Helsinki-based Nordic Beauty Inc. is a leading distributor and growth partner for beauty brands in the region. This season’s launch of the company’s in-house label NOBE aims to offer the benefits of Nordic nature in innovative products targeting a global audience.
— Our core consumers are busy urban lifetime balancers, who enjoy life in the city but know the importance of nature and what it provides, says Johanna Rönkkö, CEO. The Nordic region’s natural berries, seeds, plants, tree saps, and even mushrooms have evolved over thousands of years to survive and thrive under the Arctics’ uniquely challenging life cycle that gives them their particularly potent antioxidant content. Plants spend eight months purifying during the broken winter darkness followed by four months of intense, regenerating light. As our lifestyle is becoming more urban and too clinical, we want to bring the best of nature’s power to the conscious consumer who values innovative, effective, and natural ingredients in an easy format.
NOBE’s three different lines are all inspired by Nordic nature.
— The first, Forest Elixir, is about the benefits of nature and has been scientifically proven to balance our microbiome and strengthen our skin barrier. Cooling Care is an ode to ice swimming and cool air, and it has an immediate depuffing effect. Oat has been our Nordic superfood for centuries, but it does also magic for the skin, and our Oat Wonder Line calms, hydrates, and provides glow, says Rönkkö. She continues:
— We use Re-Connecting Nature, a microbial extract developed from research at leading Finnish universities. It’s been scientifically proven to restore the natural balance of the skin’s microbiome and increase the production of anti-ageing collagen. We chose to work with upcycled ingredients from Fazer Foodtech for sustainability, an innovative approach, and its benefits. Fazer Xylitol, for instance, comes as a side product of food production and is a powerful humectant that binds moisture to the skin. And in the Oat Wonder line, we use Fazer Oat Oil which has an even more calming effect on the skin. It’s also rich in fatty acids, ceramides, and vitamin E that lock in moisture, reinforce the skin’s barrier and protect the skin from free radicals.
Tell us more about your work together with Fazer.
— We wanted to use Nordic superfoods and upcycled ingredients were of course our preference, so this cooperation was a perfect match. Upcycling reduces waste, conserves resources, and helps to create unique and creative products. It will help to reduce the environmental impact of food as well as cosmetic production and provide consumers with interesting new and healthier alternatives for the skin. I’m sure that upcycling will be increasing tremendously in the future.
Finland is clearly on the rise in skincare. NOBE — working both with local food companies and scientific research — is just the latest example.
— We also have eco-certified and great quality cosmetic factories, says Rönkkö. I would watch that space. And in Finland, ’nature health’ is very hyped at the moment. It’s an interesting topic to follow because it explores the connection between nature and human well-being. In the Nordics, we all understand how nature impacts our mental and emotional state. Now, there are a lot of new research results on how can it improve also our physical and skin health — I’m sure this will inspire us to make choices that promote both personal and environmental well-being.
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