Nature's own skin protection.
C1 Melanin is a natural skin-protective molecule, perfected by nature and produced via precision fermentation by us.
INCI: Melanin; CAS: 8049-97-6
Skincare brands need something fundamentally different.
Suncare is now a daily essential, but most UV filters carry a high carbon footprint and impact marine ecosystems. Consumer and regulatory pressure is moving the category toward natural, ocean-safe ingredients.
Regulatory bans
Certain ingredients already banned in Hawaii, the US Virgin Islands, Palau and Bonaire.
The molecule
Your skin invented photoprotection. We are multiplying its power.
Every time your skin meets the sun, it produces melanin, the body's original photoprotection system. We discovered a microbe that makes melanin bio-identical to your skin's own, and now we bring it to you in easy to formulate formats.
Optimized skin protection.
INCI: Melanin; CAS: 8049-97-6
UV and blue light defense
Broad-Spectrum Defense: C1 Melanin absorbs across UVA and UVB spectrum, and into visible and HEV (blue light) ranges - the breadth of protection rarely seen in a single ingredient.
Antioxidant defense
Absorbs UV, scavenges free radicals, and chelates the iron and copper ions that drive oxidative damage.
DNA protection
Shields the DNA in skin cells from UV-induced damage.
Digital pollution
Defends against blue light and protects the skin from modern reality of artificial lighting and digital screen emmissions.
Perfect addition for suncare, skincare, and color cosmetics brands.
Ingredient portfolio
Three formats.
Melanin has been studied for decades as a functional protective system. The problem came when we get down to formulations - it is virtually insoluble in water and most solvents. Out fermentation systems allows to co-produce melanin along side other bioactive ingredients that help deliver the molecule to your formulations. Resulting in a natural melanin that is ready for cosmetics and functional use.
Sustainable and reef-safe
Sustainability perfected by nature.
C1-Melanin is produced by precision methane fermentation, from a desert microbe that makes melanin to survive heat, UV and drought. No crops, no land, no petrochemicals, with a carbon footprint a fraction of conventional UV filters.
Reef-safe by nature
Melanin occurs naturally in marine organisms, so it is bio-identical, not a foreign chemical.
Fully biodegradable
Natural eumelanin breaks down and does not bioaccumulate in marine food chains, unlike petrochemical filters.
Bio-identical
The melanin your skin already produces, with millions of years of biological safety, not engineered.