A-creme Original

A-creme Original is a Swedish skincare brand built around a single moisturising cream for sensitive and easily irritated skin. It traces its origin to the early 1950s and the chemist Evert Berlin, who developed the formula while working in pharmaceutical research and development. The company markets the cream under the heritage line "Originalet sedan 1953" (the original since 1953) and says it has been manufactured and sold with an unchanged formula since then [1][2].

The brand remains active. The cream is distributed across the Nordic market by Baltex Health & Beauty AB, described on the brand site as part of Allderma AB, and is stocked through Swedish pharmacies. The product site runs in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish.

According to A-creme, the cream was created by Evert Berlin, a chemist who in the early 1950s worked in research and development within the pharmaceutical industry, at Astra [1]. The company says he became interested in the properties of skin and in the benefits of vitamin A for sensitive skin, and built the formula around quality raw materials rather than novel ingredients.

The cream's first users were dentists. As the brand tells it, dentists who washed their hands frequently and developed skin problems tested the early product, which was sold only to them through dental wholesalers before it reached the general public [1].

A-creme dates the cream's final composition and the start of regular manufacture and sale to 1953, and maintains that the formula has not changed since. The founding year is given slightly differently across sources: the brand site repeatedly states 1953 [2], while a 2014 press release issued when distribution changed hands described the product as having worked "for a good 60 years," which would place the start around 1954 [7]. The earlier date comes directly from the company and is used here.

In 2017, the cream was named the winner of a skin-cream test run by the Swedish newspaper Expressen in its "Hälsoliv" section, receiving the highest rating and the lowest price among five products tested [6].

The brand has passed through several hands while keeping its formula intact. The agency for A-creme was earlier held by Kemeco, and in 2014 it transferred to Baltex Health & Beauty AB, covering distribution, sales and marketing on the Nordic market [7]. The brand site currently lists Baltex Health & Beauty AB, described as part of Allderma AB, as the company behind the product [5]. Baltex has stated that it operates in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, with export to other countries [7].

A-creme presents the product as a simple, proven and affordable cream for sensitive skin, working through a consistent formula rather than through new ingredients. The company puts this plainly on the product page: the cream is "unique" for sensitive skin "not because it contains any revolutionary ingredients, but because it simply works" [4]. It is described as mild and unscented, absorbing easily without stinging, and suitable for use across the whole body — including on hardened areas of skin on the feet and on infants with nappy rash [4]. On pricing, the company frames the cream as good value given its properties and broad range of uses, attributing this to well-proven, high-quality raw materials. In its FAQ, A-creme states that there are no confirmed cases of hypersensitivity associated with use of the cream [3].

The range is narrow and centres on the original cream. The signature product is A-creme Oparfymerad Original (unscented original), sold alongside an unscented A-creme and a scented variant, A-Creme Parfymerad. The unscented original is built around vitamin A, listed as Retinyl Palmitate, which the brand says is beneficial for sensitive and easily irritated skin [4]. The product is fragrance-free.

A-creme's main third-party recognition is its 2017 test win. Expressen's "Hälsoliv" section tested five skin creams to see which best rehydrated skin through the autumn and winter, and A-creme came out on top, scoring the highest while costing the least [6]. The test panel described it as cool and pleasant on the skin, noting that it absorbed quickly despite being thicker than many face creams, and that it was fragrance-free.

The brand is active. The cream is distributed and sold across Nordic pharmacies through Baltex Health & Beauty AB, and the product site remains live with Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish versions. It is, in practice, a small and narrowly focused legacy brand — essentially one cream offered in scented and unscented forms — but one that continues in current pharmacy retail rather than having gone dormant.