Fab Find of the Week: ICON Skincare (launched exclusively in the UK at Victoria Health)

This week sees the UK launch of ICON Skincare, the fabulous new skin-cherishing range from the founders of leading cosmeceutical brand iS Clinical, Bryan Johns and Alec Call. As they explain, ICON Skincare is a passionate and personal homage to Marilyn Monroe, the most glamorous and enchanting screen idol from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

For many decades, Bryan and Alec collected memorabilia of legendary stars – Monroe, of course, and also Rudolf Valentino, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor and more – now in The ICON Collection, until recently a private archive.

June 1st this year was the 100th birthday celebration of the iconic star of Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It was marked by a Red Carpet event at the Academy Museum in Hollywood, where The ICON Collection was unveiled and ICON Skincare was launched in the US. And now, lovely readers, you can buy it here and having tried the products, we’d say: dash, don’t dally, to order.

The inspiration for ICON Skincare came when Bryan and Alec acquired an autographed photograph of Marilyn, taken by Cecil Beaton in the mid 1950s. She had sent it to her longtime beautician Madam Renna, who tended to all Hollywood’s most famous faces. Rifling through the chest where the photo had been stored, Bryan and Alec found an unexpected treasure: a leather notebook with some 200 skincare recipes that Madam Renna had created for her celebrity clientele.

As a formulator, Bryan Johns was fascinated by the ingredients. One that drew his attention particularly was royal jelly because honey was a key ingredient in some iS Clinical formulations. And so the idea of ICON Skincare was born. Twelve years of research and development followed, marrying the inspiration of Marilyn and Madam Renna with sophisticated modern science.

Marilyn’s extraordinary appeal was rooted in the glamour she projected, due in no small degree to the extraordinary luminosity of her skin, which looked almost translucent on camera. Partly down to her genes but also to the formulas of Madam Renna. In ICON Skincare, the key ingredients – like Madam Renna’s - are natural: the ‘bee trio’ of royal jelly, honey and propolis, plus a bevy of proven botanical actives, marine polysaccharides, gentle acids, vitamins and nutrients such as oats and milk extracts, plus hyaluronic acid (aka sodium hyaluronate), a moisture magnet and a favourite iS Clinical compound for hydrating and plumping skin.

You won’t find lists of clinical trials with ICON. Instead the formulations rest on the heritage of expertise from iS Clinical in creating effective products. It’s confident skincare, designed to give consumers the joie de vivre that comes from knowing your skin is looking its best. So you can be, as the French idiom has it, ‘bien dans sa peau’ - comfortable in your skin. Bryan and Alec describe the ICON Skincare project as ‘fuelled by joy’ –and we’d say that really shines through when you try the products.

We love them all – but if you press us then Camera Ready, a hydrating primer, is a holy grail product. The first time Sarah tried it, she forgot she’d put it on, caught sight of herself in the mirror and nearly fell through the floor. On bare skin, it acts like a soft focus filter that makes skin look smoother and gives a glow you wouldn't believe ‘til you try it. Foundation on top gives the sort of airbrushed velvety finish that made Jo also swear never to leave the house without it.

As Bryan and Alec hoped, it makes us very happy and we think you will absolutely love it too. We’re delighted that Gill Sinclair is launching ICON Skincare exclusively at Victoria Health. So here are the products, with links to order.

Just NB here: the first four products are a good place to start, we suggest. (These are the ones we are giving our nearest and dearest.)

CLEANSERS – choose one or both (but NB not for removing eye make-up, they say)…

MilkIt Cleansing Powder (£38 for 60g) – created from a childhood memory of Bryan’s mother using a milk cleanser. Mix the powder in wet hands and marvel at the cleansing, exfoliating and unexpectedly softening power of this simple product based on, yep, milk – plus skin-polishing konjac root and a soothing oat complex. Then rinse off thoroughly.

Take One Cleansing Honey (£29 for 150ml) – a luscious gel wash, this references Madam Renna’s love of royal jelly, honey extract and propolis – the ‘bee trio’ - with an antioxidant rich dash of cocoa extract. It swooshes right away, leaving skin clean but not squeaky.

