Dr. Ankerstjerne

Dr. Ankerstjerne is a Norwegian skincare and supplement brand founded in Oslo in autumn 2018 by Stine and Andre Ankerstjerne, a married couple who are both medical doctors [9]. The brand grew out of Stine Ankerstjerne's own difficulty finding products for her sensitive, eczema-prone skin; after roughly five years of research, product development and clinical testing, the couple brought the first range to market. It positions itself around medical credibility, carrying the tagline "Hudpleie Utviklet av Norske Leger" ("Skincare Developed by Norwegian Doctors").

The company remains active, publishing new content and launching products through 2026, and sells across Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom. While the founding and brand narrative are rooted in Oslo, the operating company is registered in Denmark, and manufacturing takes place there as well.

Stine Ankerstjerne, a physician, struggled as a teenager with eczema and sensitive skin and found temporary fixes such as antibiotics and prescription creams unsatisfying. According to the company, this frustration prompted a search for gentler but effective products, and ultimately a five-year process of formulation and clinical study before launch. The brand was started together with her husband Andre Ankerstjerne, also a doctor, and was described from the outset as family-owned.

The early line was built around a small set of products designed for Scandinavian conditions. The brand's English-language history page describes the original range as five core items, all vegan and clinically tested.

The brand launched in Oslo in autumn 2018. It later expanded beyond facial skincare into supplements and body care. In 2025 it introduced a doctor-developed collagen supplement, which it marketed as Norway's first physician-developed collagen product [6]. In January 2026 it launched its first body product, an age-defying hand cream, and a landing page for a daily supplement called Longevity Complex is dated June 2026 [5].

The company also publicises strong commercial signals on its own blog: it reported that a larger format of its SUPERFOOD product, "SUPERFOOD XL," sold out within 50 minutes of release in September 2025 [6]. This figure is brand-reported rather than independently verified.

Dr. Ankerstjerne is independently and family-owned; no parent company or acquisition history is recorded. The legal operating entity is Dr.Stine Ankerstjerne ApS, registered at Th. Bergsgade 12 in Frederikshavn, Denmark [9]. This creates an apparent split between the brand's stated origin and its corporate base: the founding and headquarters narrative is consistently placed in Oslo, Norway [2], while the registered company and manufacturing are Danish, consistent with the brand's "produced in Denmark" labelling. The international storefront operates under the name Dr. Stine (drstine.com), the same company as the Norwegian site ankerstjerne.no.

The company describes its approach as "simple, effective and clinically documented anti-age skincare," also suitable for sensitive skin, combining what it calls Scandinavian simplicity with medical expertise to deliver measurable results. A recurring theme is the removal of unnecessary steps from a skincare routine. The brand's stated values centre on medical authorship by Norwegian doctors, independent laboratory testing, research-based ingredient selection, and transparency about results.

Scan Magazine, a UK editorial outlet covering Nordic brands, characterised the company as "evidence-based skincare" emphasising results backed by science [10]. The brand is commonly associated with the broader trends of science-backed skincare and Scandinavian minimalism, and its packaging is described as minimalist with an emphasis on sustainability. It places itself in the mid-to-luxury segment and distributes through department stores such as Illums Bolighus and Magasin, specialist beauty clinics, and online retailers including QVC in the United Kingdom.

The brand's best-known product is the SUPERFOOD multipurpose vitamin face gel, built around niacinamide, dexpanthenol (vitamin B5), retinyl palmitate (vitamin A), sea buckthorn extract and vitamin E. Other frequently cited products include the URBAN PROTECTION Day Cream SPF30, the ANTI-AGE Night Cream, and the AGE-DEFYING Hand Cream. Formulations are described by the company as vegan, not tested on animals, and free from parabens, silicones and microplastics.

Beyond topical skincare, the company sells ingestible products. Its Dr.Stine Collagen supplement uses VERISOL collagen peptides — a licensed branded ingredient from the manufacturer Gelita rather than proprietary technology — alongside sea buckthorn, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and copper [8]. The Longevity Complex, launched as a daily supplement, is presented as a single routine intended to replace multiple separate supplements and to support functions including NAD+ metabolism and cognitive performance.

Clinical testing is central to the brand's positioning. The company commissions studies at an independent third-party dermatological laboratory in Poland, using instruments such as the Cutometer and Primos 3D imaging, and reports results from roughly 500 participants in total across its studies. Reported outcomes include 100% of subjects showing improved skin firmness for the ANTI-AGE Night Cream over 42 days, and a 32% reduction in wrinkle volume around the eyes after eight weeks for the collagen supplement [3]. These percentages are brand-reported from commissioned studies and have not been independently validated; the company states that all tested products were classified as non-irritating, including for sensitive and atopic skin.

In April 2025, the brand's SUPERFOOD product won the Consumer Award of the Year at the Danish Beauty Award, a consumer-voted prize; the brand reported the win on its Danish storefront [11]. This is the single award documented with a named, dated third-party source. The company's own materials cite a substantially larger tally — its about page claims 47 beauty awards [2] — but these aggregate counts are brand-stated and inconsistent across sources. Scan Magazine separately reported five nominations at the Beauty Awards in the United Kingdom [10]. The same outlet published an editorial profile of the brand in 2025.

Dr. Ankerstjerne is active. The brand continued publishing blog content into 2026, with a Longevity Complex page dated June 2026 and product launches earlier in the year [5]. It operates across Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom through its own webshops and third-party retailers, and according to Scan Magazine has described plans to expand into further European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets through selective partnerships.