Darkfin Labs, Founded by a Stem Cell Biologist, Brings Longevity Science to Ulta Beauty
The Longevity Protocol Serum + Moisturizer — one product built to do the work of a five-step routine, evaluated across more than 80 clinical participants — is now available at Ulta.com.
NEW YORK, Sept. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Skin is the only organ we try to fix from the outside. The category has sold correction: change after it appears. Longevity science asks a different question — not how to cover aging, but how long skin holds its function. As healthspan describes years lived in good health, skin span describes how long skin behaves like young skin.
Darkfin Labs, a skincare brand founded by a stem cell biologist and inspired by regenerative research, today announced its digital expansion to Ulta Beauty. The flagship Longevity Protocol Serum + Moisturizer is available now at Ulta.com, with a face cleanser and lip treatment to follow.
At the center of the product is L-01™, a reconstructed cell-signaling complex built to speak the language skin uses to renew itself. Visible aging runs on several drivers at once, and most formulas pick one. L-01™ is multi-pathway by design, targeting the visible signs of stressed skin at the cellular level while supporting the extracellular matrix that holds skin firm.
The formula built around it replaces a multi-step routine. It carries actives into skin the way a serum does and supports the barrier the way a moisturizer does — one step where the category sells six. Four scientists spent two years and more than 40 iterations finding that equilibrium.
The brand began at a New York longevity research startup, where founder Annalina Che worked on the skin secretome — the messenger proteins cells use to coordinate renewal — building on her stem cell research at Northwestern University. Sourcing those proteins from human cells does not scale. So Darkfin mapped the youthful secretome across millions of data points and rebuilt it: bio-identical growth factors and peptides grown in plants, paired with an enzyme that supports cellular NAD+. Growth factors are large and fragile, and most never get past the surface of the skin. Darkfin's are fused to a lipid bilayer. The AI infrastructure behind the work was developed with Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Labs.
In human skin models, L-01™ was tested for its ability to reverse established markers of skin aging.¹ The finished formula has since been evaluated in more than 80 participants under dermatologist oversight. Its most recent study admitted only subjects whose skin was already measurably compromised, and recorded a visible and measurable reduction across visible aging metrics like lines and elasticity over 28 days, in addition to increased barrier strength.² A manuscript is in preparation for peer-reviewed publication.
"Skincare has spent a century working on the surface," said Annalina Che, founder of Darkfin Labs. "Skin doesn't age in one direction, so a product shouldn't work in one either. I wanted a protocol that works with the biology already doing the renewing — not six products layered on top of it."
¹ In vitro, human skin models. ² clinical study N=28, Instrumental and dermatologist assessment, and self-grading.
About Darkfin Labs
Darkfin Labs is a biotech skincare brand founded by stem cell biologist Annalina Che, built on L-01™ multi-pathway technology. The brand approaches skin as a biologically active organ and formulates in systems, not single actives.
Media Contact: Sophia Su, [email protected]
SOURCE Darkfin Labs
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