Luonkos

Luonkos is a Finnish natural-cosmetics brand founded in 2018 in Naantali, on Finland's south-west coast [3][8]. It is known for waterless, plastic-free skincare sold in solid "cake" form, most of all its oil cleansing cakes, and for being among the first companies to bring bar-shaped, plastic-free products to the Finnish market. The brand was started by three women working in natural cosmetics and has been owned since 2023 by eBrands Global Oy, a Helsinki-based brand operator, while continuing to trade under its own name [8].

The name itself folds two ideas together: luonnonkosmetiikka, the Finnish word for natural cosmetics, and a local expression, luonkos jotain ihanaa, which the company glosses as "creating something wonderful." That pairing sums up the brand's pitch — natural formulas, made in Finland, with as little packaging and water as possible.

Luonkos was founded in 2018 in Naantali by a trio of women: Miia Leino, a natural-cosmetics teacher and product developer; Jonna Vesterinen, a natural-cosmetics trainer and natural-resource producer; and Piritta Fors, who serves as chief executive [9]. Leino and Vesterinen took on product development, while Fors focused on running the business — sales, communications and strategy. The company describes its founders simply as a group of women committed to honest, transparent choices across the supply chain.

The starting idea was to replace water-heavy products in plastic bottles with concentrated, solid alternatives. From the outset, the founders say, responsibly produced and plastic-free packaging was treated as essential rather than an afterthought.

Luonkos positions itself around what it calls a "skinimalism" approach: fewer products, used more than one way, in place of long multi-step routines and a shelf of plastic bottles. "Less is enough when you choose an effective, multi-use product," the company writes. Its formulas are waterless and preservative-free, and the brand frames this as better for skin and for the environment at once, captured in the tagline "Best for my skin, best for my nature."

The mission is also pitched at its customers directly. According to Luonkos, the goal is to help women step away from unnecessary beauty pressures and care for their skin "the Finnish way," while avoiding products that pollute the planet handed down to the next generation [2]. The brand markets a face-care range (oil cleansing, serums and balms), body care, intimate care and a men's line.

The brand's signature format is the oil cleansing cake — a solid, oil-based cleansing bar sold in foldable cardboard packaging rather than a plastic jar. Among its most-cited products is the Infinity Facial Oil Cleansing Cake, which customers have described as transformative for sensitive and atopic skin. Other named products include the Vitality oil cleansing cake and the Luminous Waterless Powder Toner.

Luonkos's most distinctive innovation is its use of forest microbes. Its Vitality and Infinity cakes contain Re-Connecting Nature, a Finnish patented extract said to hold an average of around 600 bacterial species — and up to 10 billion bacterial particles per gram — drawn from Finnish nature [5]. The extract was developed by Uute Scientific Oy, a University of Helsinki spin-out. According to a 2020 company press release, Luonkos was the first in the world to bring forest microbiota to consumers as a commercial product, with the stated aim of supporting the skin's microbiome and its barrier [9]. Other hero ingredients are drawn from Finnish raw materials such as birch bark, oats and barley.

Sustainability is central to how Luonkos describes itself. Products are made in Finland, in Lohja, from largely Finnish raw materials, and the company says ingredients are mainly wild-collected or organically farmed [5]. The formulas contain no water and no preservatives; the brand states they are more than 95% vegan, that no animal testing is used, and that its carbon footprint is minimal and offset. Packaging is built from recyclable, non-adhesive cardboard, using fibre from certified northern forests and biodegradable pine-oil stickers.

Most Luonkos products carry the Finnish FI-Natura certification, a natural-cosmetics standard run by an association founded in 2014 that requires a high share of natural-origin ingredients. The company also reports that its forest-microbe products form the largest such product family to be granted the Finnish Allergy Label, awarded by the Finnish Allergy, Skin and Asthma Federation [4].

Luonkos has been recognised mainly in Nordic and natural-beauty awards. In 2020 it won a gold Nordic Natural Beauty Award for the best Nordic natural innovation in skincare, for its oil cleansing cakes, and placed third in the FSEA Gold Leaf international packaging competition in the United States [9]. In 2022 it was recognised at the Beauty Shortlist Awards in London and took a further gold at the Nordic Natural Beauty Awards for best dry shampoo, and was a finalist for Most Sustainable Product in Finland [4]. In 2025 its Luminous Waterless Powder Toner was named a finalist at the European Natural Beauty Awards [1].

Luonkos was acquired in 2023 by eBrands Global Oy, a Helsinki-based direct-to-consumer brand accelerator, which now operates the brand's international online store [8]. The original Finnish company is recorded as Luonkos Finland Oy, based in Naantali; eBrands Global Oy carries a Helsinki registered address, and manufacturing remains in Lohja [7]. The brand's seat is therefore variously associated with Naantali as its founding home, Lohja as its production site, and Helsinki as the parent operator's address.

The brand is active under acquired ownership. Following the 2023 eBrands acquisition, Piritta Fors continued as co-founder and chief executive, and Luonkos has kept its own international and Finnish storefronts. Its most recent recorded activity is the 2025 European Natural Beauty Awards finalist placement, alongside an expansion toward the North American market through eBrands.