Matrixyl 3000 serum compounded with GHK-Cu, anyone running both topicals layered?

Question

Ngl im trying to simplify my nightly skin stack and want feedback on layering. Right now im using a compounded serum with pal-GHK and pal-GQPR at like 3 to 4% each, applied after shower on clean dry skin. Waiting maybe 10 min then hitting GHK-Cu on top at the standard 2mg/ml spray or roller concentration ive been using for months. The reasoning is pal-GHK signals fibroblasts to build new collagen matrix through that matrikine pathway, pal-GQPR quiets IL-6 so youre not breaking down what you just built, and GHK-Cu seems to do its own thing with gene expression and copper delivery. Different mechanisms, no real overlap so layering should be additive not redundant. Im doing this 5 nights on 2 off, no acids or retinol those nights so the peptides arent getting chewed up by low pH. Morning is just sunscreen and thats it. Anyone stacking these specifically and noticing a difference vs running one solo? Also curious if anyone has tried putting pal-KTTKS in the mix too or if thats overkill.

tiredmira · Accepted Answer

Honestly I have not stacked all three together. I just run GHK-Cu on its own at night because adding anything else on top made my face sting and I gave up 😅 But the mechanism logic makes sense to me. Pal-GHK and GHK-Cu doing different things, no reason they would compete. The IL-6 angle on pal-GQPR is interesting, I had not thought about that one. Where I would be careful is the pH thing. Even water sitting on your skin shifts the surface pH a bit after cleansing, so the 10 min wait might matter more than people think. Also the 2mg/ml GHK-Cu is on the higher end of what I see in the literature, so layering a copper donor on top of a copper signal peptide, your skin is basically swimming in copper. Could be fine, could be why some people get irritation they blame on one ingredient when it is really the combo. Did you track anything objective or just going by feel/mirror?

grinder265 · Answer

Yeah the sting is real with GHK-Cu on irritated skin, thats why i keep the rest of the routine boring those nights. And good call on the pH point honestly i never thought about water residue shifting things post cleanse, i just assumed 10 min was enough for everything to normalize. Might stretch that out and see if the pal peptides absorb better.

Matrixyl 3000 serum compounded with GHK-Cu, anyone running both topicals layered?

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