Spa of Iceland products are created and developed by Icelandic cosmetics entrepreneurs Haraldur Jóhannsson and Fjóla Gudrun Fridriksdóttir. The couple have operated their own importing wholesale company in Iceland, Forval, since 1976 along with manufacturing hair care products under their own brand name since 2001.

Their passion for creating high quality cosmetics products influenced by Icelandic nature comes naturally for them as they deeply care about their surroundings by making products pure, healthy as well as environmentally friendly. The Spa of Iceland products are inspired by the clean water, fresh air and the geothermal power that are part of the Icelandic environment.

The couple has been fortunate enough to have the possibility to work with some great chemists, hair care specialists and health care professionals in developing the Spa of Iceland products. The cosmetic line was presented at the Milan Design Week during Emerging Talents Milan presentation. Unfortunately due busy schedule we did not have a chance to meet the founders personally, but we managed to ask them some questions. 

Haraldur Jóhannsson and Fjóla Gudrun Fridriksdóttir

SNM: How did you come up with an idea to launch your own cosmetic brand? Were your family in this business already or it was a dream of yours?

Fjóla: I have been in the cosmetics business for many years as distributor in Iceland for some of the world’s most famous brands as Guerlain and Chanel, and great Perfumery houses, for a long time it has been a dream of me and my husband, Haraldur to have our own wellness brand.

Fjóla Gudrun Fridriksdóttir

We had the concept clear in our mind for years now and knew what we wanted but always had our hands full. In 2013, we sold our Cosmetic Business and soon after we decided to pursue this long-lasting dream. We are so extremely proud to finally see this dream become a reality and to see the products in shops around the word. It makes us even happier when we see them pop up in photos of family’s homes, it makes all the hard work worthwhile.

SNM: Do you need to be inspired to come up with recipes of new creams, or it is only a scientific process of mixing different ingredients?

Fjóla: It is always good to be inspired but to have a good product you need the right knowledge. We knew what we wanted to have as our focus from the beginning and have been fortunate enough to have very talented professionals working with us on perfecting the collection. We are coming up with new items to improve the line and are lucky to love what we are doing so we are still inspired every day.

SNM: Tell us more about the product line Spa of Iceland.

Fjóla: Coming from the clean country of Iceland where we have the natural hot spas and beautiful, sparkling nature, it was always number one in our mind that this would be the focus of the brand.   Icelanders have very strong, long standing traditions regarding bathing outside in natural hot spring spas and they were one of the things inspiring us.

We also wanted to use clean material from Iceland and we are very proud of the salt that is one of our main ingredient. It is harvested in a small factory on the west coast of Iceland using old traditional, sustainable methods.  We have always been very environmentally conscious and preferred natural ingredients so for us it was from the beginning very important to think of that aspect in the manufacturing as well.

We have a full line of 3 bath salts, 3 fragrant candles, 2 body scrubs, shower gel, body souffle, shampoo, conditioner, hand soap and hand lotion, which is all you need in your bathroom.  The bath salts and candles are named Fjóla, María and Sara, the same as our 3 granddaughters, adding a little family touch.

SNM: What is the most challenging in the process of launching a cosmetic brand?

Fjóla: Oh, this is a tough one! Probably the only easy part was to come up with the idea, then it is like an obstacle course to the finishing line. We are lucky that we really love working together and have not had any big problems on this journey, only small glitches that just needed a solution.

SNM: What is your personal beauty routine? Can you give some tips to our readers to get the most from using Spa of Iceland?

Fjóla: Being an educated beautician, I have always been very aware of the importance of exfoliating the skin and giving it plenty of moisture. Therefore, some of my favorite products are the body scrubs, which I love, one is with black salt and apricot kernel oil which is detoxifying and nourishing and the other is white salt scrub with sea buckthorn and is smoothing and moisturizing. I scrub my skin in the shower at least 3-4 times a week and it is silky soft afterwards.

After busy days, I also love lighting an aromatic candle and dipping into a hot bath filled with our bath salts. They are perfect for both body and mind as the aromatic work their wonders as the body is relaxing in the nourishing salts.  To top it off, I always use the body soufflé which provides a moisture and comfort to the skin.

SNM: Iceland is not known for cosmetic products yet. Being a bit “isolated” geographically, what obstacles do you face in promoting your brand and getting into new markets?

Fjóla: We are a bit isolated as you say and therefore we have our stock in Denmark, as it is more convenient to ship from there to our customers.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SPA OF ICELAND HERE