# Hexapeptide-9 (Collaxyl)

Collagen-sequence 'signal' peptide in firming serums; tested in people only as a modified or enhanced version.

- Page: https://peprank.xyz/peptides/hexapeptide-9
- Category: Skin & hair (Supplement)
- Also known as: Collaxyl / Collaxyl ng (Ashland trade name; water, butylene glycol and hexapeptide-9); collagen IV and XVII sequence matrikine; not Syn-Coll, which is palmitoyl tripeptide-5
- Routes: Topical
- Safety tier: Strict: Caution · Balanced: Caution · Evidence only: Clean
- Risk axes (0 none to 3 severe): Seen harm 0, Mechanism 0, Data gap 3, Silent harm 0, Product 0
- Researcher estimate: 3/10 (no graded reports yet)
- Rank: #21 of 23 supplements
- Evidence: Small human studies — lab and supplier data say this matrikine, a sequence found in collagens IV and XVII, makes fibroblasts and keratinocytes build matrix. Human data exist only for variants: a 96-person randomised trial of a cyclised version (CHP-9) run by a Chinese cosmetics company, which beat retinol on crow's feet and forehead lines, and an industry study delivering hexapeptide-9 with an ionic-liquid penetration enhancer. Neither tests hexapeptide-9 as sold in ordinary serums
- Access: Supplement
- Onset: Weeks to months, if anything
- Lasts: Nothing persists after stopping
- Cost per month: ≈ €4–27 (researchers' estimate)
- Updated: 2026-10-30

## What users report

No first-hand Reddit reports name hexapeptide-9 or Collaxyl as the active. It turns up only on ingredient lists of multi-peptide serums (often Indian and Korean 'peptide complex' products) and in lists of what a serum contains, never with an outcome that can be traced to it. The score is a placeholder for 'unknown', in line with how often users of anonymous multi-peptide serums report seeing nothing. Felt nothing: No first-hand reports found, so nothing can be counted.

**Effects:** claimed: firmer skin and softer fine lines via more collagen and a stronger dermal-epidermal junction (supplier and lab data)

**Downsides:** no identifiable user outcomes; rarely disclosed at a known concentration; one of many peptides in 'complex' serums

**Caveat:** Hexapeptide-9 is a hydrophilic six-residue peptide whose sequence occurs in collagens IV and XVII (the basement-membrane and anchoring collagens), and its own penetration into intact skin is poor, as the enhancer study shows. The headline clinical result belongs to a cyclised analogue that does not inherit to Collaxyl. Supplier efficacy numbers are unpublished. No harm signal is known; the uncertainty is about whether it does anything, not about safety.

**Typical use:** Finished products at supplier-recommended levels (the trade product is a dilute solution of the peptide; brands rarely state how much), once or twice daily.

**Getting it:** Over-the-counter cosmetic: listed as hexapeptide-9 in multi-peptide serums and firming creams; raw Collaxyl is sold to formulators.

**Stacked with:** Matrixyl (Usual neighbour in 'collagen peptide' serums; the better-studied of the two.); tretinoin (The proven collagen builder; hexapeptide-9 is at most an add-on.)

## Risk profile

- **Seen harm 0/3:** No serious adverse events reported in the literature or first-hand; the ingredient has been sold in cosmetics for years, but at small and undisclosed levels inside multi-peptide products, so the zero reflects little traceable exposure as much as reassurance.
- **Mechanism 0/3:** A matrikine from collagen IV/XVII that signals fibroblasts and keratinocytes to make matrix in lab work; plain hexapeptide-9 penetrates intact skin poorly, and no pathway to serious harm is known or proposed.
- **Data gap 3/3:** No published human safety or efficacy study of hexapeptide-9 as sold. The 96-person RCT tested a cyclised analogue (CHP-9), which does not inherit to the linear peptide beyond showing that a close relative was tolerated at 0.002% for 56 days; the ionic-liquid study pairs it with a penetration enhancer and gives no clinical detail in its abstract. No CIR assessment.
- **Silent harm 0/3:** The only plausible harms are irritation or contact allergy, noticed at once and gone on stopping.
- **Product 0/3:** Bought as finished over-the-counter serums and creams.
- **Never if:** known allergy to a product containing it; pregnancy and breastfeeding (no reproductive data, though systemic exposure from a cosmetic is expected to be negligible)

## Studies

- [Chang et al., Novel Cyclized Hexapeptide-9 Outperforms Retinol Against Skin Aging: a randomized, double-blinded, active- and vehicle-controlled trial (J Cosmet Dermatol 2025)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40586182/) (rct, n=96, 2025): 0.002% cyclised hexapeptide-9 serum twice daily for 56 days reduced the number, area and roughness of crow's feet and forehead wrinkles more than 0.002% retinol or vehicle. A different, ring-closed molecule from the hexapeptide-9 on most labels; authors from Shanghai Chicmax.
- [Wang et al., Pioneering ionic liquids in neuro-soothing: enhanced transdermal delivery of collagen peptides and their synergistic anti-aging functions (Materials Today Bio 2025)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2025.101527) (in-vitro, 2025): A GABA-lactic acid ionic liquid raised hexapeptide-9 skin permeation about 5-fold and retention about 8-fold in vitro; animal and clinical experiments are reported as supportive. Industry co-authors (Bloomage); shows plain hexapeptide-9 penetrates poorly.

## Sources

- [Ashland: Collaxyl ng biofunctional (hexapeptide-9; matrikine found in collagen IV and XVII)](https://www.ashland.com/industries/personal-and-home-care/skin-and-sun-care/collaxyl-ng-biofunctional)
- [SpecialChem: hexapeptide-9 INCI profile](https://www.specialchem.com/cosmetics/inci-ingredients/hexapeptide-9)