Demak'Up

Demak'Up is a French cotton-pad brand that specialises in make-up removal and skin cleansing. It traces its start to 1978, when it introduced what it describes as the first make-up remover disc [2] — a small round cotton pad designed to replace the loose wads of cotton wool women had used until then. The brand's cottons are manufactured in France, at a factory in Hondouville in the Eure department of Normandy [3].

The brand is part of the portfolio of Essity, the Swedish hygiene and health group headquartered in Stockholm that was spun off from the forestry company SCA (Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget) as a separate, listed company in 2017 [5]. Its market-facing sites, such as the one serving the United Kingdom and Ireland, are operated as a registered trademark of Essity UK Ltd [4].

After the 1978 disc, Demak'Up broadened its range over the following decades. Make-up remover wipes adapted to different skin types arrived around 2000. The Expert line, built for more thorough removal, launched in 2014, and 2015 added a well-being-oriented Cocoon range alongside a Sensitive range aimed at gentle cleansing. In 2021 the company introduced its Bio range, made with organic, unbleached cotton [2], and by 2022 it reported converting all of its cotton products to unbleached fibres. A product redesign in 2024 was framed around sustainability and inclusivity.

Demak'Up sits within Essity's consumer portfolio, which also includes brands such as TENA, Libresse, Lotus and Zewa [5]. This gives the brand a mixed geographic identity: its products are made in France, its ultimate parent is Swedish, and the entity holding its UK and Ireland trademark is Essity UK Ltd, based in Dunstable, England [4]. Sources describing the brand's nationality therefore point in different directions — its French manufacturing origin, its Swedish parent-company ownership, and the British registration of the trademark — though the manufacturing base and product heritage are in France.

The company presents the daily cotton-pad cleansing routine as the foundation of healthy skin, describing such "simple rituals" as a way to turn make-up removal into a moment of well-being for oneself. Its stated values center on sustainability and inclusivity, themes it tied to the 2024 redesign.

The core catalogue is built around reusable-format cotton pads in several tiers. The Expert pads use a honeycomb structure the company says makes them more efficient at lifting make-up, while the Sensitive pads are positioned as its softest option for delicate skin. The Bio range extends the line into fully organic cotton. Across its communications the brand refers to more than three decades of work in what it calls "Cotton Science," its shorthand for the design and treatment of the cotton fibre itself.

Demak'Up places considerable emphasis on how its cotton is made. The company says it removed chemical bleaching from production, leaving the pads their natural colour, and that all of the cotton scraps generated during manufacturing are reintegrated into the production process. It also states that its packaging is fully recyclable and contains at least 60% recycled material [3]. These claims are made by the company on its own commitments page; no third-party certifications are documented for the brand.

The brand remains active. Its most recent notable milestone is the 2024 redesign, and its websites carry a 2026 copyright. Rather than selling directly, Demak'Up operates informational, market-specific sites and distributes its cotton pads through third-party retailers and pharmacies.