minoxidil/finasteride; unstable once dissolved (refrigerate, discard if it turns green/brown)

**Risks:** No human safety or efficacy data at all for AHK-Cu itself; only in-vitro/ex-vivo work and its near-identical structure to the long-used GHK-Cu; In fibroblasts it raises VEGF (Pyo 2007); harmless at topical cosmetic doses, but the reason injecting it carries the same theoretical growth-factor concern as injectable GHK-Cu; Sold mainly as grey-market raw powder of unverified purity, often mixed unpreserved and applied after microneedling: contamination/infection risk from the practice rather than the molecule

**Caveat:** Verdict is for the topical cosmetic route only. Injecting AHK-Cu became popular on Reddit in 2026 with zero human data and painful injections; that route belongs with injectable GHK-Cu (excluded). Even topically, the evidence is a single in-vitro paper, so the 'hair-specific copper peptide' claim is marketing-strength.

**Typical use:** 1-2% (10-20 mg/ml) in a preserved hyaluronic-acid or water base, a few drops to thinning areas once or twice daily; refrigerate.

**Getting it:** Raw AHK-Cu cosmetic powder from bulk peptide sellers mixed into a hyaluronic or distilled-water base, or premade GHK/AHK scalp sprays (e.g. Neurogan 4%+4%, a few Korean hair tonics). No pharmaceutical-grade source.

**Stacked with:** Minoxidil (nearly every user stacks it; applied at a different time of day); GHK-Cu (topical or injected) (common pairing; makes AHK's own effect impossible to isolate); Microneedling (used weekly to boost penetration; only with a preserved, clean serum)

## Risk profile

- **Seen harm 0/3:** No study and about twenty first-hand reports, the only negative one a shed on a combined GHK/AHK spray.
- **Mechanism 1/3:** Raised VEGF and dermal papilla proliferation in follicle cultures; topical cosmetic doses give negligible systemic exposure, so a growth-factor harm is speculative for this route.
- **Data gap 3/3:** No human safety or efficacy data at all; the entire evidence base is one 2007 ex-vivo study, and GHK-Cu's cosmetic record bridges only by structural analogy.
- **Silent harm 1/3:** Scalp irritation and shedding are noticed within weeks.
- **Product 2/3:** Mostly raw grey-market powder mixed at home, unpreserved and often applied after microneedling; a few premade sprays exist.
- **Never if:** Wilson disease or copper allergy; Pregnancy or breastfeeding (no human reproductive data)

## Top reports

- Glowing, skin-hair: “The photos attached show just 11 weeks of usage on my temples, and 4 weeks of usage on my lashes. As shown in the hair photo, which I think speaks for itself, my baby hairs have vastly increased in density and thickness.” — [r/BodyHackGuide](https://www.reddit.com/r/BodyHackGuide/comments/1xbn0pp/ahk_cu_progress/)
- Positive, skin-hair, 1% in 30 ml hyaluronic acid/B5: “Just measure out the concentration you want on a scale. I did 1%. Been working well.” — [r/Hairtransplant](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hairtransplant/comments/1qti5sg/ahkcu_hair_serum_diy/o38iq0w/)
- Positive, skin-hair: “I’ve tried a Korean hair loss product with AHK-Cu and it worked pretty well for me.” — [r/HairlossResearch](https://www.reddit.com/r/HairlossResearch/comments/1mphwql/ahkcu_hair_loss_improvement/n9pydhi/)
- Positive, skin-hair: “ive used both with ask-cu and will not be using the hair serum again. Noticeable difference with the hyaluronic acid that I didn't feel or see with the hair serum.” — [r/Hairtransplant](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hairtransplant/comments/1qti5sg/ahkcu_hair_serum_diy/p2pjoch/)
- Positive, skin-hair, premade serum, ~2.5 mg/day: “ive got quite a few new baby hairs at my hairline, some of which are now darkening and in the past 2-3 weeks my shedding has begun to reduce noticeably in the shower.” — [r/Biohacking](https://www.reddit.com/r/Biohacking/comments/1ukjfzj/topical_ghkahk/p0n25ma/)

## Cheapest in Europe

- [CertaPeptides](https://certapeptides.com/shop/ahk-cu-100mg) (RO): AHK-Cu 100mg, €40, €0.40/mg (contents not stated on the page)
- [CertaPeptides](https://certapeptides.com/shop/ahk-cu-100mg) (RO): AHK-Cu 50mg, €24, €0.48/mg (contents not stated on the page)
- [Condor Research](https://condorresearch.com/product/ahk-cu/) (SK): AHK-Cu 100mg (Vial), €55, €0.55/mg
- [Europa-Peptide](https://europa-peptide.de/en/shop/ahk-cu-50mg/) (PL): AHK-CU 50mg, €48, €0.96/mg
- [Amazon.fr](https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0HNPH7D9T/) (FR): GERSON AHK-Cu Copper Peptide Hair Serum 30 mL (AHK-Cu with GHK-Cu, caffeine), €46 (also contains GHK-Cu (copper tripeptide-1); also contains caffeine; also contains panthenol; also contains sodium hyaluronate; also contains rosemary oil)

## Studies

- [Pyo et al., The effect of tripeptide-copper complex on human hair growth in vitro (Arch Pharm Res 2007)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17703734/) (in-vitro, 2007): AHK-Cu at 10^-12 to 10^-9 M lengthened human hair follicles ex vivo and increased dermal papilla cell proliferation, with less apoptosis (Bcl-2/Bax up, cleaved caspase-3 down).
- [Pickart & Margolina, Regenerative and protective actions of the GHK-Cu peptide in light of new gene data (IJMS 2018)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6073405/) (review, 2018): Background on the closely related GHK-Cu: decades of cosmetic use, follicle-size and hair-growth effects in small studies; the safety record AHK-Cu borrows by analogy.

## Sources

- [Pyo et al. 2007: AHK-Cu and human hair growth in vitro (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17703734/)
- [r/BodyHackGuide: AHK CU progress (11 weeks topical)](https://www.reddit.com/r/BodyHackGuide/comments/1xbn0pp/ahk_cu_progress/)
- [r/Hairtransplant: AHK-Cu hair serum (DIY) thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hairtransplant/comments/1qti5sg/ahkcu_hair_serum_diy/)