Icon Skincare Lands in the UK
When we first wrote about Icon Skincare back in May, there was one obvious downside: unless you were living in the US, you couldn’t actually buy it.
Thankfully, that’s changed.
The Old Hollywood-inspired skincare brand from the founders of iS Clinical has launched in the UK, arriving exclusively at Victoria Health with its nine-piece collection, priced from £29.
If you’re reading about Icon for the first time, you might be surprised to learn it all started with an auction.
Founders Bryan Johns and Alec Call weren’t hunting for skincare formulas when they bought an old chest for Bryan’s ever-growing collection of Hollywood memorabilia. They were expecting signed photographs and vintage keepsakes. Instead, they found the original treatment notes and skincare formulations of Madam Renna, the pioneering facialist whose client list included Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor, and countless other stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
For most people, that would make for a great story. For Johns, it became the foundation for an entirely new beauty brand. Rather than trying to faithfully recreate Madam Renna’s formulas, ingredient for ingredient, Johns and Call spent years reimagining them for modern skincare. After all, some ingredients no longer existed, while others had long since been replaced by newer technologies. The goal wasn’t to recreate history, but to translate what made those formulas so special into something that feels relevant today.
That’s why you’ll find royal jelly, honey, and propolis woven throughout the collection. Madam Renna was one of the first facialists to champion the ingredients in the US, and they’ve become the common thread running through Icon’s formulas.
Beyond reviving decades-old formulas and bringing them into modern-day routines, Icon set out to simplify skincare. Instead of encouraging increasingly complex routines, the brand champions a more considered approach designed to build confidence rather than confusion.
It also feels fitting that Icon has landed at Victoria Health. The retailer has long championed science-led skincare brands before they hit the mainstream, making it a natural home for the collection.
If you’d like to learn more about the story behind Icon Skincare and explore its debut collection in more detail, you can read our full feature.