Marie-Stella-Maris

Marie-Stella-Maris is a Dutch body-care and home-fragrance brand based in Amsterdam, founded in 2011 by Patrick Munsters, formerly the creative director of the Amsterdam denim house Scotch & Soda [8]. The company pairs natural personal-care and scent products with a structural giving model: a fixed amount from every product sold goes to the Marie-Stella-Maris Foundation, which funds clean-water and sanitation projects in low-income countries.

The brand takes its name from the founder's own baptismal names, Marie, Stella and Maris — a phrase echoing the Latin Marian title "Mary, Star of the Sea" [9]. It remains active, with a flagship store in Amsterdam, a webshop shipping worldwide, and ongoing product launches through 2025 and 2026.

Marie-Stella-Maris was set up in 2011, soon after a United Nations resolution adopted in July 2010 recognised access to water and sanitation as a human right [8]. Munsters has framed the company around that idea, summarising its premise as a question: "What good are beautiful products if people don't have access to clean drinking water? Water is the foundation of life." [2] Rather than make one-off charitable donations, he structured the business so that everyday sales would fund water projects on a continuing basis.

The brand's range centres on body care — hand soaps, body washes, dry body oils and shower products — alongside eau de parfum and home fragrances such as room sprays and diffusers. The company positions this assortment under the line "Luxury with impact," describing its scents as refined and timeless and its model as combining design with social responsibility. Products are sold through the Amsterdam flagship, the brand's webshop, third-party retailers and a refill bar, with a refill subscription offered to reduce packaging waste.

Marie-Stella-Maris describes its body-care products as 100 percent vegan and formulated without parabens, sulfates or microplastics, and emphasises refillable packaging as a way to cut waste, carbon emissions and water use [2]. The company states that its formulas are cruelty-free and made with up to 100 percent natural-origin ingredients. It is certified as a B Corporation, a designation the brand cites as affirming its commitment to sustainability and social responsibility [2].

The sustainability platform Good On You rates the brand "It's a start," its second-lowest of five tiers, scoring it 4 out of 5 on environmental impact, 2 out of 5 on its treatment of people, and 3 out of 5 on animal welfare [9].

The Marie-Stella-Maris Foundation was established alongside the company in 2011 and independently selects the projects it supports, focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene — commonly abbreviated WASH [5]. The foundation states its mission as increasing "access to clean and safe drinking water worldwide" [3], working with partners including Aqua for All, a non-profit founded by the Dutch water sector, and Project Maji [5]. Projects have run in countries including Uganda, Mozambique, Bangladesh and Tanzania.

According to the brand's press materials, the company has donated more than 2.8 million euros since 2011 [7]. Figures for the number of people reached differ between sources: a search aggregator states the foundation has helped more than 140,000 people gain access to clean and safe water [11], while an earlier listing by the Amsterdam tourism authority I amsterdam cites roughly 17,000 people across Bangladesh, Tanzania and Uganda from eight projects [8]. The brand's own foundation page describes the number more loosely as "thousands of people" and counts 14 water projects supported since 2011 [5].

The brand is active. Its webshop ships internationally, the Amsterdam flagship at Keizersgracht 357 remains in operation, and its press page lists product launches and campaigns dated through 2025 and 2026, including a hand-care collection and World Water Day activity.