L300

L300 is a Swedish skincare brand built on a 1960s dermatological discovery and launched in 1980 [1][6]. Its name is short for "Läkemedelsprojekt 300" — Pharmaceutical Project 300 — a label the company traces back to research by dermatologist and professor Gunnar Swanbeck, who found that dry skin lacks certain moisture-giving substances and, working with the pharmaceutical firm Pharmacia, combined urea and salt to counter it. That formulation became the brand's first and still best-known product.

The line is owned by Orkla Care AB, part of the Norwegian Orkla group, and is sold chiefly through Swedish pharmacies and Åhléns department stores [1]. It remains active: in June 2025 it marked its 45th anniversary with a new advertising campaign [6].

L300's origin story begins not in 1980 but in the mid-1960s. According to the company, Swanbeck — a dermatologist and professor — observed that dry skin is short of substances that help it hold moisture. In partnership with Pharmacia, he combined two compounds naturally present in skin, urea and salt, and reported positive effects [1]. The brand describes the resulting Intensive Moisture Face Cream as the foundation of its recipe, and says the cream remains a bestseller today.

The name "Läkemedelsprojekt 300," literally Pharmaceutical Project 300, reflects those clinical roots, and the products carried that medical heritage into the consumer market when L300 launched in 1980.

L300 is manufactured and owned by Orkla Care AB, the personal-care arm of the Orkla group [1]. Within that portfolio it sits alongside other Nordic personal-care names such as LdB, Dr. Greve, HTH, Define and the Perspirex and P20 lines. The brand operates as a single, Sweden-focused label rather than an international franchise, though its products also reach other Nordic markets through retailers.

The brand markets itself under the tagline "Mild, snäll och effektiv hudvård för alla hudtyper" — mild, kind and effective skincare for all skin types — and the mission statement "Hudvård utan konstigheter," which it renders as skincare without complications. Its stated belief is that gentleness, or "snällhet," is the basis for balanced skin, and it builds its formulas around ingredients the company says are found naturally in the skin and suited to the Nordic climate. Most products are fragrance-free, and the company states that L300 skincare never contains ingredients of animal origin and is dermatologically tested [2].

Independent Swedish reviewers place L300 in the budget category and describe it as a pharmacy line; one notes that it is sold only at Swedish pharmacies and has passed pharmacy quality control [8].

L300's range spans facial cleansing, moisturisers, serums, eye creams, body care and self-tanning products, organised into series built around particular ingredients. Alongside the original urea-and-salt Intensive Moisture line, these include Hyaluronic Age Renewal (hyaluronic acid), a Niacinamide range with cica aimed at oily and combination skin, a Vitamin C series, Pro-Retinol, and an Ultra Sensitive line for reactive skin [4]. A men's grooming range and tinted day creams with SPF round out the catalogue.

The Intensive Moisture Face Cream remains the signature product; Swedish reviewers report it to be the best-selling skincare item on the country's pharmacy market [7]. The Pro-Retinol Intense Recovery Night Cream won a Tara Beauty Award in 2022 [4].

L300's Pro-Retinol Intense Recovery Night Cream received a Tara Beauty Award in 2022 [4]. The brand has also been covered by Swedish beauty publications including Vegobeauty and Daisy Beauty, which review individual products and consistently frame L300 as an affordable, pharmacy-sold line rooted in a Swedish discovery.

L300 is active. In 2025 it celebrated its 45th anniversary, and on 24 June 2025 it launched the "Mamma vet bäst" (Mother Knows Best) campaign, featuring Mia and Penny Parnevik, on the theme of intergenerational beauty and timeless skincare [6]. The brand maintains a current product range, an active website and Swedish-language social accounts.