Often, the brands that take up permanent residence on the most discerning skin experts’ shelves are surprisingly buzz-free – and that’s exactly the case with iS Clinical. There’s no celebrity founder, attention-seeking packaging, or professionally curated Instagram account. The brand’s website is unassuming and stockists are scarce. So, why is everyone clamouring for the US-born brand, and is it worth the search?
What’s the story?
Founded in 2002 by biochemist Bryan Johns and Alec Call – and still privately owned – iS Clinical is part of the Innovative Skincare umbrella, which creates products focused on pure, pharmaceutical-grade ingredients. The dramatic effects of these forensically honed products made the brand’s professional treatments an awards-circuit mainstay, yet the buzz didn’t quite reverberate across the pond.
Cue a few choice (not paid-for) endorsements from some enviably glossy influencers – think Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, January Jones and celebrity facialist Shani Darden – and iS Clinical has become the under-the-radar skincare line of the moment.
What’s in it?
iS Clinical doesn’t look like the type of brand to be touting buzzwords such as ‘botanical’ and ‘natural’. In fact, it looks veritably like something you’d only expect to find lining the white walls of a dermatologist’s office.
But the formulas in these gimmick-free blue bottles are actually a force of nature, combining highly active, plant-derived extracts (and omitting potentially sensitising fragrance), to directly tackle specific skin concerns.
The brand’s skincare ethos comprises four steps: cleanse, treat, hydrate and protect, and the range offers products in each category for a variety of specific skin types. Every one is conceptualised and produced in-house, with no third-party involvement, meaning you wont’ find a ‘dupe’ or replica anywhere else.
High-grade ingredients – think plant-derived acids, vitamins A to E, stem cells and ceramides – are combined to deliver the most notable results in the least amount of time. Users of the brand’s star serum (more on that later) have reported visible improvements in a matter of days.
The brand’s scientific approach is founded on the biological principle of xenohormesis: the concept that stressed plants produce bioactive compounds, which pass on stress-resistance and survival benefits to the people who consume (or apply) them.
What should I try?
While the brand offers a specific range for each skin type, there’s one hero product that has made more waves than anything else. Praised in particular by those with acne and rough skin texture, the Active Serum is widely hailed as the product to solve the most persistent of breakouts, while fading scars and hyperpigmentation too.
According to Dr. Charlene DeHaven M.D, clinical director of iS Clinical, the cult following is due to the unique combination of four naturally occurring acids that “do more than just treat blemishes”.
“Sugar cane (a source of glycolic acid) and bilberry fruit extract (a source of lactic acid) both encourage gentle exfoliation of the outer layers of the epidermis, without dehydrating the skin. Willow bark extract (containing salicylic acid) deep-cleanse the pores, while kojic-acid rich mushroom extract has powerful antibacterial and antimicrobial properties,” she explains. The addition of arbutin makes this serum a powerful tool in fading pigmentation, too – combined with the kojic acid, it inhibits melanin-producing enzymes, therefore fading post-inflammatory pigmentation.
The formula is undeniably potent, and so those with very sensitive skin, eczema or rosacea should sit this one out (and head for the strengthening antioxidant Pro Heal Serum instead). But if you’re hoping to tackle a bout of breakouts or resurface deep post-acne scarring in a matter of weeks, this will likely be exactly the product you are looking for.
