Dr. Melaxin

Dr. Melaxin is a South Korean dermocosmetics brand founded in 2021 and headquartered in Seoul [8]. It belongs to Brand501 Corporation, a Korean beauty company that also runs the men's grooming line Barber501, the feminine-care line Series Y and the lifestyle range Maison de Pensée [5]. Dr. Melaxin positions itself as a "slow-aging" skincare line built around clinically tested formulas aimed at concerns such as melasma, pigmentation, enlarged pores and sagging skin.

The brand's central idea is borrowed from medicine: it describes its products as working like a vaccine that treats and prevents skin problems rather than sitting on the surface as ordinary cosmetics. According to the company, its products are released only after long-term testing proves they are effective [2]. The name itself is the subject of two readings — Dr. Melaxin says "Melaxin" derives from "medical vaccine" [2][6], while the K-beauty retailer Haruharu Beauty describes it as a blend of "Melanin" and "Relaxin," emphasising the regulation of melanin production [7].

Dr. Melaxin's parent, Brand501 Corporation, traces back further than the brand itself. The company was incorporated in 2017 under the name SkinAgent and rebranded to BRAND501 in 2021, the same year the Dr. Melaxin label launched [5]. The parent is based in the Seongsu-dong district of Seoul and presents itself as a global beauty company selling directly to consumers. Beyond its Korean base, Brand501 lists market presence or subsidiaries in the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union [5].

The brand frames its approach around three stated principles: clinical validation, safety and clean formulation [2]. On safety, it says every product passes hypoallergenic testing and is registered as a functional product with South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Its clean-formulation pledge takes the form of what it calls an "8-FREE Clean Prescription" standard, which it says excludes ingredients including PEG, mineral oil, phenoxyethanol, the preservatives CMIT and MIT, and artificial colourants and fragrances [2]. Summarising its aims, the company works under the formula "Slow Aging + Healthy Skin + Visible Improvement" [6], and presents itself as a science-driven alternative to cosmetics that, in its words, are only "slapped on."

Dr. Melaxin's catalogue is organised into named lines, each targeting a specific concern: the exfoliating Peel Shot range, the Eyephalt eye-bag cream, the tranexamic-acid TX line for dark spots, the Necksphalt neck-wrinkle range, and the cooling CACTOX pore line. Hero ingredients across the range include tranexamic acid, kojic acid, niacinamide, AHA and BHA exfoliating acids, rice-derived extract and astaxanthin. The brand also markets several proprietary technologies, among them a patented complex it calls ECM-5, "Bio-Spicules" and a liposomed peptide complex; it states that ECM-5 is clinically proven to reduce neck wrinkles and that Bio-Spicules penetrate the skin's elastic-fibre layer.

Among individual products, the Peel Shot exfoliating rice ampoule has drawn the most visible traction, ranking second in Amazon's facial-peels category against close to 10,000 reviews [8]. Other frequently cited items include the TX Ampoule, formulated at a 4.3% tranexamic-acid concentration, and the Eyephalt eye-bag cream.

Editorial coverage has tied Dr. Melaxin to the broader rise of clinical K-beauty dermocosmetics. As of late 2025, one review reported it as the second best-selling skincare brand on TikTok Shop [8], a measure of its commercial momentum in social-commerce channels rather than a formal award.

Dr. Melaxin is an active brand. It maintains storefronts at drmelaxin.eu and drmelaxin.us and is sold through retailers including Amazon, Ulta Beauty, iHerb and YesStyle [8]. The brand states that its products are made entirely in South Korea [7], and its parent company continues to operate a multi-region commercial network. The most recent visible activity recorded in available sources dates to late 2025.