# Skinicer ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 2010 | | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Reinbek | | Status | Active | | Distribution | Multi-channel | | Website | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/skinicer-produkte/ | Skinicer is a German skincare brand for problem skin, aimed at impure skin, acne and atopic dermatitis. It belongs to ocean pharma GmbH, a pharmaceutical company based in Reinbek near Hamburg, and it has been on the market since 2010, when its Repair Care line was introduced in Germany [2]. Every product in the range is built around Spiralin, an active ingredient that ocean pharma extracts from the microalga *Spirulina platensis* and patented in 2014. The brand has no standalone website of its own. It is presented as one of two in-house lines on its owner's website, next to the foot- and nail-care range Spirularin, and it has shared its owner's path since ocean pharma became part of the Cesra group of companies in 2018. Skinicer remains active, with its range currently listed and sold through the owner's online shop. ## Origin & founders Skinicer's story starts with its parent. According to the company, ocean pharma was founded in 1978 by Christian Günther near Hamburg [2]. His motto, still quoted on the company's pages, was "We help nature to act", and the aim he set was to develop products drawn from natural substances. The company describes the oceans as its main source of ideas. Its first focus was the New Zealand green-lipped mussel and omega-3 fatty acids; over time the emphasis shifted to care products built on special microalgae for very sensitive skin. The two dates, 1978 and 2010, describe different things. 1978 is the founding year of the owner, while 2010 is the year the Skinicer name first appears in the company's own timeline, with the launch of the Repair Care line alongside the Spirularin VS range [2]. This article treats 2010 as the brand's starting point. No individual founder of the Skinicer line is named. The owner describes the line as developed in-house specifically for problem skin. Today ocean pharma is run by two pharmacists, Patrick Günther and Ludger Kornfeld, who serve as managing directors. ## History & milestones After the 2010 launch, the range grew in small steps. In 2012 the company added the Sedative Shampoo, a product for an itchy, flaking scalp, in the same year that it introduced Spirularin Gel and Spirularin Mousse. A more significant change came in 2013. That year ocean pharma switched all of its Skinicer and Spirularin products to Spiralin, which it describes as a new microalgae active with an extended range of effects. The patent for Spiralin followed in 2014 [2]. In 2015 the company reported that two years of research had produced a new fragrance for the Repair Care line. The same year, ocean pharma said it had built up distribution in more than 20 foreign markets through partner companies, a statement made at company level rather than for Skinicer alone. Two new products arrived in 2016. The first was Ocean Kiss, a decorative lip care product that the company said was made from raw materials of entirely natural origin. It is no longer part of the current range. The second was an after-shave and depilation balm intended to prevent razor burn, which is still sold today as the Repair Balm. The last dated Skinicer entries on the owner's timeline are two awards received in 2021. Since then, the company's announced launches have come from its Spirularin line, including a nail-fold ointment in 2024 and a foot spray in 2025. ## Ownership Skinicer is owned by ocean pharma GmbH, which is registered in Reinbek near Hamburg. In 2018 ocean pharma moved into the Cesra group of companies, based in Baden-Baden [2]. The owner's website now carries the line "A Cesra Company", and Cesra's research pages refer to ocean pharma as its subsidiary. Skinicer continued unchanged as an ocean pharma brand after the transfer. The ownership structure has an unusual feature. According to ocean pharma, profits that Cesra does not reinvest in securing the future of the group and its companies go entirely to the Redel Stiftung, a charitable foundation linked to Cesra that supports social projects around the world [7]. The arrangement applies to the whole group, not to Skinicer specifically. Within the company, Skinicer's sister line is Spirularin, which uses the same microalgae active but focuses on feet, nails, cracked heels and skin prone to warts. The owner's own timeline contains a small inconsistency: under 2018 it