Jurlique

Jurlique is an Australian skincare company founded in 1985 in South Australia by Jurgen Klein, a German biochemist and naturopath, and his wife Ulrike Klein, a horticulturalist and botanist [7]. The company is built around a biodynamic farm in the Adelaide Hills, where it grows the botanicals used in its formulas, and it markets itself under a "seed to skin" philosophy. Since December 2011 it has operated as a subsidiary of the Japanese cosmetics company Pola Orbis Holdings [7].

The brand name is a phonetic blend of the two founders' first names, Jurgen and Ulrike. Though now part of a larger parent group, Jurlique continues to run its original Adelaide Hills farm and remains a distinct, operating brand; it marked its 40th anniversary in 2025.

Jurgen and Ulrike Klein emigrated from Germany to Australia in 1983 with four young children and settled in the Adelaide Hills. Jurgen had previously worked for the German holistic skincare house Dr. Hauschka, while Ulrike had trained in horticulture and herbalism. The couple chose the Adelaide Hills after what the company describes as an intensive worldwide search for a location whose air, soil and climate suited natural botanical cultivation.

According to a profile by Cooper Investors, the venture grew out of an earlier company the Kleins had founded in 1974, LIVOS, which researched plant essences for food, cosmetics and paints [9]. They established Jurlique in 1985 from a rented former cheese factory in Mount Barker, funded by an interest-free loan from a friend. Ulrike has described the founding conviction plainly: "the natural healing qualities of herbs would be the future in skincare." In its first five years the company exported more than 95 percent of its products, building distributors across China, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

A purpose-built facility opened in Mount Barker in 1987, and the first concept stores followed in Adelaide and Melbourne in 1991. Two of the brand's longest-running products, the Rosewater Balancing Mist and the Herbal Recovery Serum, were launched in 1993. Jurlique served as an official wellness partner for the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games, providing thousands of treatments to athletes at the 2000 Sydney Games. In 2005 the operation relocated to a 105-acre farm at Mylor in the Adelaide Hills.

By the company's own account, Jurlique now reaches more than 27 markets and several hundred retail locations, and it describes itself as Australia's second-largest prestige skincare brand [7]. In 2025 it celebrated 40 years with a limited-edition Intense Rose range grown on the farm.

Ownership of Jurlique passed through several hands before the current parent acquired it. Sources differ on the exact structure of the first sale: Wikipedia records that Kerry Packer acquired the company for $25 million in 2002 [7], while the Cooper Investors profile describes a staged sale in which the Packer family took a 25 percent stake in 2002 and a further 50 percent in 2004 after Ulrike separated from Jurgen [9]. In 2006, investment firms linked to Nelson Peltz's Triarc Companies and the US private equity firm JH Partners became investors.

In December 2011 the Packer interests and the other investors sold Jurlique to Pola Orbis Holdings, which took full ownership. The two main sources give close but differing figures for the price: Wikipedia reports $355 million [7], while Cooper Investors reports $335 million [9]. Pola Orbis has since pursued expansion of the brand, particularly across Asia. Within the group, Jurlique sits alongside the parent's flagship cosmetics brand, POLA.

Jurlique positions itself as a pioneer of natural, "slow beauty" skincare and frames its identity around the slogan "From Seed to Skin." The company's stated method rests on a conviction it attributes to its founders: that, as one of its pages puts it, "nothing manufactured solely in a laboratory could come near the nurturing power of Nature." Ulrike Klein has summarised the broader aim as a wish to "connect people back to nature." The brand frames its values around purity, integrity and care.

Central to the positioning is vertical integration. Current chief executive Loic Rethore has said the company owns "every step—from seed to skin," and the brand emphasises that its botanicals are grown, hand-harvested and processed close to source rather than bought in.

Jurlique's range centres on facial and body skincare, with a line of aromatherapy and essential-oil products; rose is a recurring signature, including a proprietary Jurlique Rose. Other botanicals the company highlights include calendula, chamomile, lavender, marshmallow root, echinacea, holy basil and spilanthes, grown on the farm. Long-standing products include the Rosewater Balancing Mist and the Herbal Recovery Serum, both dating to the early 1990s, with later additions such as the Rare Rose Face Oil in 2015.

On the technical side, the company says its formulas combine traditional plant knowledge with extraction methods including supercritical CO₂ extraction. Its farm is certified biodynamic by ACO Certification Ltd, and the brand notes that the farm and products are not certified by the Demeter association.

Sustainability is a core part of how Jurlique presents itself, and it predates the wider industry trend; a Qantas Travel Insider feature noted that the founders sought an unpolluted growing site "long before sustainability and biodynamic farming were fashionable" [10]. The company reports practices including zero waste to landfill from its farm since 2016, packaging recycling through TerraCycle, on-site solar power and tree planting, and it states a goal of fully reusable and recyclable packaging. Jurlique became a certified B Corporation, though the year is recorded inconsistently: the trade publication Retail Beauty dates it to 2023 [8], while the brand's own anniversary timeline gives 2024 [6]. The company also describes a roadmap toward carbon neutrality by 2030.

In February 2007 Jurlique was fined $3.4 million for price-fixing, described at the time as the highest penalty of its kind in Australia [9].

Although the company positions itself as ethical and environmentally conscious, it conducts animal testing for products sold in China, as required by that market's local law [7].

Jurlique remains an active, operating brand under Pola Orbis Holdings, which has owned it outright since 2011 [7]. It continues to run the original Adelaide Hills farm and was commercially active as recently as July 2025, when it released its 40th-anniversary Intense Rose products.