IPSUM ALII

IPSUM ALII is a Swiss skincare brand based in Zürich that builds its products around Kampo, Japan's traditional system of herbal medicine. It was founded in 2022 [9] by Kikoc Veopraseut and Nora Kato, and trades through the registered company HINOKI GmbH in Zürich [6]. Its skincare is made in Japan and then filled and packed in Europe [3].

The name is drawn from Latin — ipsum ("self") and alii ("the other") — and the company's stated aim is to return the skin to a state of balance using ingredients rooted in Kampo herbalism alongside modern biotechnology. The line is presented as vegan and not tested on animals [3].

Veopraseut and Kato met at a dinner party in Tokyo in 2008, while both were living and working in the city, and became close friends before later reconnecting in Zürich [7]. The pair trace the idea for the brand to wellness practices they had encountered in Japan, among them onsen bathing, acupuncture and Kampo herbal medicine, which they felt improved both their skin and their general wellbeing.

According to a retailer editorial, a turning point came when Veopraseut's long-standing eczema was resolved by a Kampo dermatologist in Tokyo, an experience the founders describe as showing that treating underlying causes rather than symptoms could produce lasting results [8]. Having settled in Switzerland, they set out to introduce Kampo-based skincare to a European audience. Kato is listed as founder and managing director of the operating company [6].

The brand positions itself as clean, Kampo-inspired Japanese skincare. In the Kampo framework, as the company presents it, healthy skin reflects a balance between three elements: Ki (vital energy), Ketsu (blood and nourishment) and Sui (bodily fluids and hydration). IPSUM ALII maps its three core products onto these ideas, matching each to a different type of imbalance.

Its stated goal, in the company's words, is to "restore skin to its equilibrium state by using scientifically proven ingredients, infused with the ancient wisdom of Kampo medicinal herbs." The brand sums up this pairing of tradition and laboratory formulation in the tagline "Where craft meets biotechnology."

The range centres on a three-step routine: the Skin Refining Gel, a dual-action exfoliating gel; the Antioxidant Booster Serum, a bi-phase formula; and the Nourishing Adaptogen Cream, built around several Japanese adaptogenic plants [8]. The products draw on a set of Kampo herbs the company treats as its hero ingredients, including akayajiou root (Rehmannia chinensis), satsuma peel (Citrus unshiu), hatomugi seed, kihada bark (Phellodendron amurense), maguwa root (Morus alba), murasaki root (Lithospermum erythrorhizon), reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) and ukon, a Japanese turmeric. These are combined with more familiar cosmetic bases such as plant-derived squalane, rice bran oil and vitamin E.

IPSUM ALII describes its skincare as vegan and states that neither its finished products nor its ingredients are tested on animals. According to the company, its formulas are free of parabens, talc, mineral oil, SLS, SLEs, paraffin, synthetic perfume and essential oils [3]. The brand frames its approach around restraint, summarised on its site as "there is nothing more sustainable than less," and says it works in small batches and uses fermentation-based methods that it describes as requiring far less water, land and energy than conventional sourcing.

The independent Paris retailer Bijo has profiled the brand in an editorial feature on the meeting of Kampo and clean beauty [8]. The company's own website also carries pull-quotes attributed to publications including Vogue, Die Zeit, NZZ Bellevue and Annabelle.

IPSUM ALII remains active. It operates a direct-to-consumer store carrying a 2026 copyright notice, and as of mid-2026 the company was recorded as having two employees and no outside funding [9]. It is a small, independent business, founded in 2022, that sells across several European markets while manufacturing in Japan.