The three leading cosmetic companies in Greece offer original methods for skin beautification and covering the traces from lack of sleep and time, which leaves its marks on the face and body.

The big internationally famous cosmetic companies in Greece are “Apivita,” which is famous with products made out of bee honey, “Korres,” whose first product was a honey and anise cough drop, and last – “Symmetria,” which offers products developed by French experts for facial skin problems.

Following the bees

“Apivita” was founded by the 62 year old Nikos Koutsianas, who was nominated as one of the “20 to know” in 2008 by “Global Cosmetic Industry Magazine.”

Mr. Koutsianas has been producing natural products ever since 1970 and has a long experience as a pharmacist and an apiarist. Long before the “natural products” trend came along, Mr. Koutsianas had started following the bees, which led him to his treasure – the idea of producing crèmes and cosmetics based on honey, bee glue, and royal jelly. In order for the crèmes and lotions to reveal their miraculous powers, Mr. Koutsianas used more than 5 000 plants, including Cretan sea dill and fraxinella. “Apivita’s” team had found more than 50 000 formulas, which make their products successful in more than 4 000 pharmacies in Greece and many newly opened stores worldwide.

“Right now natural and organic products are the fastest growing cosmetic industry with annual share of 17%,” says Mr. Koutsianas. “There two effective ways to make such products: science and nature. The brands, which manage to combine those two factors in a successful way, will make it on the market. Our company is the leading one in shampoos – we sell more than 60 000 bottles per year.”

Even in today’s hardship, the 30 year old company is succeeding, because just like the bees, its owners care for her. “People were coming to me with a mild cough and I used to give them cough syrups but after that I asked myself – why should I do this? In my village we would have been drinking herbal tea. My mother was still living in our village when I got the idea. I asked her to gather some herbs and this is how we started making extracts and ointments. Little by little we developed phytotherapy. We kept the ordinary medicines on the back shelves of the pharmacy and the rest of the room was full of herbs, honey, royal jelly, cough syrups, constipation syrup and herbs for psoriasis. We were the first pharmacy in Greece, which did that.”

Koutsianas continued his education, he specialized in economics and law and after that his wife for 36 years, Niki came along. When they met, Niki was studying pharmaceutics and she wanted to do her 3 month internship in the Koutsianas family pharmacy. This was when the first love sparks flew between them and since then, they are not only partners for life but successful colleagues as well.

When they founded the company in 1979, they four people all together. Now their number exceeds 220 people. The first innovative product, which they launched on the market under the name “Apivita,” was a soap made out of propolis and right now the company has over 300 new products. “Apivita” is famous as the company pioneer in the biocosmetic sector and its products are made entirely of natural products. The company is preferred by consumers and is number one in the hair care market with a share of 40%.

Just like the bees, which fly from flower to flower and are the inspiration of the “Apivita” founders, the company has spread its wings over the world…outside Greece, the products of the company can be found in more than 2 000 stores in 16 countries. Some of the cities where the miraculous bee products are sold are New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Madrid, Stockholm, Brussels, Dubai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tokyo.

Of course, in order to build such a brand, a good advertising campaign was needed. The initial “push” was given by the image of Mari Sesille, which was created by the Spanish woman Carmen Garcia Bartolome and the packaging by Spiros Ornerakis. Since not too long ago, the image of the brand was entrusted to Red Design Consultants, who also made the logo for the Olympic Games in 2004.

“Apivita’s” products are following five directions – 1. The key ingredient in the Propoline products is the propolis but they also include honey and bee wax. In the apian ingredients, the creators of Propoline mix rosemary, soapworts, and marigold. 2. For Aromatherapy the company uses the strength of nature, essences and plant extracts and it is based on green tea. The use of green tea is an exclusive innovation by “Apivita,” which replaces 65% of water in a big range of products for body and facial care. 3. EXPRESS is a complete line of personal crèmes and masks, which use extracts from fruits and vegetables, which provide a complete nutritional “menu” for the face, bogy and hair. Those products are offered with modern packaging, which allows them to be mixed. This way people can try different crèmes and masks and make their own skin “diet.” 4. Apitherapy are the products, which are made out of honey, propolis, royal jelly, and bee pollen.

The rich Greek flora and the Mediterranean climate are the combination, which makes those plant extracts so beneficial. Some plant extracts, like the mastiha resin from Chios Island and the Cretan fraxinella can be found only in Greece and “Apivita” is the only company, which has mastered the way to take out quality extracts.

