Written by LAURA REGENSDORF

A well-curated skin care regimen is akin to an investment portfolio: each element chosen for its ability to deliver, now and into the future. For the London-based aesthetician Melanie Grant, this guides her perpetual search for the latest high-performance formulas, the better to fine-tune her product recommendations for clients—and for herself. We at VIOLET GREY consider her an oracle of good skin (clients like Victoria Beckham and Cate Blanchett agree), which is why we’ve made room on THE SHELVES for the Melanie Grant Edit: a deep cut of the industry’s science-backed brands. Every hand-selected serum, mask, and sunscreen earns its keep.

Among her anointed favorites is the skin care line Noble Panacea, developed by the late chemist Sir Fraser Stoddart. In 2016, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the design and synthesis of molecular machines. “Essentially, he figured out how to create tiny, mechanically interlocked molecules that can move when given energy,” says Grant. “The brand’s technology—Organic Super Molecular Vessel, or OSMV™—is a direct application of that science.” In Noble Panacea’s formulas, this innovative delivery system works to safeguard actives and facilitate their timed release. “This keeps fragile ingredients like vitamin C or retinol from breaking down due to light or air exposure,” Grant says. It also means that exfoliating acids arrive in measured fashion, without causing irritation—a key benefit of one of her go-to products, the Exceptional Overnight Chronobiology Peel. “It’s the lazy girl’s secret to great skin,” she quips.

If OSMV™ sets the brand apart, so does its approach to packaging. Each product, from the winter-proof Absolute Nourishing Lift Oil to Grant’s everyday SPF, comes in a single-dose sachet, which is recyclable through TerraCycle’s mail-in program. The intent is peak freshness and maximum ease—particularly for a frequent flier like Grant, who regularly travels to her native Australia, a Los Angeles location, and her New York treatment studio above VIOLET GREY’s Madison Store. Skin care for a week-long trip boils down to a handful of poker chip–sized discs: a slim load with serious payoff.

Here, Grant shares her essential edit, from a lifting eye treatment to an overnight mask that redefines beauty sleep.