Marja Entrich

Marja Entrich is a Swedish natural-skincare brand founded in Stockholm in 1943 by the cosmetologist of the same name [9]. Built on plant-based formulas and the principle that anything applied to the skin should be edible, it is one of Sweden's oldest continuously operating natural-skincare lines, predating the modern clean-beauty movement by decades. The company remains active, manufacturing in Europe and selling through independent natural-beauty retailers in Sweden and across the Nordic region.

The founder, born Marja Katz in Liepāja, Latvia, in 1905, trained for two years under Helena Rubinstein in Paris before settling in Sweden and opening her own clinic. The brand she created still carries her name and her original botanical approach.

Marja Entrich (née Katz, 1905–1999) was a Latvian-born cosmetologist who, after studying under Helena Rubinstein in Paris and working at salons in Tel Aviv and Stockholm, opened the skin clinic Marjakliniken on Skeppargatan in Stockholm in 1943 [10]. The Norwegian company history adds further detail, recording early training at the Clytia Institute in Paris in 1925 and roughly eight years directing a clinic in Tel Aviv before she relocated to Sweden in 1939 [8].

The same year the clinic opened, she launched her own skincare range, Gröna Linjen ("The Green Line"), with more than 35 products built around vegetable oils and other plant-derived ingredients. A vegetarian who refused to use animal fats, she based the line on the idea that skincare should be made from ingredients pure enough to eat — a stance summarised in the Swedish phrase the brand still cites, that what you put on your skin you should be able to eat. The Swedish women's biographical dictionary SKBL records her career as cosmetologist, entrepreneur and folk singer, and notes nicknames such as "Örtgumman" (the Herb Woman).

From the Skeppargatan clinic, Marja Entrich developed techniques as well as products. She is credited with introducing the "rådjursögon" (deer-eye) makeup look to Sweden, pioneering a diathermy hair-removal method presented as a scarless alternative to electrolysis, and creating a massage technique she called "aktiv-totalt lymfdränage" (active total lymphatic drainage).

In 1971 she handed the clinic's day-to-day operations to three employees and granted production and sales rights to Britt-Marie and Pierre Jeigle, trading as ME Bio Cosmetic AB [8]. She continued to be recognised within her profession late in life, and made a recording debut, the album Visor och visioner, at the age of 90. Marja Entrich died in Stockholm on 19 March 1999. Wikipedia and SKBL give her age as 94, consistent with a birth date of 28 February 1905 [9][10]; the brand's Norwegian history page rounds this to 93 [8].

The brand operates under the Swedish company Marja Entrich AB. According to the Norwegian company history, Gun and Timo Tammerlöv took over the business in 1999, the same year Marja Entrich AB acquired the Nordic Bio Cosmetic and Karl Lark production facilities in Finland [8]. The same source notes that the company changed hands again around 2020; the identity of the later owners is not disclosed in the available sources.

The company describes its approach as a clear botanical philosophy, producing what it calls nutrient-rich, effective products for face, hair and body from natural, plant-based sources "in harmony with nature." Its stated aim is to be the obvious first choice for the active modern woman seeking quality natural skincare. The brand frames itself around heritage and continuity, using the tagline "Uncompromising beauty since 1943" and presenting its founder as an early advocate of plant-based skincare and holistic wellness. Early in her career, by one retailer account, Marja Entrich worked closely with Stockholm's Karolinska Institute on the link between nutrition and skin health [11].

The range covers skincare, body and hair care, alongside makeup, sun care and supplements. Several oils and creams recur as signature items, among them the Avocado Oil, Carrot Oil, Wheat Germ Cream, Bio-Special Cream and a beeswax-based cream. The brand singles out its green, fragrant Avocado Oil as one of its most popular products, a nourishing facial oil suitable for all skin types.

Formulas draw on plant oils and extracts including avocado, carrot, wheat germ, rosehip, sea buckthorn and argan, several specified as organic, together with two licensed third-party complexes, Pentavitin (a saccharide isomerate) and Revitalin BT. Beeswax, the company states, is the only non-plant ingredient it uses; otherwise the products are described as vegan. The range is presented as paraben-free, with preservatives chosen to limit bacterial and fungal growth and vitamin E used to keep oils from turning rancid.

Marja Entrich received the Grand Prix Esthétique de CIDESCO gold medal twice — in Brussels in 1957 for her lymphatic-drainage massage technique, and in Athens in 1989 for her work in skin and body care [8]. The brand's Norwegian history describes her as the only person in the world to have won the CIDESCO gold medal twice and likens the honour to an Oscar in the film world. Her clientele at Marjakliniken, according to Swedish Wikipedia, included the author Elin Wägner and actresses from the Dramaten theatre [9]. She is also the subject of standalone biographical entries in Wikipedia and in the SKBL.

The brand is active. It runs an e-commerce site at marjaentrich.com with a full catalogue, supplies a network of independent natural-beauty shops in Sweden, and ships to several Nordic and European markets; a separate Norwegian site, marja-entrich.no, serves that market. Production, the company says, has always taken place in Europe, with raw materials and packaging sourced there to keep transport short and quality under control, and it states that it deliberately avoids cheaper supply from more distant low-cost countries. Manufacturing is carried out at its own facility with in-house laboratory development [8].