marks "30 years of ocean pharma", while elsewhere on the same page it dates the company's founding to 1978. ## Philosophy & positioning Skinicer is positioned as professional special care for problem skin. The owner's product page lists four target conditions: problem skin in general, impure skin, acne and atopic dermatitis (also known as neurodermatitis or eczema). The approach, as the company explains it, combines its patented microalgae active with plant extracts and natural oils. In ocean pharma's telling, Spiralin supplies the main effect, while the plant ingredients and oils add everyday care. The brand's positioning sits between cosmetics and medicine. Several products in the range address specific skin problems, such as inflamed and weeping skin lesions, nail disorders or skin prone to warts, rather than general beauty goals. The line is closely tied to dermatology in how it is presented: the company cites dermatological trade journals as sources for its claims and names a dermatology professor as a partner in its clinical development. ## Products & innovation The current range is split into three groups. Facial care consists of the Repair Creme, Repair Serum, Repair Cleanser and Repair Mask. Body care covers the Repair Balm, Repair Mousse, Repair Gel and the Sedative Shampoo. A third group of special care products contains the Nail Repair Serum, Nail Repair Spray and Verruceptin, a product for skin prone to warts. The common ingredient throughout is Spiralin. According to ocean pharma, the active is obtained from the microalga *Spirulina platensis* using a patented process [5]. The company attributes germ-inhibiting, antiviral and cell-regenerating properties to it, and cites a 2011 article by Prof. Dr. med. Kristian Reich in the trade journal *Kosmetische Medizin* in support. In the company's words, it is the broad range of effects of this active that forms the basis of the line. Accounts differ on one detail of the brand's research history. The German brand page states that the clinical development of the problem-skin line was supported by Prof. Dr. med. Kristian Reich of the Dermatologikum Berlin [1]. The page of the brand's Austrian distributor, INOVAMET Vertriebs GmbH in Vienna, names the same dermatologist but places him at the Dermatologikum Hamburg [11]. The company's main evidence for the products comes from a one-month application study published by Simone Steffens in the journal *Ästhetische Dermatologie* in 2011. Twenty people with atopic dermatitis from a self-help group took part. Fifteen of them rated the Skinicer problem-skin care as better than the care products they had used before, and five rated it as equal [1]. These were the participants' own ratings; the company's summary does not describe a comparison group. A more recent study concerns the active ingredient rather than a named Skinicer product. In a pilot study with 20 patients with atopic dermatitis, a gel containing Spiralin increased the diversity of the skin's bacterial community, reduced the bacterium *Staphylococcus aureus* and improved the skin lesions, according to ocean pharma's research page [4]. The company dates the online publication of the study to 6 September 2025 and notes that the gel should be examined further in larger studies. ## Recognition The German trade journal *Ästhetische Dermatologie* named the Skinicer product line "Product of the Year 2014 in Aesthetic Dermatology" [2]. The award is also cited on the page of the Austrian distributor [11]. A year later, in 2015, the same journal named the Spiralin active itself "Active Ingredient of the Year 2015". Two individual products were recognised in 2021. The Sedative Shampoo received a silver award from Monde Selection, and the Repair Serum received a Special Award from the GBWA in the category "Acne Facial" [2]. ## Current status Skinicer is an active brand. Its full range of eleven products is listed on ocean pharma's German- and English-language website, which runs an online shop with separate terms for private and business customers. The company's timeline page, which carries the brand's history, was updated in September 2026. Beyond Germany, the line is carried by the Austrian distributor INOVAMET, and ocean pharma describes a network of partner companies in more than 20 foreign markets built up since 2015. No new Skinicer product has been announced since the 2021 awards; the owner's recent launches have come from its Spirularin range. