Nurme

Nurme is an Estonian natural-cosmetics company founded in 2009 [6] and based in Tapa, in the country's north. It makes handmade, plant-based body, hair and face care, sold direct to consumers and through retailers across the European Union. The company began as a home soap project and grew into one of Estonia's better-known natural beauty makers. It remains active, with a current webshop catalogue and awards listed as recently as 2024 [5].

The name comes from the Estonian word nurm, meaning meadow. According to co-founder Marit Tiits, it refers to a place from her childhood that "always brought me joy, was full of surprises, and when needed, offered comfort" [8].

The brand grew out of a home kitchen. Marit Tiits had been making soaps and bath products by hand for several years before the business formed, originally as Christmas gifts for friends after her daughter was born. She noticed commercial potential when recipients reported that their skin stopped itching and asked for more.

In 2009, Marit and her mother, Luule Tiits, both received redundancy notices within a short span during the financial crisis, and turned the hobby into a registered family business [6]. Initial capital came from Estonia's Unemployment Insurance Fund. The company was first named Nurme Looduskosmeetika — looduskosmeetika is Estonian for "natural cosmetics."

Sources differ on who founded the company. The brand's "About" page names only Marit Tiits [2], while two of its own history pages and an external PR profile credit both Marit and her mother Luule as co-founders [6]. The more detailed account, naming both women, is consistent across the majority of sources.

Nurme expanded from a soap specialty into a full body-care range covering hair, face, well-being products and lines for men and babies. It opened a representative store in the Sikupelli centre in 2012, and in 2016 completed a new production building on a farm in Liiva Village, Kose Parish. The company has described a deliberately slow pace of growth, summed up by Marit Tiits as building "one house a year" so that the production environment would match the brand's stated values.

By 2021 the company marked its twelfth year and was named Family Business of the Year by Enterprise Estonia (EAS) [7]. At that point it described a team of roughly 12 to 20 staff plus freelancers, and positioned itself as one of Estonia's most preferred natural-cosmetics brands.

Nurme's stated mission is to "create 100% natural and organic products from head to toe, for everyone from babies to men," and it says it builds formulas from "carefully selected flowers, plants, and fruits." The company frames many of its raw materials — berry-seed oils, hemp-seed oil, essential oils and botanical extracts — as "skin superfoods," working from the principle that what is applied to the skin also reaches the body. Marit Tiits has named greenwashing as a concern, saying she holds high standards for both cosmetics and cleaning products.

The brand positions itself as a small-batch, handmade Estonian maker, and uses the tagline "Natural Skincare Handmade in Estonia." It also describes itself as "family-run for three generations."

The catalogue spans body care (soaps, scrubs, lotions, deodorants), hair care, face care and well-being items, organised into scent and ingredient series such as Rosemary, Wild Lemongrass, Orange, Neroli, Shea and a Baby and Mother line. Frequently reviewed items include a solid lemongrass shampoo and a vitamin lip balm. Recurring ingredients across the range include rosemary, lavender and orange essential oils, shea butter, jojoba and argan oils.

A more specialised line, Sphagnum Botanicals, uses peat in scalp and hair products aimed at conditions such as dandruff and psoriasis, including the PsoriAid and DermAid shampoos and a peat hair conditioner. For preservation, the company says it avoids synthetic preservatives in favour of "gentle preservatives that are recognized by eco-certifications," citing potassium sorbate as an example.

Sustainability is central to how Nurme presents itself. Its bar soaps, solid shampoos and deodorants are sold in cardboard packaging the company describes as biodegradable and fully recyclable, while its plastic packaging is made from single-material plastic said to be recyclable, and its hand-cream and body-lotion tubes use 70% post-consumer recycled plastic [4]. A refill programme, according to the company, saves four standard plastic bottles per refill. The brand states that its products are 100% vegan and cruelty-free and free of parabens [1], and lists ethical sourcing and recyclable packaging among its core values. In 2023 it took part in a "circular design masterclass" focused on more sustainable product processes.

Nurme has collected a series of natural-beauty and green-beauty awards. In 2019 it won Best New Natural Beauty at the Natural & Organic Awards Scandinavia, and in 2021 it won Best New Vegan Beauty Product at the Natural & Organic Awards Europe and took a win and a silver at the Global Green Beauty Awards [5]. The silver was awarded for its Natural Mandarin & Orange Deodorant [8]. Wins at the Global Makeup Awards followed in 2022 and 2023, and the brand's awards page lists further recognitions in 2024, including the Universal Beauty Awards. It has also been profiled in UK editorial coverage as an Estonian mother-daughter natural-cosmetics brand [8].

Nurme remains active. Its webshop carries a current catalogue with customer reviews, it ships across the EU, and its most recent listed awards date to 2024 [5]. The company is based in Estonia and sells into Nordic and UK markets through retailers as well as direct to consumers. Its registered headquarters are in Tapa (Taara pst 1) [2]; its main production has been built on the farm site in Liiva Village, Kose Parish, with an earlier warehouse and showroom recorded in Tallinn [7].