5 Ways Fitzpatrick Fails Melanin-Rich Skin (And How to Fix It)

The Fitzpatrick Scale was never built for melanin-rich skin—and it shows.

Developed in the 1970s to measure how pale skin burns or tans, the Fitzpatrick system reduces skin health to sun reactivity while ignoring the biological intelligence, memory, and resilience of Black and brown skin. What it labels as “less sensitive” or “lower risk” often translates into misdiagnosis, overtreatment, and long-term pigment trauma for melanated individuals.

This guide breaks down five critical ways Fitzpatrick fails melanin-rich skin, from its reliance on visible redness to its silence on pigment memory, barrier health, and lived environmental history. More importantly, it offers a path forward. Through NoirActive™ and the MélanoMatrix-D™ (M–R–B–U–P™) functional profile system, we introduce a melanin-centered diagnostic approach that prioritizes protection over suppression and understanding over approximation.

If you’ve ever been told your skin is “hard to treat,” “prone to hyperpigmentation,” or “too sensitive for results,” the problem is not your skin. It’s the framework. And it’s time to replace it.