Nanna Kirkebjerg: “I have a female primal power within me. I've always pursued my ideas and dreams.”
March 27, 2022
Nanna Kirkebjerg is a certified specialist and subsequently pursued further education in natural medicine. Her education and experience led her to establish a recreation and de-stress clinic, which takes a holistic approach, viewing the physical and psychological aspects of a person in combination. Her experiences there inspired her to create the skincare line. Lucia Care – a holistic skincare line containing active ingredients that empirically help with stress, relax, and revitalize the body. We spoke with Nanna about her vision for the brand and what Lucia Care can do, exactly.
How did you get the idea for Lucia Care?
In addition to my specialist training in general medicine, I have spent many years training abroad in naturopathy. This field focuses on how therapies and other forms of treatment such as art therapy, massage, hydrotherapy, nature therapy, mediyoga, etc., can help promote health and prevent illness. It can also be helpful if illnesses have taken hold physically and mentally, and you need to regain balance.
The education led me further to my dream and vision of creating a clinic where I would see the whole person, and take into account that our health to such an extent depends on how our body and our physiological processes are – in close collaboration with our thoughts, our feelings, our behavior, our will, and our consciousness. When these parts are in balance, we contribute to promoting well-being and health and help prevent illness. When our burdens – both external and internal, psychological and physical – exceed our resources, we experience stress and burden our nervous and sensory systems. This is where the physical symptoms arise that we know when we are stressed, such as sensitivity to sound and light, memory problems, sleep problems, fatigue, heart palpitations, stomach pain, anxiety, restlessness, worrying thoughts, muscle tension, neck pain, jaw tension, headaches, high blood pressure, skin problems, rashes, etc.
I started a recreation and de-stress clinic at a castle in Funen and ran it for a few years. There, I treated everyone from stress patients and cancer patients undergoing chemo, to burnouts and PTSD (post-traumatic stress) sufferers. We called them guests instead of patients, as we didn't want to pathologize those who were admitted. Typically, stays were 1-3 weeks, but there were also day treatments where 2-3 different therapies could be administered, along with good, healthy food (food as medicine), vegetable juices, and rest time with lower leg massages and warm compresses before an afternoon nap.
We used many complementary treatments, in addition to traditional medicine if necessary. What we had the most success with was art therapy, restorative yoga, mindfulness, medi-yoga, bath therapy, naturopathy, movement therapy (Eurythmy), and various forms of massage, such as rhythmic massage and organ massage. We used food as medicine with the most delicious vegetarian dishes and various soups, and we grew our own biodynamic vegetables.
I ordered the natural medicinal oils we used for bath therapy and massage, among other things, from abroad. This made me think about making our own oils and products that contained, among other things, the medicinal herbs that I know from experience help relieve stress. Ingredients that help relax and revitalize the body, provide warmth, and give the body and senses extra support to regain balance. For example, horsetail is one of the medicinal plants we use at Lucia Care. It contains up to 70% of silica. Silica is good for hair, skin, and nails. It helps produce collagen in the body and has a warming effect. Silica and horsetail also have an antispasmodic effect on muscles, helping the body relax and alleviating pain. This has not been sufficiently scientifically proven, but is based on empirical knowledge of natural medicine. It has been used for more than 100 years in hospital treatments across Europe to relieve pain and strengthen the kidneys. We also know that horsetail is diuretic when consumed as tea and effectively lowers blood pressure and helps flush out a urinary tract infection (unless it has become chronic—in which case antibiotics are needed).
We began collaborating with the Danish company Dermapharm, a large, recognized cream manufacturer that has been producing pure, good creams for 40 years. We created our own recipes from scratch, which is also atypical. It took five years just to develop the first seven products. We have been very thorough and uncompromising in ensuring that they would be organically certified medicinal herbs, vegan products, and as natural and sustainable as possible.
What made you turn an idea into reality?
When the idea was first born in me, I could feel deep within – in what I call my true inner will – that this was something that just had to happen. The implementation from idea to action – and thus to reality – has occurred due to my persistent inner will, an energy that this MUST succeed. I have a primal feminine power within me. I have always pursued my ideas and dreams. I find solutions if I want something deeply enough.
What is your goal for Lucia Care?
The daily goal is to create the best, most effective, and best products for the consumer. A goal where we harness nature's powers and, together with science and innovative research, are innovative. At the same time, we return to the old knowledge and wisdom about what nature and medicinal plants can do.
We want to inspire and invite our customers into our de-stress world, where we will revitalize, rebuild balance, and reduce stress – not just in the skin, but also in life.
The long-term goal is to become a world leader in skincare, based on medicinal plants, and to create recreation clinics based on integrative medicine, where the whole person is at the center.
