Cicamed

Cicamed is a Swedish skincare brand built around treatments developed with a plastic surgery clinic in Northern Europe. Its products grew out of a clinical setting: according to the company, the range was created in collaboration with one of Northern Europe's leading plastic surgery clinics, working alongside skincare specialists, biochemists and production specialists. The brand sells across two lines — a "Medical Science" range covering scars, acne, hygiene and hair loss, and an "Organic Science" range for daily skincare and anti-ageing.

The brand reports having been made and developed in Sweden since 2006 [7], and says it served more than two million customers in Scandinavian markets before expanding abroad. It remains active, with a Swedish-language site, a US e-commerce site, and a US market launch in September 2024 [7].

Cicamed traces its origins to a clinical problem rather than a cosmetics concept. The brand says its first product was developed after Swedish plastic surgeons found that their patients lacked an effective way to reduce the visibility of scars following surgery, leading to a formula made in close collaboration with skincare specialists, biochemists and product developers. Press coverage of the brand's 2016 US partnership identifies the founder as Mikael Ohlen and names the clinical partner as Proforma Clinic in Stockholm, described in that coverage as Sweden's largest private plastic surgery hospital [8]. The brand's own pages describe this clinical collaboration but do not name the founder or clinic directly.

Sources differ on which year marks the brand's beginning. Cicamed states it has been made and developed in Sweden since 2006, while the same press material dates the launch of its first product, Cicamed Scar, to 2008 [7]. The two figures are reconcilable: 2006 is given as the brand's origin and 2008 as the debut of its flagship product.

Cicamed Scar is the brand's first and most widely used product, a scar cream that the company describes as combining medical precision with skin-friendly ingredients and as suitable for both new and older scars. Beyond it, the medical range includes an ASD line for acne and impurities — among them a "3-in-1" spot treatment — alongside a hair-loss treatment aimed at the follicles. The organic range covers daily skincare, anti-ageing and a stressed-skin relief set. Across its anti-ageing products, the brand points to acids, antioxidants, collagen and hyaluronic acid as the active categories it relies on, and it describes its formulations as built on established ingredients rather than proprietary or branded complexes.

The brand frames skincare as a matter of science rather than cosmetics, captured in its tagline "It's not magic, it's only science" [1]. Cicamed says each product is made with a defined, problem-solving purpose and is intended for professional and at-home use alike, with the stated aim of addressing the underlying problem rather than masking symptoms. On ageing, the company presents a model that separates factors it calls genetic and uncontrollable — such as bone structure and skin type — from lifestyle factors it considers within a person's control. Its founder has been quoted framing the brand's restraint as a regulatory point, saying that in Sweden the company cannot make claims it is unable to substantiate [8]. The brand positions itself as an accessible entry point alongside professional dermatology and cosmetic procedures rather than a replacement for them.

Cicamed's products are tied to the research and testing capacity of its clinical partner. Press material states that the formulations were developed and tested by a medical team at Proforma Clinic made up of dermatologists and plastic surgeons [8], and the company describes its products as clinically proven, problem-solving solutions developed with plastic surgeons, skincare specialists and biochemists [7]. The brand's product pages set out efficacy claims — for instance that Cicamed Scar works on both new and old scars and suits all skin types — but present these as treatment outcomes dependent on regular use; no peer-reviewed studies are shown on those pages, and customer testimonials appear in place of clinical data.

Cicamed lists a set of standing commitments on its sites: ingredients it describes as ethically sourced with fair wages for workers, products it says are not tested on animals, and formulas it markets as free of parabens, sulfates and SLS. On packaging, the company cites FCE-marked paper, plastics it describes as fully recyclable, and tubes made from sugarcane in its medical series. Its products are made in Sweden [7]. The brand emphasises organic and natural ingredients in its Organic Science line, though no third-party certifications are detailed in the available material.

In 2016, the licensing and brand-management company kathy ireland Worldwide entered a global partnership with Cicamed, announced at that year's Licensing Expo, to introduce the brand to the US and wider markets [8]. Kathy Ireland, who described the range as Sweden's finest and most innovative skincare program in her company's view, was its most prominent public association [8]. The brand's later US arrival was covered by trade and newswire outlets, including a 2024 release marking the launch.

Cicamed is active. It launched in the United States on 5 September 2024, selling through its own site and Amazon [7], and operates a Swedish-language site alongside its US storefront; a separate Asian site exists but is password-gated. Its US business is run under the entity Cicamed USA LLC, named in 2016 partnership material [8]. The brand cites retail partnerships with Amazon and Walmart and markets itself as available for both professional and home use.