The short answer: yes, the ingredient list names a relative of tobacco. No, there is no tobacco in the bottle. The plant was the factory, not the raw material. It is one of the more confusing INCI names in cosmetics, and it deserves an explanation.
What the label actually says
Three lines on the INCI list of GlamUpper’s hair growth serum look like this:
- Nicotiana Benthamiana Octapeptide-30 sh-Oligopeptide-2
- Nicotiana Benthamiana Hexapeptide-40 sh-Polypeptide-9
- Nicotiana Benthamiana Hexapeptide-40 sh-Polypeptide-86
Nicotiana benthamiana is an Australian plant and a close relative of tobacco. It is not farmed for cigarettes — it is one of the workhorses of plant biotechnology, because its cells accept a foreign gene readily and start building the corresponding protein. The same plant is used in laboratories to produce proteins, antibodies and vaccine components.
Molecular farming in one paragraph
The idea is simple. A gene — an instruction describing the desired peptide — is introduced into the plant cell. The plant builds it through its ordinary protein synthesis. The peptide is then extracted from the plant material and purified.
What you end up with is not a plant extract. It is a purified peptide. That is exactly why the EU cosmetic ingredient database notes that these substances are produced by biotechnology rather than extracted from the plant — the plant is production equipment, not the source of the ingredient.
There is no nicotine in the finished product. Nicotine is a product of the plant’s own metabolism, not the molecule the purification process is designed to collect.
What the “sh-” prefix means
It is an agreed marker in INCI naming. “sh” indicates a peptide whose sequence corresponds to a human one and which is made recombinantly — in the lab, from a genetic instruction.
That distinction matters, because people read “human” and picture something donor-derived. It is not. The peptide has not been taken from any person or animal — only the sequence is known, and a plant cell builds the molecule from it.
The first part of the name — Octapeptide-30 or Hexapeptide-40 — belongs to the same ingredient and is part of its full INCI name. A long, awkward name is not a sign of anything suspicious; it simply describes precisely which molecule this is and how it was obtained.
Why a brand chooses this route
- Consistency. A plant extract varies with the harvest, the soil and the year. A recombinant peptide is the same molecule in every batch.
- Purity. The end product is a purified peptide, not a mixture of hundreds of plant compounds.
- No animal or donor origin. The whole process happens in plant cells.
- Traceability. You know exactly which molecule is in the bottle.
And now the honest part: what they do
The European Union’s cosmetic ingredient database defines the cosmetic function of these peptides plainly: hair conditioning and skin conditioning. Not growth, not treatment — conditioning.
That is the part worth taking away. A biotechnological origin makes an ingredient pure, reproducible and genuinely interesting. It does not make it a medicine. No cosmetic product treats hair loss, and results are always individual, depending on what is causing the thinning in the first place.
In GlamUpper’s hair growth serum these three peptides sit alongside caffeine, niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate, biotin and rosemary leaf extract. The formula is water-based and contains no oils. The product is registered in the EU cosmetic product portal, CPNP.
Frequently asked questions
Is there nicotine in the serum?
No. The ingredient is a peptide produced in plant cells and then purified, not an extract of the tobacco plant. The plant’s role is manufacturing, not raw material.
Are these peptides of animal origin?
No. Recombinant production means the molecule is built from a genetic instruction inside a plant cell. There is no animal or donor material anywhere in that chain.
Is a biotech ingredient safe?
Ingredients used in cosmetics must comply with the EU Cosmetics Regulation, and every product’s formula is assessed for safety before it reaches the market. Biotechnological origin is not a separate risk category — if anything it gives greater batch-to-batch consistency than a plant extract.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If hair loss is sudden, patchy or severe, see a doctor.