Olfactory receptors (ORs) belong to the family of G-protein-coupled receptors and are expressed in olfactory neurons where they play a critical role in the recognition of thousands of odorants by the olfactory sensory system. Many ORs are also ectopically expressed in non-sensory tissues where they mediate a variety of cellular functions. Here, we expressed different OR7C1 variants in HEK293-RTP1/RTP2 cells and identified 44 agonists of this receptor using a luciferase reporter gene assay. In addition, we detected the expression of this OR at the transcriptional level (RNAseq and RT-PCR) in primary cultures of human epidermal melanocytes from different ethnical origins. Interestingly, a 4 days stimulation of these cells with OR7C1 activators led to an accumulation of eumelanin both intracellularly and in the culture medium, without any effect on cell viability (MTS). We further demonstrated that melanogenesis can be stimulated dose-dependently in human skin explants from different donors using OR7C1 agonists AmberKetal® and Ambermax®, while leaving skin explants viability or melanocyte proliferation unaffected. Finally, immunostaining of tyrosinase, a key player of melanin synthesis, revealed a significant 16% increase of this enzyme expression in skin explants after treatment. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that OR7C1 is expressed in human melanocytes and its activation by agonists identified in house can modulate melanogenesis, probably by increasing the tyrosinase expression. Both in-vitro and ex-vivo increases of melanin production are in the range of those elicited by UVB or by a benchmark product used in the same time interval. Clinical studies aiming to evaluate the potential of OR7C1 agonist as UV-free tanning agents on healthy volunteers are currently ongoing. This work is the subject of the patent application WO2021260168.