AYU Organics

AYU Organics is a Finnish natural-skincare brand based in Espoo. It was founded in 2018 by two sisters, Satu and Elina, and makes handmade face and body care built around botanical ingredients [4]. The company presents its products as natural, vegan and cruelty-free, and manufactures them in Finland.

The brand remains active. Its online shop carries a current catalogue, a network of independent Finnish salons and eco-retailers stocks the range, and in 2023 one of its cleansers was nominated at the European Natural Beauty Awards [4].

The idea for AYU Organics traces back to a 2012 trip to Bali. Satu, a biologist, was researching medicinal plants there and became interested in their skincare benefits, which sparked the notion of developing a skincare line [4]. Her sister Elina, a designer, took on product design and the brand's visual identity. The two formally launched the brand in 2018 in Espoo [4].

The founding concept combines two very different botanical worlds: organic and wild plants from Bali's volcanic soil, and hardy plants that grow through the long light of a Lapland summer. The company describes wanting to bring these together into what it calls luxurious skincare.

AYU Organics frames wellbeing, inside and out, as a way of life, and positions its range as natural skincare made in small, handmade batches. The company says its products are 100% natural and made only from what it describes as skin-caressing, effective ingredients. According to the brand, sustainability sits at the centre of its approach and shapes its packaging design.

Its stated mission is to develop products from pure and natural ingredients that support wellbeing, and to make maintaining wellness and beauty enjoyable for both customers and nature. The company describes its products as exclusive luxury items, attributing that to the limited availability of some of the plants it uses [4].

The range is organised into face care and body care. Face products include mists, cleansers, creams, oils and serums, and masks; body care covers mousses and mask-scrubs. Named products include the Golden Root Nectar face oil and the Seabuck & Baobab Oil to Milk Cleanser.

Recurring hero ingredients reflect the brand's Arctic-and-tropical concept, among them sea buckthorn, cloudberry and birch alongside baobab, camellia oil, moringa and litsea cubeba [4]. Formulas also draw on more familiar actives such as bakuchiol and hyaluronic acid.

The company states that its products are 100% vegan and cruelty-free, and that they are made in Finland [1]. Its products carry the Avainlippu, or Key Flag, a Finnish mark indicating domestic manufacture; it is a country-of-origin label rather than a beauty or animal-welfare certification [1].

In 2023, AYU Organics was named a nominee at the European Natural Beauty Awards, with its Seabuck & Baobab Oil to Milk Cleanser put forward in the awards' "Brands Behind Nominees" feature [4].

AYU Organics sells directly through its own webshop and through a network of independent Finnish beauty salons, spas and eco-retailers [3]. As of the most recent review, the brand is active: its shop is operational with a current product catalogue, and its stockist network remains in place. An English-language version of the site is offered in beta.