MOISTURISERS for morning and evening…

HydraScene Moisture (£43 for 50g) – a lightweight emulsion that’s a true hydration hero. We love this in the mornings, over a serum if you like (see below), followed by Camera Ready primer – read our rave below. Ceramides, biomimetic lipids and phytosphingosine help fortify the skin’s barrier, locking in long-lasting moisture, supported by royal jelly and propolis, plus hyaluronic acid, crambe Abyssinia seed oil and vitamin E.

The ICON Cream – Heritage (£61 for 40g) OR The Heritage Cream – Reinvented, (£56 for 40g). The ICON Cream – Heritage is a faithful re-creation of the nourishing moisturiser where royal jelly, honey and propolis are joined by lanolin and glycerin, two favourites of the era. While Gill Sinclair swoons over this, we are leaning to the ‘Reinvented” version where the bee trio is joined by shea butter and olive oil extract. (Note: the useful 7g travel sized samples are pictured above, but everything else is full size.)

THE PRIMER

Camera Ready (£47 for 20g) – please, whatever else you do or don't buy, order this. It’s simply superlative. And remember we’ve tested literally thousands of products between us for too many decades to count. It may not feel anything that special – a balm-like texture that needs a wee bit of smoothing in and leaving to absorb. But then, oh then! Just look at your bare skin and pick yourself up from wherever you’ve collapsed in delighted shock. If you’re having a bare skin day, leave it at that – your skin will look gorgeous - but if you favour foundation, maybe a dusting of powder and a soupçon of blusher, apply that as usual. Goodness knows what magic is in this but we don't care a whit or jot. (Actually it’s mostly that bee trio again.) You see your skin as if through a soft focus lens, which blurs and smooths lines and wrinkles as well as giving a backlit glow and luminosity (think MM), and transforms your usual make-up to an amazing, almost airbrushed finish.

So start with those then why not consider these as well?

Luminous Brightening (£52 for 30g) – one of the most common concerns we hear about is skin dullness. Here’s a solution: this cream-serum features ultra-stable vitamin C combined with rice bran extract to help brighten skin and balance tone. Optical light diffusers (we love those) give immediate glow and over time, a biomimetic royal jelly derivative plus propolis extract helps restore brightness. A nourishing and plumping complex of hyaluronic acid, jojoba oil and shea butter helps moisturise so skin looks more supple and dewy. Smooth it over cleansed skin.

Satin Resurfacing (£52 for 30 ml) – dubbed the ‘smooth operator’, this texture-refining serum does what it promises with a gentle complex of natural acids to whisk away dead skin cells and reveal a more radiant, polished complexion. Unlike the drying exfoliators of old, this drenches skin with a hydrating blend of – yes, you guessed it! - the bee trio plus hyaluronic acid and marine polysaccharides with willow bark and sugar cane extracts to help encourage natural skin renewal.

Cinematic Eyes (£43 for 15g) – tap this nourishing eye cream round your eyes a.m./p.m. to give the delicate skin there the TLC it needs.

As well as the bee trio and hyaluronic acid in here, there’s nutrient-dense plankton extract and eye- wakening caffeine, plus botanicals that defend against environmental stressors. You need a teeny amount but any left over can do double duty on upper lip lines. (Top tip!)

FINALLY… you’ll notice that there’s no SPF in the collection but there are some of the best ever in the iS Clinical range. We choose Eclipse SPF50+ Translucent (£45 for 100g), also available at victoriahealth.com.

MilkIt Cleansing Powder/£38 for 60g – buy here

Take One Cleansing Honey/£29 for 150ml – buy here

HydraScene Moisture/£43 for 50g) – buy here

The ICON Cream – Heritage/£61 for 40g – buy here

The Heritage Cream – Reinvented/£56 for 40g – buy here

Camera Ready/£47 for 20g – buy here

Luminous Brightening/£52 for 30g – buy here

Satin Resurfacing/£52 for 30ml – buy here

Cinematic Eyes/£43 for 15g – buy here