Ecooking

Ecooking is a Danish skincare and cosmetics brand founded by Tina Søgaard, who began mixing her own formulations at her kitchen table before the products grew into a multi-category line sold across the Nordic countries and beyond. The name fuses "ecological" and "cooking", a nod both to the brand's natural-ingredient focus and to its literal origins in Søgaard's kitchen [7]. Editorial sources place the founding in late 2015 [8], though the private-equity firm that later took a majority stake dates it to around 2016 [6]. The company is based in Bjert, in the Kolding area of Denmark, and remains active, with a transactional website and ongoing retail distribution.

The brand sits in an accessible price tier and positions its products as effective first and natural second. According to the company, the guiding approach is to be "first and foremost effective, then as natural and organic as possible."

Tina Søgaard trained as a typographer before a career change led her into the cosmetics industry, where she founded the private-label development company House of Cosmetics in 2001 [8]. Cosmetics Business describes her as a "private label developer" — someone who formulates and manufactures products for other brands to sell under their own names [7].

The brand's own account ties its beginnings to a difficult personal period. After a divorce and significant weight loss, Søgaard found her skin had deteriorated, and she started preparing creams, scrubs and oils at home to restore it. In her telling, the early production was improvised: "I was cooking up these lotions, scrubs and oils and throwing them in tupperware boxes, jam jars and even Schnapps glasses" [7]. As family and friends noticed her skin improving, demand grew until beauty therapists and stores took an interest, and the recipes became a commercial range.

By 2018 the brand was stocked in more than 450 locations across Denmark and launched in the United Kingdom through retailers including Cult Beauty, Feelunique, John Bell & Croyden and Indulge Beauty, with stated plans to expand into around 20 countries [7]. Trade coverage at the time reported a product range spanning shower gels, creams, sunscreen and face and clay masks.

In March 2021 the brand entered a new phase of ownership. The company reported revenue of DKK 130 million for 2020, up from DKK 77 million the previous year [6]. In January 2022 Ecooking and House of Cosmetics announced new chief executive and chief financial officers, signalling a shift from founder-led operations toward professional management [4].

Ecooking's structure has two layers. House of Cosmetics A/S, Søgaard's Kolding-based private-label company, developed the line and continues to support it [9]. In March 2021 the investment firm Bluegem Capital Partners, through its Bluegem III fund, acquired a 70% stake in Ecooking and House of Cosmetics, with Søgaard retaining the remaining 30% [6]. Søgaard said the brand partnered with Bluegem for its "digital expertise", retailer relationships and international perspective.

The brand's positioning rests on the idea that effective skincare should be widely accessible. Its mission, as stated on its site, is that "everyone deserves the sense of well-being that comes from healthy, nourished skin." Products are sold, in the words of one profile, "at affordable prices so that most people can enjoy the benefits of good, healthy-looking and healthy skin" [8].

Transparency is part of how the company frames itself: ingredients are presented in common names rather than only technical ones, a choice the brand connects to accessibility for customers with allergies. The current tagline, "The Recipe For Natural Beauty", continues the cooking metaphor that runs through the brand's identity.

The range covers face care (creams, cleansers, serums, oils and masks), body care, makeup, sun care and hair care, alongside gift sets. Hyaluronic acid features as a recurring hero ingredient, which Søgaard describes as naturally present in the body and useful for helping skin retain moisture [8]. Editorial coverage has also noted formulations built around organic oils, natural peptides and vitamins.

Two products are singled out across sources as signatures: an edible multi-oil and a face scrub, both of which won industry recognition. The company says its products are made and hand-filled at a small factory in Denmark.

On certification, the brand carries several marks. According to its parent company, the line is allergy-certified, dermatologist-tested, vegan and certified to the Ecocert Cosmos organic standard [9]. The brand's own site lists products certified under AllergyCertified and the Vegan Trademark, among other marks, and notes that products carrying the AllergyCertified label contain no perfume. Editorial coverage has reported the formulations as vegan and free of parabens, with beeswax the exception in certain balms.

The brand won the Danish Allergy Award in 2017 for its multi-oil and again in 2018 for its face scrub [8]. It has been profiled in trade and consumer press, including Cosmetics Business, which covered its 2018 UK launch, and Scan Magazine, which published a profile centred on the founder's story and the brand's philosophy.

Ecooking remains active. It operates a transactional website with a full multi-category range and maintains retail distribution across the Nordic markets. Since the 2021 Bluegem investment and the 2022 management changes, the brand has been professionally managed under House of Cosmetics A/S, with Søgaard retaining a minority stake.