The Ordinary “Buffet” + Copper Peptides 1%: Reading the Whole Label

On the label of The Ordinary’s
“Buffet” + Copper Peptides 1% — now sold as Multi-Peptide +
Copper Peptides 1% Serum — Copper Tripeptide-1 sits fourth, and the brand
states the concentration as 1%. The hero ingredient is genuinely near the top of
a very long list, and you are told how much is in there, which is more than most
copper peptide serums offer. The interesting question is not a buried active. It
is what the “Buffet” name implies about the six other peptides, and
where they actually land on the label.

Most of the “read the label” pieces we write here end with the
marketed hero sitting embarrassingly far down the ingredient list, somewhere
below the preservatives. This one does not, and that is exactly why it is worth
reading. The Ordinary put the copper peptide where a shopper would hope to find
it and told you the percentage. So the interesting question changes. When the
headline active is real and honestly placed, what does the rest of a
very long label tell you — and does the word
“Buffet” survive a slow read?

A quick note on the name. The product most people search for as
“Buffet + Copper Peptides 1%” has been rebranded to
“Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 1% Serum.” Same formula, new label.
We read every name on that label, top to bottom. Here is what it says.

Where does the copper peptide actually sit?

Here is the full list, quoted verbatim as it appears on the product listing at
INCIDecoder,
read 13 September 2026. The same list appears on the product’s US and
Canadian pages at a major beauty retailer, read the same day; all three sources
return an identical list.

Water, Glycerin, Lactococcus Ferment Lysate, Copper Tripeptide-1, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Pentapeptide-18, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate, Acetylarginyltryptophyl Diphenylglycine, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Sodium Hyaluronate, Allantoin, Glycine, Alanine, Serine, Valine, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Histidine, Phenylalanine, Arginine, Aspartic Acid, Trehalose, Fructose, Glucose, Maltose, Urea, Sodium PCA, PCA, Sodium Lactate, Citric Acid, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Hydroxide, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Acacia Senegal Gum, Xanthan Gum, Carbomer, Polysorbate 20, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Sodium Benzoate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin.

Copper Tripeptide-1 — GHK-Cu, the molecule the whole product is named
after — is fourth on that list, right behind water,
glycerin and a postbiotic ferment. The label states 1%. On an ingredient list,
where things are ordered roughly by weight down to about the 1% mark, fourth
place with a disclosed percentage is close to the best a shopper can reasonably
hope for. The copper is there, near the top, and you are told how much. Credit
where it is due.

Marketed hero

Copper Tripeptide-1 (GHK-Cu)

Position on label

Fourth from the top

Concentration disclosed?

Yes — 1% stated on the label

Ingredients on the label

Forty-nine

Source of list

INCIDecoder plus the retailer’s US and Canadian pages, all read 13 Sep 2026 — identical

The reason copper peptides get talked about at all is that the biology is not
imaginary. In a review of the GHK-Cu literature, Pickart and Margolina describe
the peptide acting on fibroblasts and on skin remodelling pathways, with small
clinical studies reporting improved skin appearance over roughly twelve weeks of
use (Pickart &
Margolina, 2018). The evidence here is mostly small studies rather than
large trials, but it is a real base, and it is why the ingredient is worth
putting near the top of a label rather than a fingernail of it near the bottom.
So far, so good.

What does the “Buffet” of seven peptides look like on the label?

The name promises a spread. The label delivers seven peptide technologies, and
that part is true — but look at where six of them fall. Below the 1%
Copper Tripeptide-1 at position four sit Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Pentapeptide-18,
Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, and
Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate — the peptides marketed
elsewhere as Matrixyl, SYN-AKE and Argireline-family complexes. They occupy
positions five through eleven. By their place on the label, each is present at
less than the 1% copper peptide above them.

How much less? The label cannot tell you exactly, and neither can we. What we
can say is that the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel, in its published
safety assessment of these exact peptides, surveyed how the industry actually
uses them and recorded typical use concentrations well below 10 parts per million
— that is, under 0.001% — for ingredients like Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1
and Copper Tripeptide-1 in general cosmetic use
(CIR Expert
Panel, Safety Assessment of Peptides, 2014, PDF). The Ordinary’s GHK-Cu
at 1% is far above that industry-typical figure, which is the point of the
product. The six “Buffet” peptides at positions five to eleven are
not individually disclosed, so all the label licenses you to conclude is that
each is below 1%.

So the “Buffet” is real in the sense that seven peptides are on
the label. Whether it is a buffet in the sense the name suggests — a
generous helping of each — is harder to defend from a list on which six of
the seven sit below one percent.

What fills positions 15 to 29?

This is where the label gets talkative. Positions fifteen through
twenty-five are eleven amino acids in a row: glycine, alanine, serine, valine,
isoleucine, proline, threonine, histidine, phenylalanine, arginine and aspartic
acid. Positions twenty-six through twenty-nine are four sugars: trehalose,
fructose, glucose and maltose. Add urea and the sodium PCA / PCA / sodium lactate
cluster just after, and a large stretch of the middle of this formula is one
thing: Natural Moisturizing Factor components, the humectants marketed on the
page as “amino acids and Bio-Derivatives.”

