Irene Forte

Irene Forte is an Italian skincare brand founded by Irene Forte, who built it around her family's organic farm in Sicily and a partnership with the cosmetics formulator Dr. Francesca Ferri. The company positions itself as a Mediterranean line that pairs plant-based, farm-grown ingredients with clinical formulation, a combination it and the press describe as "the New Natural" [9]. Products are made in Italy and sold internationally through the brand's own site, luxury department stores and retailers such as NET-A-PORTER.

The brand-site founder page dates the official launch to 2019, when the line rolled out across all Rocco Forte Hotels [2]; editorial sources, including an interview with the founder, place the start in December 2018 as a spa-exclusive soft launch before the wider rollout [8]. The company remains active, with new product launches and regular editorial coverage continuing through 2026 [4].

Irene Forte is the daughter of Sir Rocco Forte and, after graduating from Oxford University, began her career at Rocco Forte Hotels, the European five-star hotel group founded by her father. She worked there for close to a decade overseeing wellness and spa, and became the youngest board member of the Global Wellness Summit. According to the company, it was this spa work that led her to see an "opportunity to elevate natural skincare through scientific insight."

The brand draws directly on the family's organic farm at the Verdura Resort in Sicily, where Forte spent an extended period in 2011. The company says the line grew from her Italian roots and a "farm-to-face" approach, with finished products crafted in Italy by local artisans.

Forte began developing the line after partnering with Dr. Francesca Ferri, whom the brand describes as a pioneer in natural cosmetics with more than 40 years of experience. The brand site dates this partnership to 2015 [2]; in separate interviews Forte has said she met her formulator "in early 2014" and described Ferri's experience at the time as roughly 35 years [9]. The line first launched within Rocco Forte Hotels, and from 2020 Forte expanded it globally after stepping back from her full-time hotel role.

A defining moment came with the Hibiscus Rejuvenating Night Cream, which the trade press reported as a "runaway success story" following a sales surge of about 150 percent [10]. In 2022 the company achieved B Corporation certification, which it recertified in July 2025 [5].

The brand presents itself as a Mediterranean skincare line that, in the founder's words, distils "the benefits of the Mediterranean diet into effective but gentle skincare." Its stated values centre on plant-based ingredients, clinical proof, sustainability and Sicilian heritage, summed up by the tagline "100% Crafted in Italy." The positioning sits within the clean-beauty movement, but the company stresses that "not everything in nature is friendly," framing its formulas as natural ingredients validated by laboratory science — the concept it markets as "the New Natural." Independent reviewers have echoed the framing, with NewBeauty calling the line "the Mediterranean Diet of skin care" [10].

The range is skincare-only, spanning moisturisers, serums and oils, cleansers, eye and lip care, exfoliants and body care. Many formulas rely on Sicilian-grown ingredients such as pistachio oil, prickly pear, lemon-derived citric acid and olive oil. Hero actives the company highlights include Myoxinol, a neuropeptide extracted from hibiscus seeds, alongside proprietary technologies it labels Dr. Ferri APM (phytomelatonin), Phyto-Exosomes and Green Pea Bio-Peptides.

The best-known product is the Hibiscus Rejuvenating Night Cream, described by NewBeauty as the best-seller of the brand. Its Myoxinol active is presented as a "natural alternative to Botox" that, according to the company, limits the muscle contractions behind expression lines [10]. Other signature items include the Prickly Pear Face Cream, the Phytomelatonin Rejuvenating Serum and Eye Cream, and the Pistachio Face Oil.

The company supports its products with in-house clinical testing, which it states verbatim rather than as independently verified results. For the Phytomelatonin Rejuvenating Eye Cream, it reports that after four weeks all 30 participants showed improvements in wrinkle volume, wrinkle depth, moisturisation and elasticity [6]. It also says every product is dermatologically tested and certified as non-irritant.

Sustainability is central to the brand's identity. Its ingredients are described as plant-based and certified by VeganOK, with upcycled materials used to reduce waste [7]. The 230-hectare farm at Verdura grows olives, lemons, oranges, almonds and prickly pears, and the company says it relies on practices such as rainwater harvesting and solar power. Packaging is presented as recyclable, using recycled-paper boxes and glass containing up to 31 percent post-industrial recycled material, with refillable designs and a recycling partnership through First Mile.

The brand holds B Corporation certification, which it first earned in 2022 with an overall score of 98.1 — above the 80-point pass threshold — and recertified in July 2025 [5].

The brand has been featured widely in the beauty press, including Vogue, Forbes, ELLE, Marie Claire and the Los Angeles Times, much of it focused on the Hibiscus Night Cream and the phytomelatonin range. Among its sustainability-related awards, the company lists an ELLE Green Beauty Star in 2023 and a Marie Claire Beauty Excellence Award for sustainability in 2025 for the Pistachio Face Oil. It was also named to Beauty Matter's FUTURE50 in 2026.

The brand is active. It continued to launch products and earn editorial coverage through 2026 — including features in Vogue and recognition at the 2026 Women's Health Beauty Awards — and its homepage has promoted a relaunched Hibiscus Rejuvenating Night Cream [4]. It operates across multiple regions, with storefronts and retail availability in the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.