Nø Cosmetics

Nø Cosmetics is a German skincare brand founded in 2017 by Caroline Kroll and her father [2]. Pronounced simply "No", the name uses the Norwegian character "ø" to stand for two ideas the company builds its identity around: "No Gender" and "No Social Pressure". It sells affordable, vegan face and body care developed and made in Germany, positioned for shoppers looking for clean-beauty alternatives in everyday drugstores rather than at a premium counter.

The brand frames its mission as "conscious beauty for everyone": effective, well-tolerated and affordable products that, in its words, let customers stop worrying about their skin. That inclusive stance — across skin types, ages and genders — together with a refusal to retouch its imagery or use stereotypical models, sits at the centre of how Nø Cosmetics presents itself.

Caroline Kroll conceived the brand while still a student, frustrated that she could not find skincare that was at once affordable, effective and aligned with vegan, sustainable values. She built it with her father, who the company says brought 25 years of experience in the beauty industry. Accounts of the founding differ slightly: the brand's own site names Kroll and her father as the founders, while a 2025 interview in Watson describes the company as a joint venture between Kroll, her father and the German contract manufacturer bb med [9]. The founding year of 2017 is consistent across sources.

The early days were modest. According to the Watson interview, the brand began in a basement using Bauhaus plywood, marble foil and smartphone photography, and launched on Instagram without a formal business plan or outside investors [9]. Kroll has said the decision to forgo investors was deliberate — "we wanted to be free" [9]. By a 2024 podcast account she was 22 when the brand launched [10].

Nø Cosmetics describes its formulations as science-backed, vegan and gentle, and lists exclusions including mineral oils, silicones, parabens, PEGs and animal-derived ingredients. Products are vegan with PETA verification, and the company states it does not test on animals. Manufacturing is presented under the line "Skincare made in Germany", with the brand saying its products have been developed and produced in Germany under fair labour conditions since the start.

Transparency is a recurring theme in how the company talks about itself: it cites a policy of no greenwashing, authentic representation, and open communication with its community. One illustration came when a planned product was cancelled shortly before release — after it had already been printed in dm's alverde magazine — and Kroll announced the setback publicly in a video rather than quietly dropping it [9].

The range centres on skincare, spanning face care, body care, sun protection, lip care, hand creams and shaving products, alongside routines and sets. By a 2024 interview the catalogue stood at around 22 regular products, supplemented by limited editions and online exclusives [10]. The brand's ingredient roster features widely used actives such as AHA/PHA and BHA acids, azelaic acid, ceramides, peptides, retinol, vitamin C, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. It also lists a proprietary ingredient it calls SpreeØne® among its formulations, though it publishes little detail about it. The company's tagline, "gløw starts with hydration", reflects the brand's emphasis on moisture as the basis of healthy-looking skin.

Sustainability claims extend from packaging to charitable work. Nø Cosmetics says it uses recyclable aluminium tubes, post-consumer recycled content and glass. The company supports a range of environmental and social organisations, among them the ocean-focused Pro Ocean and the Cologne river-cleanup group K.R.A.K.E. e.V., as well as animal-welfare and anti-poverty initiatives [3]. It is also known for closing its stores on Black Friday and redirecting customers toward charitable donations, a stance it frames as a protest against impulse buying [10].

German business and beauty media have covered the brand chiefly through its founder. A 2022 Business Insider Gründerszene feature profiled Kroll, then 26, and the family-led startup, reporting a revenue figure of 21 million and noting the products frequently sold out in drugstores [8]. The same article credited the Instagram skincare influencer Leon, known as @xskincare and cited with roughly 700,000 followers, with driving substantial reach among younger consumers, quoting a description of him as "a kind of guru" [8]. By the 2025 Watson interview, Leon was described as a former product co-developer stepping back from that role [9].

The brand operates physical stores in Berlin, at Hackescher Markt, and in Cologne, the latter opened in April 2024 [6]. Beyond its own shop, products are distributed through German and Austrian drugstore and retail chains including dm, Rossmann, Müller, BIPA, Budni and Migros, with availability extending into several neighbouring European markets.

Nø Cosmetics is active. The company maintains a regularly updated blog, with content published as recently as May 2026, and continues to run its two stores and multi-channel distribution across the DACH region and selected European markets [4].