Founded as part of a pharmaceutical company in the late 1940s, the brand Lumene saw the Arctic light of day in 1970 and became a leading skin care and cosmetic brand in Finland after only three years on the market. Part of the success story was Lumene’s naturally potent ingredients, being the first cosmetics company in the world to use hand-picked, wild Arctic berries refined by science.

Recent news at Lumene include a new leader and anti-aging collection. Riikka Söderlund, director of communication at Lumene Oy in Finland, took time to chat with Happi.com about the latest news at the company.
 
Happi: Tell us about recent news at the company?
 
RS: Lumene has been growing steadily over the last couple of years with a sharp focus on skin care products that deliver results. Our focus over the past couple of years has been our award-winning Bright Now Vitamin C range that has been gaining ground all over the world. In 2014, we brought a new addition to the Bright Now range with products using our patented cloudberry stem cell technology. In 2015, we are launching a new firming product with patent pending lingonberry extract. We continue to focus on infusing our wild arctic berries with the latest skin care technologies to create unique products for the global market.
 
Happi: What will the new CEO bring to the table?
 
RS: Michel Dallemagne joins Lumene from Unilever where he was responsible for the global hair care business as well as a member of the global executive management team as executive vice president of the hair care category. On joining Lumene, his focus will be accelerating the international growth and profitability of Lumene. Michel is a very accomplished leader with a proven track record in creating significant business growth. He brings to Lumene a wealth of experience in growing personal and beauty care brands internationally together with expertise in customer development, brand management and digital marketing.

Happi: More on the new products – how are they different than other skin care at Lumene?
 
RS: The new Lumene Time Freeze V-Shaping serum brings a whole new skin care trend to the mass market in the US—products that help to shape facial contours to create a perfect oval face. The trend stems from Asia and we see it growing also already in Europe. The product boasts a unique anti-gravity peptide that tightens the jawline area. We see this as a global megatrend gaining traction quite rapidly at the moment and have worked hard to add this new technology to complement our existing firming formulas with patent pending arctic lingonberry extract.
 
Happi: Who is the Lumene customer and what is she looking for in the products?
 
RS: Lumene products are loved not only by our customers but also skin care professionals, beauty editors and bloggers around the world. A typical Lumene customer is one that is looking for affordable luxury and wants to try the latest trends in skin care. She is interested in product safety and searches for natural ingredients but doesn’t want to compromise on the efficacy.
 
Happi: What are future plans for the company?
 
RS: Lumene will continue to grow internationally. We are focused on accelerating our global growth through new innovative skin care products in our current key markets and are evaluating options to enter new markets as well. Currently, Lumene products are sold in over 25,000 doors around the world in over 20 countries and we are currently seeing also strong growth in online sales.