A mother, a daughter, and the skincare we built when nothing else worked.
Twenty-five years ago, Michelle couldn't find skincare that worked on her own skin. So she built it.
Michelle's sensitive skin started everything.
In 1999, Michelle had a problem most Singaporeans understood: her sensitive skin reacted to nearly every product on the market. Western brands were too aggressive. Korean and Japanese formulations weren't built for our climate. The "for sensitive skin" labels didn't seem to mean what they claimed.
She tried everything. Nothing worked. Most products designed for sensitive skin in 1999 were essentially gentle moisturisers — they prevented things from getting worse, but didn't actively help. The active treatment products were designed for Western skin in temperate climates, full of acids, retinoids, and alcohol-based actives that triggered the very reactions they were meant to fix.
So Michelle started formulating her own. With a background in skincare and a deep understanding of what Asian skin in tropical Singapore needed, she developed the first oligopeptide-based formulations — gentle through cellular signalling rather than chemical exfoliation. The first products were for her own use. Then friends asked. Then friends of friends.
The next generation arrived with her own skin story.
Quinn grew up watching her mother formulate and counsel customers in Singapore. She also grew up with her own skin journey — persistent acne through her teens and twenties that mainstream products couldn't fix. The same products that didn't work for Michelle didn't work for Quinn either.
The Ice Secret formulations did. Quinn's acne cleared using the same oligopeptide approach her mother had developed. That experience — being her own brand's customer first — shapes how Quinn leads today. She knows what it feels like to have skin that doesn't behave, and to find the solution slowly, with someone who actually cares about your face.
Quinn now co-leads Ice Secret with Michelle. The brand remains family-led, lab-formulated in Singapore, and personally connected to the customers it serves.
The brand my mother built saved my own skin. Now we get to do that for other people every day.Quinn · Co-founder
What 25 years has built.
Ice Secret today is Singapore's specialist oligopeptide skincare lab. We've served over 300,000 customers across Southeast Asia. Our Inner Circle membership has 6,500+ active members. Our specialist team continues the practice that Michelle started — personally consulting with customers via WhatsApp, walking through every skin journey with check-ins at Day 1, 4, 7, and 14.
What hasn't changed: we still formulate for Asian skin in tropical humidity. Acid-free. Retinoid-free. Non-pore-clogging. Built for the climate Michelle and Quinn live in, the skin profiles their family knows, and the kinds of customers who've tried everything else.
What we hold to.
Asian skin first
Every formulation is tested on Asian skin profiles in our climate. We don't adapt Western formulations for our market — we build for it from the start.
Specialists, not salespeople
The team you message on WhatsApp are trained skin specialists, not call-centre staff. They review photos, recommend routines, and check in with you as your skin journey progresses.
Honest about limits
We won't tell you our products cure eczema or remove pitted scars completely. We'll tell you what we can do, what needs a dermatologist, and what's realistic for your skin.
Family-led, lab-built
Michelle and Quinn personally lead the team. The lab still formulates in Singapore. The brand still answers to its customers — not to investors, holding companies, or quarterly targets.