None of that is a bad ingredient. NMF compounds are the humectants your own
skin already uses to hold water at the surface, and they do a real, modest job.
But two points are worth saying plainly. First, amino acids and simple sugars are
among the cheapest inputs in a cosmetic chemist’s cabinet — commodity
bulk. Second, a long run of the label is taken up doing surface hydration that a
much shorter humectant system could cover. That is not deception; the label makes
it plain. It is simply worth knowing that a chunk of the ingredient count you are
reading is inexpensive, plentiful material rather than more actives.

Can the copper peptide actually get where it needs to go?

Here is the part of the label that made us pause. A GHK-Cu molecule is small,
but it is also charged, and charged peptides do not cross intact skin easily.
That makes the one dedicated penetration helper on the label worth locating:
Dimethyl Isosorbide sits at position forty-four — below
the thickeners, below the emulsifiers, near the very end of the list. Solvents of
that type are sometimes used at double-digit percentages when a formula is
genuinely built to drive a hard-to-absorb active across the barrier. At position
forty-four, the amount present is far lower than that.

We are careful here: you cannot read an exact percentage off a list, and at a
low level Dimethyl Isosorbide may be doing a perfectly sensible job as a
solubiliser for other ingredients rather than as a delivery vehicle for the
copper. What the label can tell you is that this formula does not appear to lean
hard on penetration enhancement to carry GHK-Cu into the skin. Whether that
changes the result is an open question the ingredient list raises but cannot
close.

Is the preservative system the real irritation story?

The last five names on the label — sodium benzoate, caprylyl glycol,
ethylhexylglycerin, phenoxyethanol and chlorphenesin — are the preservative
system, and phenoxyethanol is the name ingredient-savvy communities argue about
most, though it is only one of several preservatives to recognise here. Copper
peptides themselves can, in a minority of people, cause mild transient stinging,
and copper contact allergy is real but uncommon, so a patch test is sensible for
anyone with metal-sensitive skin.

The point worth holding onto is that when someone reports a serum
“didn’t agree with me,” the peptide is not automatically the
cause. A stack of five preservatives is a more common source of a reaction than a
well-tolerated tripeptide. If your skin is reactive, patch-test on the inner
forearm for a few days before it goes near your face — and if you do react,
the preservative block gives you several other suspects before you blame the
copper.

So is it worth it, and what does a different formula look like?

On its own terms, this is an honest label. The headline active is real, near
the top, and quantified — genuinely unusual for the category. The rest is
six lower-dose peptides, a long run of cheap NMF hydration, and a competent
preservative system, with a delivery question the ingredient list raises but
cannot answer. If you want an affordable, widely stocked copper peptide serum,
and you go in understanding that the “Buffet” is one feature peptide
and six sides, it is a defensible buy at around fifteen dollars.

What would you change if you were reading this label as a formulator?
Probably fewer commodity NMF placeholders and a harder look at delivery. That is
the thinking behind the copper peptide serum we make —
Evil
Goods’ Copper Peptide Blue Honey Serum (our product), built around
copper peptides, hyaluronic acid, Manuka honey and niacinamide. In fairness we
owe you the same scrutiny we just applied: The Ordinary discloses its 1%, and
Evil Goods does not publish a copper concentration for ours, so on that one
measure of transparency they are ahead of us. Ingredient Desk is published by the
team behind Evil Goods, so read our comparisons knowing that.

FAQ

Does The Ordinary actually use 1% copper peptides?
The label states 1%, and Copper Tripeptide-1 sits fourth on the ingredient list
— near the top, above the preservatives. Both the disclosed figure and the
label position point the same way. That is unusually transparent for the
category.

What is Matrixyl, and how much is in this serum?
Matrixyl is a marketing name for palmitoyl peptides such as Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1
and Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, which appear at positions seven and eight here.
Because they fall below the 1% copper peptide at position four, each is present at
under 1%; the exact amount is not disclosed.

Why are there so many amino acids and sugars in it?
Positions fifteen through twenty-nine are eleven amino acids and four sugars, all
Natural Moisturizing Factor components. They provide real surface hydration and
are among the cheapest ingredients available, which is how a formula ends up with
a long run of them.

Will the copper peptide actually absorb?
GHK-Cu is small but charged, which makes crossing intact skin harder. The
formula’s one penetration helper, Dimethyl Isosorbide, sits at position
forty-four, suggesting a low level. The ingredient list raises the absorption
question but cannot answer it.

Could this serum irritate my skin?
A minority of people get mild transient stinging from copper peptides, and copper
contact allergy is uncommon but real, so patch-test if your skin is
metal-sensitive. The stack of five preservatives is also a plausible source of a
reaction.