Science › Clinical studies › Argireline®
Does a 10% Argireline® cream smooth forehead lines?
A randomised, placebo-controlled trial of a 10% Argireline® cream in women aged 30 to 60 — read at source, appraised in full.
−7.4%
Forehead roughness, day 20
With 10% Argireline®, against +4.3% with the placebo cream (P = .022). Measured by skin imaging (Raikou et al., 2017).
8.1 → 5.7
Water loss through the skin fell, day 20
It fell with Argireline® while it rose on the placebo cream (P = .025), and the gap held at day 40 (P = .01): skin held on to its moisture.
5.4 vs 18.0
Water loss through the skin, day 40
With 10% Argireline®, against the placebo cream (P = .01), the widest gap of the trial. No skin reactions were reported with any of the peptide creams over 60 days (Raikou et al., 2017).
Original research by Raikou V, Varvaresou A, Panderi I and Papageorgiou E, published in Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (2017).
Appraised by the Skingenetix research team. Medically reviewed by Dr Esther Bodde, Cosmetic & Medical Physician. Last reviewed 26 September 2026.
Argireline® is the trade name of acetyl hexapeptide-8 (also listed as acetyl hexapeptide-3, the name this paper uses), a synthetic peptide developed by Lipotec, now part of Lubrizol. It softens the look of expression lines around the eyes and forehead.
The Raikou 2017 trial is a randomised, placebo-controlled study of a cream containing 10% Argireline®, used twice a day by women aged 30 to 60. After 20 days, forehead roughness had fallen 7.4% with Argireline while it rose 4.3% with the placebo cream (P = .022), measured by skin imaging rather than by eye.
Our verdict: a well-measured result: at 10%, Argireline® made forehead skin measurably smoother than a placebo cream within 20 days, and water loss through the skin fell while it rose on placebo. The group was small, so we read it alongside the larger crow's-feet trial, and we cite it for the ingredient as studied rather than as a test of our own formula.
At a glance
The nine things worth knowing before you weigh what this trial found.
Randomised, placebo-controlled, four-group factorial trial at the Technological Educational Institute of Athens. The creams were handed out in coded jars.
24 women aged 30 to 60, mean age about 45, about six in each group.
A cream containing 10% Argireline®, twice a day for 60 days. The women stopped all other skincare apart from a cleansing milk and, if needed, sunscreen.
The same cream base with no peptide (placebo). Two further groups tested a second peptide, tripeptide-10 citrulline, alone and combined with Argireline®.
60 days, with measurements at the start and at days 20, 40 and 60.
Skin Visioscan VC98 imaging of skin roughness (cR2 and cR3) on the forehead and around the eyes; a Tewameter TM300 for water loss through the skin; a questionnaire on skin reactions.
10% w/w Argireline®, stated in the methods. Argireline is supplied as a peptide solution, so this is 10% of that solution: the top of the maker's recommended 2–10% range.
An academic study from the Technological Educational Institute of Athens and the University of Athens. The peptides were provided by N. Crallis S.A., Lipotec's distributor in Greece. The paper carries no funding statement.
A — randomised, placebo-controlled and measured by instrument, in a small group of women.
What the measurements showed
Change in forehead roughness after 20 days
The Argireline® cream (10%) against the placebo cream. Skin Visioscan VC98 imaging; lower is smoother.
Argireline® cream (10%)Placebo cream: no peptide
Maximum roughness (cR2)
Average roughness (cR3)
| Measure | Argireline® cream (10%) | Placebo cream: no peptide |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum roughness (cR2) | −7.4% | +4.3% |
| Average roughness (cR3) | −5.3% | +7.2% |
By day 20, maximum roughness (cR2) had fallen 7.4% and average roughness (cR3) 5.3% with the Argireline® cream, while both rose on the placebo cream (+4.3% and +7.2%). The paper reports the cR2 difference against placebo as statistically significant (P = .022). Percentages from Table 3 (Raikou et al., 2017).
What the researchers did
Twenty-four women aged 30 to 60 were randomly assigned to one of four creams, all made on the same base: Argireline® at 10%, a second peptide (tripeptide-10 citrulline) at 5%, the two together, or no peptide at all. Each applied her cream twice a day for 60 days and stopped all other skincare apart from a cleansing milk and sunscreen.