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 2010 | skinicer REPAIR CARE line introduced in Germany (together with the Spirularin VS line) | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2012 | skinicer SEDATIVE SHAMPOO introduced | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2013 | Spiralin integrated as the new microalgae active in all skinicer (and Spirularin) products | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2014 | Patent granted for the microalgae active Spiralin | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2015 | New fragrance for the skinicer REPAIR CARE line after two years of research | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2016 | Decorative lip care skinicer OCEAN KISS introduced (no longer in the current product list) | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2016 | skinicer AFTER SHAVE & DEPILATION BALM introduced (listed today as REPAIR After Shave BALM / REPAIR BALM) | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2018 | Owner ocean pharma GmbH moved into the Cesra group of companies | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2018 | Owner ocean pharma GmbH transferred into the Cesra group (Baden-Baden); skinicer continues as an ocean pharma brand | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | ## Awards {#belagg-awards} | Year | Awards | Category | Source | |---|---|---|---| | 2014 | Produkt des Jahres 2014 in der Ästhetischen Dermatologie | skinicer product line | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2021 | Monde Selection, silver | skinicer SEDATIVE SHAMPOO | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2021 | GBWA Special Award | Acne Facial (skinicer REPAIR SERUM) | https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ | | 2017 | Produktsieger 2017 der Zeitschrift Ästhetische Dermatologie | skinicer REPAIR GEL | https://justmeandbeauty.de/kosmetik/skinicer-repair-care-anti-mikrobielle-systempflege-fuer-problemhautbilder/ | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **skinicer® REPAIR CARE (product line)** — Die skinicer® REPAIR CARE Linie wurde speziell für Problemhaut entwickelt. — https://www.ocean-pharma.de/skinicer-produkte/ - **skinicer® REPAIR SERUM** — Das skinicer® REPAIR SERUM wird im Bereich "Acne Facial" mit einem Special Award der GBWA ausgezeichnet. — https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ - **skinicer® SEDATIVE SHAMPOO** — Das skinicer® SEDATIVE SHAMPOO überzeugt u.a. in Wirksamkeit und Inhaltsstoffen und wird mit Silber seitens der Monde Selection ausgezeichnet. — https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} Spiralin® (patented microalgae active obtained from Spirulina platensis) Source: https://www.ocean-pharma.de/der-wirkstoff-spiralin/ ## Proprietary technologies & patents {#belagg-tech} - Spiralin® (patented microalgae active) — https://www.ocean-pharma.de/skinicer-produkte/ - Patent for the microalgae active Spiralin® (granted 2014 per the owner's timeline) — https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **Ästhetische Dermatologie (German trade journal)** (2011) — Cited on the brand page as the source (Simone Steffens, 2011 issue 05) of the one-month application study with 20 atopic-dermatitis patients. — https://www.ocean-pharma.de/skinicer-produkte/ - **Kosmetische Medizin (German trade journal)** (2011) — Cited on the brand page (Prof. Dr. med. Kristian Reich, vol. 32, issue 2.11) as the source for Spiralin's stated germ-inhibiting, antiviral and cell-regenerative properties. — https://www.ocean-pharma.de/skinicer-produkte/ - **justmeandbeauty.de (German beauty blog)** (2017) — Article 'skinicer REPAIR CARE – Anti-mikrobielle Systempflege für Problemhautbilder' (24 Nov 2017) describing the line, its Spiralin base and its sales channels. Tier 4. — https://justmeandbeauty.de/kosmetik/skinicer-repair-care-anti-mikrobielle-systempflege-fuer-problemhautbilder/ - **inlovewithlife.de (personal blog)** (2016) — First-person review of skinicer Repair Serum used on hand eczema (20 Mar 2016); the author met the brand at a beautypress event and received the product to test. Tier 4. — https://www.inlovewithlife.de/2016/03/skinicer-repair-serum-neurodermitis.html ## Sources 1. (T1) https://www.ocean-pharma.de/skinicer-produkte/ 2. (T1) https://www.ocean-pharma.de/unternehmen/ 4. (T2) https://www.ocean-pharma.de/forschung-entwicklung/ 5. (T2) https://www.ocean-pharma.de/der-wirkstoff-spiralin/ 7. (T2) https://www.ocean-pharma.de/wir-tun-gutes/ 11. (T4) https://ocean-pharma.at/produkte/skinicer-repair --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-09-30 Please cite with a link to the article URL.