Lucia Care

Lucia Care is a Danish skincare brand based in Odense, founded in 2017 by physician Nanna Kirkebjerg [1]. It builds its products around extracts from organically grown medicinal herbs and positions itself within a holistic, integrative-medicine tradition, treating skin, body and mind as connected. The company sells through its own webshop and Danish retailers including Matas, Magasin and Salling, alongside selected pharmacies and health shops.

The brand remains active. Its most recent dated milestones are a 2023 change of chief executive and the opening of an associated clinic in central Odense in December that year [3].

The idea for Lucia Care grew out of a stress clinic that Nanna Kirkebjerg ran between 2015 and 2017, where she used natural medicinal oils for therapeutic, stress-relieving baths. According to the founder, the products for that clinic were imported from Switzerland until she realised she could formulate them herself: "On the stress clinic, we got our products from Switzerland, but one day it occurred to me that I could make them myself" [4]. She has said she knew precisely which medicinal herbs she wanted to use.

Kirkebjerg is a specialist in general medicine who also trained in naturopathy, and the company presents her dual background — conventional medical practice paired with natural medicine — as central to the brand. She has described her interest in anthroposophy and holistic healing as formative; in interviews she has traced this worldview partly to growing up with a disabled sister in an anthroposophical setting, and to moving from Sweden to Denmark in 1995 to study medicine [4].

What began as a side project expanded when the Danish contract manufacturer Danske Dermapharm agreed to produce the formulas; the company has said Lucia Care was Dermapharm's first private-label client [4].

Lucia Care started as a natural skincare line and gradually broadened its retail reach, with pharmacy distribution noted as a milestone in its early years. In January 2023, the brand appointed Tina Kongstad as chief executive, a move covered by the regional outlet Fyens.dk and framed by the company as a way to strengthen sales and customer relations while freeing the founder for product development [5].

Later that year, the brand extended beyond skincare into clinical practice. On 13 December 2023 — Saint Lucia's Day, from which the brand takes its name — Kirkebjerg and fellow physician Christian Boving opened the Lucia Care clinic along the Odense River in the centre of the city [3]. The two had known each other since medical school, and the clinic was presented as combining conventional medical science with integrative treatments for "the whole person."

Lucia Care describes its approach as holistic skincare based on pure extracts from organic medicinal herbs, summed up in the phrase "botany meets medical science." The company frames its philosophy around an inseparable connection between people and nature, and says its aim is to strengthen the skin's own ability to help itself rather than simply treating symptoms. Its products are positioned as unisex and suitable for the whole family, and the brand uses the tagline "power of nature."

A central claim is that the line unites "natural medicine traditions with modern dermatology and pharmacology" [6]. The company goes further, describing its range as the first skincare line in the Nordic region built on an integrative medical perspective [1]. It also says formulation involves dermatologically and pharmacologically trained biochemists and laboratory technicians, working alongside the founder.

The brand's catalogue covers face care, body care, sun protection and gift sets, all produced in Denmark. No single hero product is highlighted by the company; instead, the range is organised around a roster of medicinal plants and botanical actives.

Its ingredient list draws on herbs such as rosemary, calendula, chamomile, horsetail, aloe vera, cedarwood and bergamot, supported by oils and butters including almond, olive, sunflower and shea, and actives such as hyaluronic acid and vitamins A and E. The brand maintains a "Herbarium" detailing the traditional and biochemical rationale it attaches to each plant — for example crediting horsetail's silica content with supporting collagen, and describing hyaluronic acid as a natural moisture-binding agent.

Lucia Care states that its products are vegan and not tested on animals, and that they are free from synthetic fragrance, parabens and phthalates. It points to two certifications: COSMOS Organic, which it says requires a minimum of 95 percent organic plant-based ingredients, and a Vegan Trademark covering the absence of animal ingredients and testing [7].

On packaging, the company says it maximises the use of recycled plastic and glass, uses boxes made from recycled paper, and designs all packaging to be recyclable; it also frames its multipurpose products as a way to reduce environmental impact. The brand notes that it deliberately forgoes the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, on the grounds that potent medicinal herbs containing essential oils naturally include declared fragrance compounds — a case, it says, of prioritising ingredient efficacy over that particular certification [7].

Lucia Care is active. It is a small, primarily Danish indie brand operating an online shop and active social channels, with retail distribution through Danish chains and pharmacies. The most recent dated developments on record are the 2023 appointment of a chief executive and the December 2023 opening of the Lucia Care clinic in Odense.