At the start and at days 20, 40 and 60, after 20 minutes' rest in a temperature-controlled room, the researchers imaged skin roughness with a Skin Visioscan VC98 and measured water loss through the skin with a Tewameter. The women also reported any warmth, stinging, redness, flaking, itching or eye irritation.
How to read this result
- Which comparison this page reports. The trial had four groups. This page reports Argireline® alone against the placebo cream, the comparison that isolates the peptide, with about six women in each.
- When the difference was clearest. Roughness kept falling with Argireline®: by day 60 it was 11.7% below the start. The paper reports the difference against placebo as significant at day 20 (P = .022), not at day 60.
- The placebo base. The placebo cream was deliberately low in emollients, so that the peptides could be measured on their own. Its users' water loss rose and they reported dryness, which widens the moisture comparison.
- Where it was measured. Skin was imaged on the forehead and around the eyes. The significant differences were on the forehead, the site where cosmetics aimed at moderate lines are usually measured, the authors note.
- How the creams were given out. In coded jars, so the women did not see which cream they had; the paper does not describe how the assessors were blinded.
- Scale and supply. 24 women at one academic institute in Athens. The peptides were supplied by Lipotec's Greek distributor, and the paper carries no funding or conflict-of-interest statement.
Where this trial sits in the evidence
Argireline® is one of the most widely used cosmetic peptides, and its human evidence rests on a small number of controlled trials. The largest is a double-blind trial of 60 adults, in which nearly half of those using 10% Argireline around the eyes were graded clearly improved after four weeks, against none on placebo (Wang et al., 2013). We appraise that trial in full on its own page.
This trial adds something the crow's-feet trial does not: an instrument measurement on the forehead, at a concentration the paper states, from an academic group rather than the ingredient's maker. Its result points the same way — smoother skin with Argireline® than without it, within weeks.
Every study we rely on, graded, is on the Argireline® evidence hub, which sits alongside our other ingredient research.
Common questions about this trial
Does this trial prove the ingredient works?
It shows that a cream with 10% Argireline® made forehead skin measurably smoother than a placebo cream within 20 days — maximum roughness −7.4% against +4.3% (P = .022) — measured by skin imaging rather than by eye. It is one small trial, and it agrees with the larger double-blind crow's-feet trial (Wang et al., 2013). The other studies we rely on are on the Argireline® evidence hub.
What concentration did the study use?
10% w/w Argireline®, stated in the methods, in a cream applied twice a day. Argireline is supplied as a peptide solution, so this is 10% of that solution: the top of the 2–10% range its maker recommends.
Is the trial independent?
It was run by academic researchers at the Technological Educational Institute of Athens and the University of Athens, not by the ingredient's maker. The peptides were supplied by N. Crallis S.A., Lipotec's distributor in Greece, and the paper carries no funding or conflict-of-interest statement.
Do Skingenetix products reproduce this result?
Our Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 Serum lists 10% Argireline®, the level used in this trial, applied the same way, twice a day. It also contains other ingredients, so its results are not the trial's results: we cite this trial as evidence for the ingredient as studied.
Before you try it
This article summarises one published study. It is not medical advice, and your own results may differ. Our products are cosmetics. As with anything new for your skin, try a small amount on your inner forearm for 24 hours first, and add one new product at a time. Stop using it if you notice redness, itching, burning or swelling. If irritation continues, or if you have a skin condition, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or use prescription skin treatments, please ask your doctor or pharmacist before starting.
What it means for our products
This trial is part of why Argireline® is in our range: it measured smoother forehead skin within 20 days, with an instrument rather than by eye, at a stated concentration of 10%.
Our Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 Serum lists the same 10% Argireline®. It also contains other ingredients, so we cite the trial for the ingredient as studied, not as a result our serum has repeated. The rest of the evidence is on the Argireline® research hub.
Reference
Raikou V, Varvaresou A, Panderi I, Papageorgiou E. The efficacy study of the combination of tripeptide-10-citrulline and acetyl hexapeptide-3. A prospective, randomized controlled study. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 2017;16(2):271–278. doi:10.1111/jocd.12314
Read at source: full text, 26 September 2026. Figures on this page come from Tables 2 and 3, Figures 1–3, the methods and the adverse-events section, not the abstract.