Were there any challenges encountered during the creation of Lucia Care?
Annoying. It's just the long development process for the creams. As an example, I wanted to include Arnica (one of our oldest healing plants, used by Native Americans). Arnica is known for being very effective at relieving pain and works osmotically, meaning it “draws out” fluid from, for example, a swollen knee. It's very regenerative – also for tissue – and revitalizes the skin. We had to remove it from production because there wasn't enough research on its beneficial effects, but conversely, there were studies showing it could also be too potent for the skin and thus damage it.
More research needs to be done before we dare to use it.
Another major challenge was that we wanted to be vegan. It is very common in the beauty and skincare industry to use fat from sheep, pigs, cows, snail slime, etc., but it was very important to us to be vegan. We also do not want to harm bees or negatively impact biodiversity.
Hyaluronic acid, which we use as a powerful moisturizing agent in our products because it binds water/moisture in the skin, is produced by bacteria. These bacteria are fed animal protein, which is why we had to search and spend a lot of time to find a hyaluronic acid that was produced from soy protein.
Our entire journey toward sustainability has also been challenging. We have chosen to focus on what is feasible in terms of sustainable packaging—recycled plastic, 100% recycled glass, and 100% recycled cardboard. Our packaging is therefore very expensive, and this has also significantly reduced our profit margin on the products. Our journey toward sustainability never ends.
That we wanted to create multifunctional and unisex products has also been a challenge and time-consuming. We absolutely did not want to compromise on the high quality. The scent had to be fresh, natural, and awaken our consciousness and take us back to nature with our senses. This has been achieved with our signature scent of rosemary, cedarwood, and bergamot.
What are your future dreams for Lucia Care?
That we become a visible and well-known brand, where our messages and values shine through brightly. We want to de-stress, revitalize, and rebuild balance – not just in the skin, but in life.
We have a duty to share our knowledge regarding de-stressing and to inspire learning how to take care of ourselves in a performance-driven and stressful world. 500,000 Danes visit their general practitioner each year with stress symptoms, and 1 million Danes have work absences each year related to stress. It is not okay that so many are suffering. A collective meltdown of our nervous system is happening.
Who is the brand aimed at?
Everyone. We are unisex and our multi-functional soap, soft cleanser, can be used for example for the face, body, hair, and for shaving – even beards on men – and for intimate shaving. One product in the shower for the whole family! Your skin won't feel dry after showering and your hair and scalp will be deeply moisturized, clean, and soft.
Which product are you most proud of in the series?
It is – without a doubt – the entire series! I am truly proud of all seven products! I am so proud that I have been able to get all of this good and effective into these jars and tubes – seven medicinal herbs! No one in the skincare industry has worked with horsetail before; we are pioneers in that regard.
As a medicinal plant, rosemary alone contains 20 antioxidants. This, in addition to all the other benefits of our hero ingredients—which are anti-inflammatory, collagen-boosting, regenerating, deeply moisturizing, and softening—and combined with our other ingredients, such as vitamin E, vitamin A, almond oil, shea butter, hyaluronic acid, and more, makes us truly unique.
We have worked extra hard on our Rich Rescue Cream and our Regenerative Anti-aging Vitamin A Cream, as well as our multifunctional oil, which is for the face, body, bath (baths, foot baths, and hand baths), and massage. It contains a lot of horsetail and absorbs quickly and can also be combined with our other products.
Both Rich Rescue Cream and Regenerative Anti-Age Vitamin A Cream contain all of our 7 medicinal herbs. The anti-aging cream also has an innovative and fantastic formula of Vitamin A, which causes less redness and irritation than other Vitamin A creams. It builds up the skin, drastically reducing fine lines and wrinkles. It also contains two different sizes of hyaluronic acid, which work deeply and provide a rapid smoothing effect.
My best advice to others who dream of a life as an entrepreneur is:
Find your passion and let your dream be accompanied by a genuine, persistent inner will. Believe in it, and keep trying if you feel you have your inner will with you. Dare to take up space!
Get an education so you have a professional foundation to stand on. Participate in boards, build good networks, and simultaneously start a family if that's also what you dream of. One does not exclude the other. Also be open to collaborating with others, because together we are stronger.
I brought Mia Wagner and Anne Olesen from Nordic Female Founders on board, and specialist physician Christian Bøving, along with Mikkel Egelund, director of Dermapharm, joined in an early stage as co-founders.
They not only contribute their extensive knowledge. They are strong where I am not, and today they are both partners and good friends. We should surround ourselves with people who give us energy and who wish each other well. When we meet, we have a party together, we eat good food, learn from each other's interests, and have good wine and sourdough bread. It's super cozy and lovely company.