Laponie of Scandinavia – no-nonsense and natural skincare for sensitive and problematic skin

The Finnish cosmetics brand Laponie of Scandinavia makes simple yet effective products for sensitive and problematic skin. The products are made with a minimum amount of ingredients which is why the products are easy to combine. All the products are vegan and they don’t contain any added fragrance. The products are developed in the company’s own lab just outside of Helsinki. The brand carries a minimalist lineup of 10 products. However, the story of Laponie started more than 15 years ago with just one product. The founder and CEO Kristina suffered from sensitive and problematic skin and had trouble finding the right skincare products for herself.

“Most days I wanted to cry because of my skin”

“I was 11 or 12 when my skin started acting up. First, a pimple or two, then some dry, angry red patches followed by extremely oily skin, and then all of a sudden, nothing. Until the full blown acne came. And rosacea. And a bunch of other skin issues that on top of everything would change frequently, sometimes even from day to day. Most days I just wanted to cry and hide – plus finding skincare for my extremely sensitive and reactive skin was always a headache. It felt like everything made me break out. Finally, I got fed up, read everything I could find on skincare and cosmetic chemistry, and started making and using my own simple products. I kept long lists of all the ingredients which made my skin react, and the first product I ended up making was the Face Oil. It really was a game changer for me and gradually, my skin got better. Not flawless, but healthy, which I’ve come to appreciate much more.”

Laponie lives and breathes R&D – and we test everything on ourselves

The first Laponie of Scandinavia products were launched in early 2018. Today, in our lab outside Helsinki, our Kristina and chemist Jaana create simple, combinable products with a minimum amount of ingredients.

A short INCI is the key when creating skincare products for sensitive skin and in order to make that happen, we do a lot of work testing formulations and playing with ingredients until we find the solutions that are effective yet simple and gentle. We also believe that using fewer products is a better choice for challenging skin. We like creating products which can easily be combined to achieve multi-use solutions. Our Face Toner treatment essence and our Face Oil provide a good example of how this works in practice. By combining these two, you can substitute the traditional face cream and easily modify the amount of hydration (Toner) and care (Oil) that you need.

We also vet all our ingredients rigorously: all must be vegan, plant-based, suitable and safe for sensitive and problem skin first and sourced sustainably and locally. We create unique preservative systems for our products to avoid overlap and sensitisation. We also prefer to leave stuff out rather than putting more in to achieve truly minimalist products. None of our products contain e.g. floral waters, essential oils or alcohol.

Having our own lab gives us the freedom to do this kind of work for the long-haul. We get to take time to perfect our products. Behind each Laponie product is years of work and hundreds of different formulations. Our chemist Jaana and Kristina both have tested everything we sell on themselves extensively. As both have a long history of skin issues, it’s not just business - it’s personal, too.

Laponie is on no-fuss mission to help you care for sensitive and problem skin

At Laponie, we are on a mission to help. This means that we want to help you make the right skincare choices, solve the skin problems you might have, and to make skincare easy. We know firsthand how important the ingredients become when your skin reacts to everything. That’s why we have full transparency on our ingredients. We will always tell you exactly why we put in a specific ingredient, what the product is made of and how it was made. And if there’s anything more you want to know, we will find it out for you.

We also know firsthand that when it comes to sensitive and problem skin, less is more. That’s why we’ve created a simple chart to help you navigate your skincare choices: choose the right kind of cleanser, choose the right kind of hydration and choose the right kind of oil-based product. For specific issues, add products to soothe, purify, brighten, hydrate etc.

As Kristina likes to remind us, it has become our mission to be able to help other people suffering from skin issues. “Experiencing what it’s like to live with problem skin gave me a lot of insight into how the skin works and what is the role of ingredients, but it also impacted my self-esteem. To this day, when I see a person who is obviously embarrassed about their skin, I want to hug them and tell them that it is going to be okay. We know we are only making creams, but sometimes the right cream really can make a difference. We hope you like our stuff!”