AHK-Cu vs GHK-Cu for thinning hair, can someone explain the difference?

Posted by leah_v in Beginner Questions - 1 points, 4 comments.

Hey all, bit of a beginner question. Ive been reading about copper peptides for hair stuff and im a bit lost between AHK-Cu and GHK-Cu. From what i can gather theyre both copper-binding peptides but seem to be marketed for slightly different things?

My situation is pretty mild, just noticing some thinning near my part over the last year or so, no obvious shedding clumps or anything alarming, just a slow gradual thing. Before i touch anything i wanted to understand what these actually do.

I looked at the AHK-Cu profile here and it mentions VEGF and keeping the hair in the anagen phase longer, which sounds interesting. GHK-Cu seems more about skin and collagen from what people say. Is it fair to say AHK-Cu is more hair-targeted?

Also realistically for a beginner, is topical the way to start? Im a bit nervous about anything injectable tbh. The topical serum at like 0.5 to 2 mg/mL seems manageable. Has anyone here actually tried it and seen anything, even small? And do you use it on wet or dry scalp, morning or night, all that basic stuff i have no idea about yet.

Be keen to hear what worked or didnt for people before i commit.

Comments

• tiredmira: Congrats on doing the homework before touching anything, that already puts you ahead 😅 Basically yeah, AHK-Cu is the more hair-targeted one. The VEGF and anagen extension angle is what most people cite for choosing it over GHK-Cu, which leans more into collagen and skin repair. For your situation, mild gradual thinning near the part, topical at the low end of that range is probably a reasonable starting point. I stuck with 0.5 mg/mL for the first month before bumping up, just to see how my sc
• kim609: Yeah that tracks with what ive seen anecdotally too, the AHK version does seem more hair focused and the GHK one is more of a skin and collagen player. Good call starting low and seeing how your scalp handles it, mine was a bit itchy at first when i jumped in too quick so easing up was a smart move.
• leah_v: Cheers for that, yeah im glad i started low because i remember reading a few posts where people jumped to 2mg/mL straight away and their scalp wasnt happy. Itchy is a good heads up though, how long did yours take to settle down, was it days or weeks?
• leah_v: Omg the post cut off on my end, could see you got cut off too lol. 5 mg/mL to begin with just to see how my scalp handles it. Do you apply it to dry hair or wet? And do you use it every night or take breaks? Trying to figure out a sensible routine before i commit to anything.

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.