Heliotrop

Heliotrop is a German natural-cosmetics brand based in Salzhemmendorf, Lower Saxony, that specialises in plant-based facial, body, and hair care. It traces its origins to 1925, when the druggist Ernst Kunze founded a company called elektrobio to make biochemical soaps inspired by the Schüssler salt remedies then popular in German health-food stores [5]. The Heliotrop name itself arrived four decades later, in 1965, and the brand has marketed itself as a pioneer of certified natural cosmetics ever since.

Today Heliotrop is one of three brands run by LOGOCOS Naturkosmetik, alongside Logona and Santé. The parent company passed through ownership by the French group L'Oréal between 2018 and 2023 before returning to independence under the private-equity firm CoBe Capital [6][7]. The brand remains active, with a current product line of plant-active creams, gels, and serums sold mainly through organic and health-food stores.

The company began in 1925 as elektrobio, founded by Ernst Kunze, a druggist whose interest in the biochemical Schüssler salt system led him to produce soaps and remedies for Germany's Reformhäuser — the health-food and reform stores that catered to the early-twentieth-century natural-living movement [5]. According to the brand's own account, Kunze wanted to develop plant-based alternatives to synthetic care products, and the early business grew in step with the reform-store network that distributed it [2].

The turning point came in 1965, when the company introduced the Heliotrop name and launched what it describes as the first moisture-supplying "system care" built around a plant-derived moisture factor [2]. The name comes from the heliotrope, a plant the company associates with the vanilla scent and the habit of turning toward the sun. Heliotrop says its logo has represented three natural energy sources — sun, water, and plants — since that 1965 relaunch.

For most of its history Heliotrop operated under the Elektrobio company. In 2007 LOGOCOS Naturkosmetik acquired Elektrobio, folding Heliotrop (together with the Neobio line) into its portfolio [5]. LOGOCOS, founded in 1978 and originally called Lorien Goods, had by then established itself as one of Germany's natural-cosmetics specialists.

A year later, in 2008, LOGOCOS was among the initiators of NATRUE, an international certification label for natural and organic cosmetics; most Heliotrop products were subsequently certified to that standard [8]. (One source dates LOGOCOS's NATRUE involvement to 2007, but the label itself was realised in 2008, the year generally recorded for its launch.)

In August 2018, L'Oréal announced its acquisition of LOGOCOS, completing the deal that October [6]. L'Oréal's own announcement highlighted only the two best-known brands, Logona and Santé, describing them as "two authentic and certified natural brands"; trade press and the LOGOCOS and CoBe portfolio listings confirm that Heliotrop was part of the same portfolio at the time of the sale [7]. The arrangement was short-lived: in March 2023 L'Oréal divested LOGOCOS to CoBe Capital, a New York private-equity firm, and the company returned to independent ownership. LOGOCOS has framed this as a return to its roots, stating that after years inside an international corporate group it is "now independent again."

Heliotrop is owned by LOGOCOS Naturkosmetik, which operates it as a sister brand to Logona and Santé from a single site in Salzhemmendorf. Ownership of that parent has changed twice in recent years: LOGOCOS was acquired by L'Oréal in 2018 and then sold to CoBe Capital in 2023 [7]. Following the CoBe acquisition, LOGOCOS has been described as employing roughly 150 to 230 people and producing more than 1,000 products across its three brands.

Heliotrop's stated guiding idea is that "effectiveness lies in nature." The company says it combines plant-based active ingredients with scientific knowledge to support the skin's natural functions and protect it from everyday stress, summarising its output as "premium plant-active cosmetics." Its tagline, "Weil wahre Schönheit natürlich ist" ("Because true beauty is natural"), reflects the same positioning.

Commercially, the brand sits at the premium end of the natural-cosmetics market. It is distributed mainly through specialist organic and health-food stores at a premium price level [7], supplemented by its own online shop. That places it within the German Reformhaus tradition of natural-living retail from which it originally emerged.

Heliotrop's range covers facial care, body care, and hair care, organised into product lines such as Active Hyaluron, Active, Multiactive, and Moisture, with periodic limited editions. According to a German trade encyclopedia, the assortment comprised 56 products across these segments [5].

The formulas centre on plant extracts and oils. Among the ingredients the company features are organic aloe vera, naturally derived hyaluronic acid, plant-based squalane, organic pomegranate seed extract, grape seed oil, macadamia nut oil, rose blossom extract, and ginkgo leaf extract. Heliotrop states that it uses "exclusively selected complex plant extracts and oils, predominantly from certified organic cultivation," and develops and manufactures its products in Germany.

Heliotrop and its parent emphasise environmental and animal-welfare commitments. The company says it has conducted no animal testing since its creation and develops its products on a fully cruelty-free basis. Its outer packaging is described as environmentally friendly, climate-neutral, and sustainable, and LOGOCOS has reported transitioning toward recycled PET materials and running wildlife-protection efforts, including for wild bee populations. Ingredient sourcing is drawn predominantly from controlled organic cultivation. Most Heliotrop products carry the NATRUE certification for natural and organic cosmetics.

In the "Naturkosmetik Branchenreport 2012," an industry report on the German natural-cosmetics sector, Heliotrop was listed among the ten most successful natural-cosmetics brands in Germany [5].

Heliotrop is an active brand. It runs a full e-commerce site with a current product lineup and contemporary payment options, and its parent company LOGOCOS continues to operate from Salzhemmendorf following the 2023 transfer to CoBe Capital [7]. Distribution remains concentrated in the German-speaking market and specialist organic retail, with a more limited presence elsewhere. Having been founded in 1925, the brand reached its 100-year mark in 2025.