Before there was the age of influencers, celebrity brands and the behemoth industry that is beauty products, there was the forever-elegant Grace Kelly and her finely curated royal-approved favorites.
By all accounts, the Princess of Monaco “remained discreet about her makeup and skin-care routine,” as well as the products she used. But according to Claudia Poccia, CEO of Grace de Monaco, a perfume house that donates all profits to the Princess Grace Foundation, there were some established winners. “During her time in Hollywood, Erno Laszlo was the skin-care expert that many actresses relied on,” says Poccia, noting that one brand became a bit more official: “In 1965, Princess Grace named Lancaster [of Monaco] her official skin-care and sun-care supplier.”
Available since 1946, Lancaster was established in the Principality of Monaco as part of the Coty group brand, which still owns it today. According to the company, the “history begins with an encounter between two passionate and visionary men: Georges Wurz, an important industrialist, and Dr Eugène Frezzatti, a highly qualified chemist, expert on cosmetics and specialist in cellular biology and skin aging, who worked for major brands in the United States.” Dr. Frezzatti observed that the facial features of women living in sun-drenched Monaco were more pronounced by age. Building on this observation, he became a pioneer in what is now known as photoaging, and the Lancaster brand launched post-war.
The princess connection came about a decade later. After settling in Monaco, Princess Grace Kelly “noticed how her fair and sensitive skin was exposed to the radiant sun,” the brand shares. “She turned to the renowned Lancaster brand to develop the ultimate formula to recover from all signs of photoaging. Lancaster Monaco then became the official provider for Royal Princess Grace of Monaco, and Ligne Princiere was born.” The official stamp proving that Lancaster was the supplier to Princess Grace of Monaco followed in 1975.
Now, with almost 80 years of scientific expertise, the brand has consistently led the field of photoaging, dedicated to providing reliable skin photo-protection and photo-repair. While it is not currently available in the U.S., Lancaster Monaco is the number-one prestige sun-care photo-protection brand in Europe.