From grandpas homemade brandy to the natural product cures

“Korres” was founded in 1996 by Georgios Korres a little bit after he graduates specializing in pharmaceutics. It took ten years for the company to become a worldwide acknowledged brand with the quality of its products. Not long ago, “Korres” entered the Athens stock exchange. The natural cosmetic products of the company can be found in boutiques and shop-in-shops from Barcelona to Tokyo and from London to Melborne. The secret of success is that the products are made out of simple and natural ingredients and Mr. Korres keeps the prices within reach for everybody.

Ever since 1980, Georgios Korres has been working in the first homeopathic pharmacy in Athens, which is in Pangrati neighborhood, behind the Kalimarmaro Olympic Stadium. From 1992 he takes over the management of the pharmacy and in five years he created a lab for producing homeopathic mixtures based on the European prototype.

In few years Mr. Korres founds his own firm and his first product is a cough drop made out of honey and anise. This idea came to his mind from his grandfather Georgios Korres, who was living in Naxos Island and was making heated brandy, which had the unique quality to warm up and cure.

In May 2003 in London, the first Korres natural products store opens its doors and in July 2004 and March 2005 another two stores are opened in Barcelona. Right now, the company has more than 500 products, which are distributed in 5 000 pharmacies in Greece and are exported to 30 countries – specialized stores in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Rome, Munich, and Berlin.

Korres is cooperating with the Mastiha Resin Producers Union in Chios Island, in order to create a new product based on the one of its kind Chios resin. Also, Mr. Korres is cooperating with the Saffron Producers Union in Kozani and is the exclusive representative and distributor of the biological Kozani saffron in pharmacies in Greece and worldwide. It is believed that the saffron from Kozani is the one of highest quality.

In order to be able to create natural products, you need to research all materials and the exact corresponding materials, which is not an easy task. This is why Georgios Korres and the Pharmaceutics Department of the Athens University are participating in a program, which aims to research the properties of healing plants of the Greek flora.

The creator of the brand was awarded for a “Internationally developing businessman” on a competition organized by “Navtemboriki” newspaper for businessmen of 2008. Last year, 28.8% of the general sales for the first six months of the year come from abroad, which is twice as much as during the same time the year before. For five years Mr. Korres manages to distribute his products in 26 countries.

In 2000 “Korres” becomes a joint stock company and ever since then it started making its first steps abroad. After in 2001 the “Korres” products appear in the Harvey Nichols store in London, the growth of the company explodes. Right now “Korres” is sold in more than 1 250 places abroad in stores like Isetan, Sephora, Prentemps, Body Works, and Harrods.

Georgios Korres himself says that he does not know anything about marketing and he is led by his intuition but experts claim that his strategy is more than smart. “Korres” emphasizes on the substances and the effect of the products, which are offered in a simple packaging. The advertising campaign is based on the “natural.” An example of the concept is the “Korres” Portugal store, where the products are displayed on simple wooden shelves.

Cosmeceuticals acting against skin aging

The “Symmetria” clinic team has developed a special therapy against aging, which is based on, as they call their cosmetic products, cosmeceuticals.

The “Symmetria” clinic offers high quality services for reducing excess weight on different parts of the body and against cellulite, without surgical intervention. Also the clinic offers body care, which is based on simple physical exercises in combination with a personal diet program. The most modern laser is taking care is undesired hair, skin brown spots and skin rejuvenation. The scientists team in “Symmetria” uses all modern methods for facial rejuvenation (botox, peeling, etc), which do not include any surgeries.

“Symmetria” is a line of cosmetic products made by experts, who have been working in the plastic surgery sector. They have been working in France for two years, in order to be able to create the best crèmes for facial cleansing, scrubs with round granules for a deeper peeling without causing skin redness, rejuvenation crèmes, and whitening the skin color – day and night products for different skin types. The products offered by the company are known as cosmeceuticals.

All those crèmes have been developed by combining the knowledge of keeping the skin fresh and the elimination of the aging effects. The “Symmetria” product lines promise to help when treating wrinkles, pigment spots, against skin aging as a result of sun exposure. The products can be helpful by giving the missing elasticity of the skin and by fighting enlarged pores and dry skin.

The experts from the clinic also write their own article for Myself magazine, where they unveil the secrets of the beauty of Hollywood stars like Kim Cattrall, Jennifer Lopez, Courtney Cox, Demi Moore, Brooke Shields, and Cindy Crawford.

The English magazine “Tatler” places “Symmetria” among the best clinics in the world and the clinic’s team of experts publishes articles in many international scientific publications.