MBR

MBR, short for Medical Beauty Research, is a German skincare company based in Aue-Bad Schlema in the state of Saxony. It was founded in 2000 in Bad Schlema, and it still develops and produces its formulations in Germany [2]. The company describes its work as "skin performance" rather than beauty, and organises its range around a fixed three-step routine instead of the usual pairing of a day cream and a serum.

MBR sells mainly through professionals: dermatologists, medical spas and specialist retailers. Outside Germany, the brand has appeared in spa treatments built on its products, including a two-hour Liquid Surgery Facial at a Four Seasons spa in Los Angeles. The company remains active, with executive appointments announced in 2026.

According to the company, MBR was founded in 2000 in Bad Schlema, a small town in Saxony [2]. No founder is named in the company's own history. Its public face today is its chief executive, Stefan Kalmund, who signs his letter on the company website as "Chief Executive Officer, Medical Beauty Research".

The brand ties its identity to its birthplace. Its US partner site presents Bad Schlema as a town known for centuries for its therapeutic spa baths, and says MBR continues that local tradition of wellness [11]. The same site states that the brand has existed since 2000 and that its products were developed by experts from plastic surgery, dermatology, microbiology and biochemistry. The company's own website lists a similar mix of specialists it works with: plastic surgery, dermatology, toxicology and microbiology.

The spa-town story is presented as heritage rather than as part of the company's own history. The company itself dates to 2000, not to the town's earlier spa era.

Much of MBR's documented presence outside Germany comes through treatment rooms. Two American trade articles record how its products entered hotel spas in the United States.

In 2017, The Peninsula Spa New York introduced the MBR Age Defying Customized Facial, offered in 60- and 90-minute versions [8]. The trade magazine American Spa described MBR at the time as a German skincare brand and explained that the name stood for Medical Beauty Research. The brand then used the web address mbr-cosmetics.com.

Two years later, in 2019, The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills launched a two-hour treatment called the Liquid Surgery Facial, which relied on MBR products [9]. American Spa reported that the treatment combined a double cleanse, an enzyme peel, a concentrated hyaluronic acid serum, masks and algae elixirs with lymphatic drainage and deep-tissue massage, and finished with a moisturiser and eye cream. The spa's director described its aim as restoring facial definition and reducing wrinkle depth.

By 2026, the company was marking more than 25 years in business. That year it announced several changes at senior level [3]. In April 2026, Stefan Kalmund took part in a panel at The New Now – Future Summit 2026 in Zurich. Julia Schwieger became chief financial officer on 1 September 2026. A press release dated 9 September 2026 announced that make-up artist Karim Sattar had joined in a newly created role, Head of Creative Artistry and Celebrities.

No parent group is documented for MBR. The brand is operated by MBR Skin GmbH, a company registered in Germany with its address in Aue-Bad Schlema [5]. Its legal notice names Stefan Kalmund and Ingo Bender as managing directors. In the United States, the brand is represented by a partner company that describes itself as MBR's official partner for the US market [11].

No acquisitions or changes of ownership are documented.

MBR's central idea is that skin should be treated as an organ, not a surface. Its tagline reads "Skin is more than beauty. Skin is health." In a letter on the company website, Kalmund writes that the company asks "for evidence rather than promises, for concentrations rather than narratives, for patience rather than campaigns". The brand sums up its position in one line: "visible results over empty claims."

The company names three guiding values. The first, "precision over promise", is explained as developing products without cost limits and asking what is best achievable rather than what is most commercially viable. The second, "science, not trends", refers to its work with medical and scientific specialists. The third, "continuous development", describes a habit of updating formulas as research advances instead of relaunching products under new names.

That last point is unusual in the beauty industry, where new versions of products are often marketed as launches. MBR calls the approach Constant Progress Development and applies it to the active ingredients in its treatment products [4].

The CEO letter also explains what the company chooses not to do. Kalmund writes that MBR keeps production in-house, accepts the cost in time and margin, and declines "channels that generate revenue quickly and erode trust slowly". He describes the treatment room, not the shop window, as the place where the company's work is judged by trained professionals.

According to the brand, its products are made in small batches and each bottle is inspected by hand six times before it is sold. The company says results should be judged over three months rather than days. Its slogan for this is "Proven in three months. Not promised in three days."

MBR's range covers facial skincare, body care and hair care, including cleansers, peels, serums, masks, eye care, lip care, deodorants and shampoos. Products are grouped into named lines. These include Pure Perfection 100 N, ContinueLine med, BioChange, BioChange CEA, THE BEST and medical SUN care.

### The three-phase system

The core of the range is what the company calls the MBR System, a routine in three phases [1]. In the first phase, "Open", cleansers and peels prepare the skin so that active ingredients can reach deeper layers. In the second, "Treat", serums and ampoules deliver concentrated active ingredients. In the third, "Close", creams seal the skin barrier and hold in what was applied before. The company describes this as a clinically developed protocol and says each step is designed to work with the next.

Each product is labelled with the phase it belongs to. The brand's own example of a complete routine uses three of its best-known products: the Enzyme Cleansing Booster for the first phase, the Liquid Surgery Serum for the second and Face Cream Smooth 100 for the third.

### Liquid Surgery Serum

The Liquid Surgery Serum is one of the brand's signature products and shares its name with the Four Seasons facial in Los Angeles. In an article on its own editorial site, the US retailer Violet Grey, which stocks the brand, describes the serum as built around a "Liquid Surgery Complex", an oxygen-carrier system first developed as a substitute for haemoglobin [10]. The same article says the serum uses peptides intended to soften expression lines and supports collagen production and the skin barrier.

### Named ingredients

MBR highlights three ingredient systems on its website. Syn-Ake is a peptide the company uses in the Pure Perfection 100 N line. MBR says it reduces expression lines by 52 percent and that this was clinically shown in four weeks [1]. The figure is footnoted to a published review on non-invasive peptides as alternatives to Botox. Syn-Ake is a named ingredient, and the company does not claim to own it.

Modukine is described by the company as an organic milk peptide that helps repair the skin barrier and calm inflammation. It is the basis of ContinueLine med, a line of 15 products for sensitive, reactive, irritated or very dry skin, which MBR says was developed under dermatological control [6]. The line also includes body lotion and hair products such as shampoo, conditioner and a hair tonic.

The third system, FibroBoost Complex, is the one MBR calls its own. The company describes it as "a proprietary complex that revitalises fibroblast activity", meaning the skin cells that produce collagen and elastin [7]. It appears in the Pure Perfection 100 N line and in THE BEST.

Other products named in connection with the brand include Cream Extraordinary, CytoLine Eyecare Cream 100, Tissue Activator, Special Filler and the ContinueLine Cell&Tissue Activator.

### Manufacturing

All MBR products are made in Germany. The company uses the line "Made in Germany. By design, not by default." It states that its manufacturing is TÜV-certified, though no certificate number or scope is published. No other third-party certifications are documented.

MBR is active. Its most recent public activity is a press release from mid-September 2026 announcing Julia Schwieger as chief financial officer, effective 1 September 2026 [3]. The company says its products are sold in more than 20 countries and that it works with more than 200 authorised partner institutes in Europe. Its presence in the United States runs through a separate partner company and through spa and retail partners.

The brand is sold selectively through dermatologists, medical spas and specialist retailers, as well as through its own online shop. It offers a skin analysis tool and personal consultations, and directs customers to authorised partners for in-person treatments.