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Does Argireline® firm and tighten facial skin?
A vehicle-controlled university trial of 10% Argireline® (acetyl hexapeptide-3) on the faces and forearms of 40 women, measured with three skin instruments — read at source, appraised in full.
−33%
Facial anisotropy by week 4
Facial anisotropy, which rises with age, fell from about 2.5 to 1.7 with Argireline® and was lower than with the plain cream at week 4 (p < 0.05); the plain cream's own change was not significant. Group means read from Figure 5B (Tadini et al., 2015).
−37%
Already by week 2
Two weeks in, facial anisotropy on the Argireline® cream was already significantly below its start, at about 1.6, and it stayed down at the week-4 visit.
40
Women, in a publicly funded trial
A University of São Paulo trial funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation, with no conflicts of interest declared: the only one of our three appraised Argireline® trials to name a public funder. The paper gives the size of the change for one measure only, facial anisotropy, which is why the third figure is the trial's size.
Original research by Tadini KA, Mercurio DG and Campos PMBGM, published in Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2015).
Appraised by the Skingenetix research team. Medically reviewed by Dr Esther Bodde, Cosmetic & Medical Physician. Last reviewed 30 September 2026.
Acetyl hexapeptide-3, the name this paper uses, is another label name for acetyl hexapeptide-8 (ingredient lists show both): the peptide sold as Argireline®, made by Lipotec, now part of Lubrizol, and widely used for the look of expression lines. Skin anisotropy, the measure that changed in this trial, compares how fast a tiny sound pulse crosses the skin in different directions; the gap widens as skin ages.
The Tadini 2015 trial tested a cream with 10% Argireline® (acetyl hexapeptide-3) against the same cream without it in 40 women aged 35 to 55. On the face, only the Argireline cream significantly lowered anisotropy, a firmness-related measure that rises with age: by about a third within two weeks, and below the plain cream at four weeks (p < 0.05).
Our verdict: a publicly funded university trial that measured how facial skin behaves rather than how lines look. With 10% Argireline®, facial anisotropy fell by about a third within two weeks and stayed down, which the authors read as firmer, tauter skin; the plain cream made no significant change. We read it beside the two Argireline® wrinkle trials.
At a glance
The nine things worth knowing before you weigh what this trial found.
Vehicle-controlled, with application sites assigned at random: each woman used both creams on her forearms, one per arm; on the face, half the women used each cream.
40 healthy women aged 35 to 55, skin types II to IV on the Fitzpatrick scale (fair to light brown), non-smokers.
1 mL of a cream with UVA/UVB filters and 10% Argireline®, twice a day, to the whole face or one inner forearm.
The same cream without Argireline®: on the other forearm, and on the faces of the other half of the group.
4 weeks, measured at the start, at week 2 and at week 4.
On the cheeks and inner forearms: a Corneometer CM 825 for surface moisture, a Cutometer SEM 575 for elasticity and a Reviscometer RV600 for anisotropy.
10% Argireline®, which the paper describes as a solution containing 0.05% acetyl hexapeptide-3: about 0.005% peptide in the cream, and the same 10% as the other two Argireline® trials.
Publicly funded (FAPESP, the São Paulo Research Foundation) and run at the University of São Paulo; no conflicts declared. Galena Química e Farmacêutica, a Brazilian ingredient distributor, donated the peptide.
A− — controlled, instrument-measured and publicly funded (FAPESP); blinding is not described, and the positive result is a firmness-related measure rather than a wrinkle measurement.
What the measurements showed
Facial skin anisotropy over four weeks
Slowest ÷ fastest time for a sound pulse to cross the cheek skin (Reviscometer). Lower means the skin behaves more evenly in every direction; it rises with age. Group means read from Figure 5B.
Cream with 10% Argireline®Same cream without it
Start
Week 2
Week 4
| Visit | Cream with 10% Argireline® | Same cream without it |
|---|---|---|
| Start | ≈2.5 | ≈2.5 |
| Week 2 | ≈1.6 | ≈2.0 |
| Week 4 | ≈1.7 | ≈2.2 |
With 10% Argireline®, facial anisotropy fell from about 2.5 to about 1.6 at week 2 and 1.7 at week 4: significantly below the start at both visits, and below the plain cream at week 4 (p < 0.05). On the plain cream it went from about 2.5 to about 2.2, not a significant change (Tadini et al., 2015).
What the researchers did
Forty healthy women aged 35 to 55 applied a cream with UVA/UVB filters twice a day for four weeks, with or without 10% Argireline®. Each put the Argireline® version on one inner forearm and the plain version on the other; on the face, half the women used each. Application sites were assigned at random, and no other skincare was allowed on the test areas.
