BasicLab Dermocosmetics

BasicLab Dermocosmetics is a Polish skincare company based in Warsaw and founded in 2018 by Joanna Zgajewska and Anita Zacharska, two industry professionals who set out to build dermocosmetics around high concentrations of active ingredients [3]. The brand began with a line of hair care products before expanding into facial skincare, body care and a small makeup range. It is owned and operated by New Approach Sp. z o.o., a Warsaw-registered cosmetics company, and remains active, with continued product launches, Polish industry awards through 2025 and a growing international distribution footprint.

The company positions itself in the dermocosmetics segment — skincare formulated and tested with a clinical, results-led emphasis — and sums up its approach with the tagline "Skuteczna pielęgnacja" (effective skincare).

Zgajewska and Zacharska combined backgrounds in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, and both had personally struggled for years with persistent skin conditions. According to the company, that experience shaped the founding goal: products that would deliver "real effects visible on the skin and restore faith in the effectiveness of cosmetics". Sources differ on how the two founders are described. BasicLab's Polish "About" page frames the brand as the product of "our sisterly relationship" (naszej siostrzanej relacji) [2], while English-language material from the company's distributor describes them as two friends [3]; whether the relationship is biological or sister-like is not made explicit.

The brand's name reflects its stated method: a "basic" foundation of skincare built on laboratory work. From the outset, the founders emphasised clear communication about ingredient concentrations rather than marketing promises.

BasicLab launched in 2018 with hair care and broadened quickly into facial actives. By 2022 the company reported a period of rapid growth — a 470% increase in turnover in the preceding year, a team of 36 employees and a catalogue of 96 products across seven product lines — and had acquired its own logistics and warehouse facilities. That year it received the Love Cosmetics Awards "Spectacular Growth Company" distinction [6].

Among its early breakout products, the Light SPF 50+ lotion was described in award coverage as "the best SPF on the Polish market" and became a bestseller that reportedly sold out. Later releases include a firming serum built on copper peptides and Copperis, a "well-aging" line formulated around the skin's circadian rhythm with separate day and night products.

BasicLab is owned and run by New Approach Sp. z o.o., a micro-enterprise registered in Warsaw under the cosmetics and detergents industry classification [5]. The same two founders, Zgajewska and Zacharska, are credited as the brand's creators and owners. No acquisition history or sister brands are documented in the available sources.

The company describes its work as science-based dermocosmetics aimed at demanding and sensitive skin, organised around a proprietary framework it calls the "5 Foundations" (5 Filarów): cleansing and preparation, antioxidation, balance of the skin's hydrolipid barrier, prevention through sun protection, and stimulation of cell renewal. Its stated values include "uncompromising quality", "science-based development" and "results, not promises", and it says its products are tested both in its own laboratory and at independent research facilities [2].

BasicLab sells across multiple channels rather than direct-to-consumer alone; its distributor lists retail partners including dm, Notino, Douglas, Amazon and Polish pharmacies [4]. On ethics, the company states that its products are cruelty-free, certified by the Association for Cruelty-Free Cosmetics, and points to vegan formulations, recycled-plastic packaging, microplastic-free formulas and reef-safe sunscreen filters [3].

The brand's catalogue spans face, body and hair care, with formulas built around ingredients such as retinol, retinal, peptides, ceramides, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, vitamin C and trehalose. Several products have become recognisable within the Polish market. A serum combining trehalose and the SNAP-8 peptide was named "Discovery of the Year" by the ingredient-label site Czytamy Etykiety in 2020, and an eye serum with Argireline received a "Pearl of Cosmetic Market" award the same year. A firming serum with 0.5% copper peptides became the basis for later recognition.

BasicLab has accumulated awards primarily within Poland. The brand site and award organisers document recognitions including Czytamy Etykiety's 2020 "Discovery of the Year" and a 2021 gold in the eye-cream category [8], the 2022 Love Cosmetics Awards growth prize [6], and two 2024 Love Cosmetics Awards — "Top Dermo Novelty" for its copper-peptide firming serum and "Social Media Star" [7]. In 2024 a neuropeptide firming serum was named Polish cosmetic of the year at the Vogue Polska Beauty Awards [10]. The brand has also been featured in Vogue Polska bestseller coverage.

The span of these awards is itself a point of minor uncertainty. The company's distributor refers to recognitions running from 2017 to 2024 [3], but the brand was founded in 2018 and only specific awards from 2020 onward are independently verifiable; the earlier date is not corroborated.

BasicLab remains active. Its most recent documented recognition is a 2025 Love Cosmetics Awards mention, and the company maintains an ongoing social-media presence, including a Polish Instagram account with a six-figure following and a separate international account [14]. The brand has a strong home-market position in Poland and is expanding distribution into other European markets, including the United Kingdom, Germany and the Nordics [5].