Carl & Son

Carl & Son is a Swedish men's beauty brand founded in 2019 and based in Scandinavia. It is built around a concept the company calls "no makeup makeup for men": lightly pigmented products and simple skincare meant to give visible results without an obvious cosmetic look. The range spans skincare, body care and subtle makeup, sold both through the brand's own site and through Swedish retailers such as Åhléns, Apotek Hjärtat and Lyko.

The brand is owned by Carl&Son with Friends AB and remains active, with a current catalogue of around 31 products and distribution that has grown from a handful of stores to listings across major Swedish chains. Its early years were shaped by an unusual start: the original backers went bankrupt days before the planned launch, after which the venture was bought out of insolvency and rebuilt.

Accounts of who founded Carl & Son differ. The brand's own "This is us" page credits Andreas Wiik, describing how he joined the company in 2019 after leaving a salaried job, only for the owners to file for bankruptcy soon after. Two editorial sources tell a fuller story. Scandinavian MIND and the Swedish beauty publication Daisy Beauty both name Jessica Wiik as a co-founder, reporting that she was approached by investors and spent around a year and a half developing the brand concept and product range before launch [9][10]. The brand site lists only Andreas [2]; the editorial coverage credits both Andreas and Jessica Wiik as co-founders.

Andreas Wiik grew up on a farm in Skåne in southern Sweden and studied economics before moving into commercial roles. According to the company, beauty "isn't about perfection" but about "confidence, presence, and taking care of yourself, inside and out."

Carl & Son launched in the autumn of 2019, but not as planned. Two days before the team was due to travel to Cosmoprof, a major beauty trade fair in Bologna, Italy, the original investors were declared insolvent [3]. The founders attended the fair regardless, where the brand drew a strong response and was nominated for a best makeup product award. Andreas Wiik then purchased the bankrupt brand, together with Jessica Wiik and a new investor, and rebuilt it [9].

The first products reached shelves at Åhléns and Apotek Hjärtat in August 2019 [11]. Distribution expanded quickly: by 2021 the brand's presence at Åhléns had grown from two stores to forty. By 2023 it occupied three shelves at the retailer, up from one, and ranked among Åhléns' ten largest men's beauty brands [3]. In the founder's account of this period, the operation was kept deliberately lean, with Wiik packing products himself and training several hundred retail staff.

Carl & Son is operated by Carl&Son with Friends AB, the Swedish company recorded as the brand's legal entity in its press material [11]. The same company acquired the brand out of bankruptcy in 2019, when Andreas Wiik bought the insolvent business with Jessica Wiik and a new investor [9].

The brand positions itself around Scandinavian simplicity and the idea that men's beauty can be effective without being complicated. Its tagline describes "skincare and makeup created for men who want visible results without complexity." Central to this is the "no makeup makeup" approach: products with light pigmentation intended to even out or improve the look of skin without reading as makeup. As the company frames it, the aim is to give men "the best possible solution for their skin that is efficient and gives visible results, yet keeping it simple."

Carl & Son organises its values around its name, spelled out as an acronym: Caring, Authentic, Reliable and Leader. The company states that its mission is to "redefine masculinity by inspiring and educating men to embrace beauty as a natural expression of self-care."

The product range covers three broad areas — skincare, makeup and body care — alongside kits, refills and accessories. Skincare includes a face wash, scrubs, day creams, a serum and a targeted blemish treatment; body care includes shower gel, deodorant, shave gel and beard oil.

The makeup line is where the "no makeup makeup" concept is clearest. Signature products include the Face Filter, sold in invisible and matte-tan versions, along with the Spot Fighter blemish treatment, the Dark Circle Eliminator and the Beard Filler, whose names describe what each does rather than its cosmetic category. The brand highlights functional ingredients alongside the cosmetic effect — for example salicylic acid in the Spot Fighter and an ingredient it calls Visilox in the Dark Circle Eliminator. Across its skincare, the company points to ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, urea and niacinamide.

Manufacturing is split by category: according to the company, body and skincare products are made in Sweden with a minimum of 95% natural ingredients, makeup is produced in Italy, and tools and accessories are sourced from China [2]. Carl & Son describes its formulas as vegan and free from parabens, silicones, sulfates and microplastics, and says its products are not tested on animals [9]. It also states that its packaging uses sugarcane-based plastic and offers a refillable shower gel.

The company says its products are dermatologically tested by independent laboratories, including 48-hour irritation tests on panels with sensitive skin, and reports that they received a non-irritant rating.

The brand's earliest recognition came at its troubled 2019 launch, where it was nominated for best makeup product at Cosmoprof in Bologna [2]. In 2020, the Spot Fighter was a finalist in the Cosmo Awards [10]. The French trend-forecasting firm Beautystreams included Carl & Son among 20 of the year's most interesting brands, describing it as redefining masculinity [10].

Carl & Son is active. It operates an e-commerce site with a catalogue of around 31 products and is stocked by major Swedish retailers including Åhléns, Apotek Hjärtat and Lyko, with reported export markets including Australia. The most recent activity documented in the brand's own material is from 2023, describing its expanded shelf space and standing among Åhléns' largest men's beauty brands [3].