At the start, week 2 and week 4, after 30 minutes' rest in a room at about 20 °C, the team measured the cheeks and forearms: moisture with a Corneometer, elasticity with a Cutometer, which draws the skin up by gentle suction, and anisotropy with a Reviscometer, which times a tiny sound pulse across the skin in several directions.
How to read this result
- What was measured. The positive result is on anisotropy, a Reviscometer reading that rises as skin ages. With Argireline® it fell on the face, which the authors read as firmer, tauter skin. The trial measured firmness, elasticity and moisture; the wrinkle trials measured lines.
- What moved and what held. Facial anisotropy fell significantly with Argireline® by week 2 and stayed lower at week 4, when it was also significantly lower than with the plain cream. The suction-based elasticity readings held steady on both creams, as did the separate direction timings behind the anisotropy ratio.
- Moisture rose with both creams. Facial moisture rose with the Argireline® cream and with the plain cream alike (p < 0.01 against the start) and stayed up for four weeks, so the moisture gain belongs to the base cream; the anisotropy change was the peptide's own.
- Face, not forearm. The changes were on the face; on the inner forearm, neither cream changed anisotropy or elasticity significantly. The authors point out that facial skin sees more sun and responds more to anti-ageing products.
- How the groups compare. On the face, the comparison is between two groups of women, who started with almost identical anisotropy (about 2.5 each). The paper does not describe blinding, drop-outs or side effects, and it reports significance at p < 0.05 without exact values; the figures on this page are read from its Figure 5B.
- Who paid. FAPESP, São Paulo's public research foundation, funded the work, and the authors declared no conflicts. Galena Química e Farmacêutica, a Brazilian ingredient distributor, donated the Argireline®.
Where this trial sits in the evidence
Three controlled trials have tested 10% Argireline® on skin, and each measured something different. Around the eyes, clinicians graded 22 of 45 people clearly improved after four weeks, against none of 15 on placebo (Wang et al., 2013; our crow's-feet appraisal). On the forehead, roughness fell 7.4% by day 20 while it rose 4.3% on placebo (Raikou et al., 2017; our forehead appraisal).
This is the trial that measured how the skin itself behaves, and the only one of the three with a named public funder. All three point the same way: facial skin measured better with Argireline® than without it, within weeks, at 10%. People sometimes ask whether Argireline® can loosen skin; in this trial, elasticity held steady and the one measure that changed moved the way the authors read as firmer skin.
Every study we rely on, graded, is on the Argireline® evidence hub, alongside our other ingredient research, and the Clinical studies list gathers every trial we have appraised.
Common questions about this trial
Does this trial prove the ingredient works?
It shows that a cream with 10% Argireline® changed a firmness-related measure of facial skin within two weeks: anisotropy fell by about a third and, at four weeks, was significantly lower than with the same cream without the peptide (p < 0.05). It measured firmness rather than lines; the wrinkle trials, and every other study, are on the Argireline® evidence hub.
What concentration did the study use?
10% Argireline®, which the paper describes as a solution containing 0.05% acetyl hexapeptide-3, so the finished cream held about 0.005% of the peptide itself. That is the same 10% level used in the crow's-feet and forehead trials, at the top of the 2–10% range its maker recommends.
Is the trial independent?
It is the only Argireline® trial we appraise that names a public funder: a University of São Paulo study, funded by FAPESP, the São Paulo Research Foundation, and published in the peer-reviewed Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, with no conflicts of interest declared. The peptide was donated by Galena Química e Farmacêutica, a Brazilian ingredient distributor.
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 is a different formula from the trial's cream, 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 adds something the wrinkle trials do not: a publicly funded, instrument-measured sign that 10% Argireline® changes how facial skin behaves. Within two weeks, the skin responded more evenly in every direction, which the authors read as firmer skin.
Our Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 Serum lists the same 10% Argireline®. It is a different formula from the trial's cream, 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
Tadini KA, Mercurio DG, Campos PMBGM. Acetyl hexapeptide-3 in a cosmetic formulation acts on skin mechanical properties - clinical study. Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 2015;51(4):901–909. doi:10.1590/S1984-82502015000400016
Read at source: full text, 30 September 2026, open access on SciELO. Figures come from the methods, the results and Figures 1 to 7, not the abstract; the paper has no tables, so the anisotropy values are read from Figure 5B. Argireline® is a registered trademark of Lubrizol.