Melyon - a Swedish skincare brand

Today I am sharing my thoughts on Melyon , which is a Swedish premium skincare brand. The brand has a focus on diversity and the products have been formulated to be suitable for dark skin tones. The range features face and body care products as well as soap bars with mostly natural origin ingredients and with West African and Nordic influences. These influences stem from the founder Roger Dupe's background as a Swede with West African heritage, something I can personally relate to, being Swedish and British-Nigerian.

"A skincare line developed with people of colour in mind, focusing on conditions commonly found among darker skin tones while still being suitable for most skin types."

I was kindly sent the facial set to try out, so I will review the set as a whole with a focus on ingredients, efficacy, claims and packaging. It's my first time trying out LinkedIn articles and although I'm used to writing product reviews, as an old school beauty blogger, it's my first time doing so on LinkedIn!

?? Packaging

When it comes to premium brands, as I mentioned in my HPC today article , packaging is definitely a key component for a premium looking brand! The packaging for the Melyon products is definitely striking and you can tell a lot of thought has gone into the aesthetic of the brand. All of the products (from the facial set) feature recyclable, amber glass bottles with an eye catching round/ball cap. The founder, explains in an interview that the round cap and bottle shape is inspired by the distinct shape of the Baobab tree, the tree from which the key ingredients Baobab Oil also comes from. The cap is removed by pulling upwards, not by screwing it, and once removed it reveals a pump which makes it easy to dispense the cream. The secondary packaging is a carton and all components are free of any stamping, foil or lamination films. I should mention, as a clumsy person I was quite scared of dropping and breaking one of the bottles. However, I actually did drop one in the sink and I can confirm that it did not break or even chip!

?? Key Ingredients

Firstly, the key ingredient across the face product range is Baobab Oil (INCI: Adansonia Digitata Seed Oil) which has origins in the African continent. This is an oil high in Vitamin A, D and E and works as an emollient. When it comes to oils in face products (which I love!), I like to look at the comedogenic rating and I found that for Baobab Oil, the rating is 2 (scale: 0-5 where 0 is, not at all). I didn't that any of the products had a tendency to clog my pores. Besides from Baobab Oil, they all feature different key ingredients. All of them apart from the night cream contain Salicylic Acid which is good for treating oily skin and preventing pores becoming clogged. The night cream contains ingredients like Retinyl Palmitate (a form of Vitamin A), Hexapeptide-37, Niacinamide, Allantoin and Papain amongst others, working to remove dead skin cells and leave healthy looking, radiant skin. In the day cream you'll find Niacinamide and Vitamins E & C for moisturised skin with a moisturised but, non-oily feeling. Natural extracts like Ginger Root extract and Broccoli Extract feature in the cleanser and detox serum.

?? Claims & Efficacy

For me, what first comes to mind for skin care problems more specific to darker skin tones is issues like skin that is dry, oily, and/or prone to hyperpigmentation. For me personally, I'd say dry skin is my biggest problem out of those.

When I use my regular gel type cleanser, my faces is most definitely very dry once I dry my face, and before applying toner or face cream. The Melyon cleanser is a creamy emulsion, which uses Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate as the surfactant. After rinsing it off, my face felt completely moisturised, even leaving what feels like an emollient layer on the skin, which I love. This prevents that dry feeling before applying the face cream! Being a bit of a minimalist, I do like to know if my face cleanser can wash away my makeup (which admittedly I don't always wear). The cleanser doesn't claim to be able to wash away makeup but I have tried a few times and it removes most, but not all. When I've worn makeup, I've followed up with my regular gel cleanser after the Melyon Milk Cleanser.

The Detox Serum - is a low viscosity, emulsion serum which is super hydrating and is applied before day cream (in the morning) or before the night cream (in the evening). Even with just the detox serum - my skin feels very moisturised, and of course, even more so after applying the face creams. To summarise- I definitely think these products, combined and individually prevent dry skin!

In the day cream, you see ingredients like Salicylic Acid, Corn Starch, Silica and Niacinamide which can help combat oily skin. As I don't suffer from oily skin, I can't comment on whether it helped solve this particular issue, but the products certainly didn't cause oily skin and whilst feeling incredibly moisturised, they leave a relatively matte finish.

In the night cream, the focus is on renewing skin, and it contains ingredients such as Retinyl Palmitate (Retinol ester) and Papain, which may help with hyperpigmentation and leave a nice skin complexion. Urea will help prevent flaky/scaly skin and Allantoin can provide a soothing effect on the skin.

?? Summary

I thoroughly enjoyed using these products and I think that they are very high quality, both in terms of the formulations and the packaging and branding. It really doesn't hurt that they look amazing on my shelves! When I test out a range of product or products that come together as a set. I always try to think about whether I can use only these products, or if I'd need to still use a product from another brand to have a full routine. So with the Melyon range, the two things I'm missing for me to not have to use any other brand in the routine, would be a toner and also an SPF. I know not all brands do products with SPF but I'd definitely welcome such a product in the future.

Have you heard of this brand before or have you tested it? Have you tested any Swedish or Nordic brands in general?

I'd love to know your feedback on this review, is this a format you enjoy seeing on LinkedIn and please don't be afraid to share constructive criticism on the writing and structure of the post- I'm an extra blogger but it has been a few years!