Our history

The first Purity Herbs cream
was made more than two decades ago

Purity Herbs was established in 1994 by André Raes and Ásta Sýrusdóttir, after witnessing incredible results of an home-made Herbal Cream.

The Beginning

It all began with André Raes’ knowledge and passion for herbs and their healing powers. After moving to Iceland, a whole new world opened for him because of the extraordinary Icelandic flora. He experimented with Icelandic herbs and made oils and creams. Originally the idea wasn’t to turn his hobby into a business.

At that time, in the year 1993, Ásta worked at a kindergarten where there was a young boy suffering from severe eczema and rashes. Ásta wanted to try one of André’s herbal creams on the boy's skin to see if it would help him and asked his mother for permission. After a couple of days, the young boy’s skin had almost returned to normal which came as a surprise to people involved. This unique cream was given the suitable name “Wonder Cream”. The Wonder Cream is still one of the top sellers today and has helped a lot of people dealing with problem-prone skin.

A While Later

Coincidentally the kid’s grandfather, Böðvar Jónsson, happened to be a local pharmacist. He was also impressed just like everyone else after he heard the story about his grandson. Böðvar subsequently offered facilities at his pharmacy so that André could continue experimenting with Icelandic herbs to develop new products so that more people could be helped.

A while later, in 1994, Böðvar and Elín Antonsdóttir from the industrial development in Eyjafjördur encouraged them to start a formal business and he helped them to get the ball rolling. Thereafter it all happened quite quickly and Purity Herbs became the first all-natural skincare company in Iceland.

The place of origin

Since the company was established it has been located in Akureyri.
Akureyri – “The Pearl of the North” – is a small city located in northern Iceland and boasts some of the cleanest air, water and nature found on our earth. This is reflected in the quality of the herbs growing in the region.

Iceland is a country of contradictions

The winter is long and cold with only a few hours daylight. In summer, the sun
hardly sets. About 11% of the country is covered by glaciers, yet there is abundant geothermal energy.

The weather is ever-changeable, and on a typical spring day you can experience all four seasons; sunshine, snow, rain and strong winds. Just like humans, our plant life needs to adapt to be able to survive.

We believe that this is the reason why the plants that survive the Icelandic climate are the fittest.

Iceland‘s history of herbal treatments

Most Icelanders have at one time or another successfully experienced herbal medicine in some shape or form.

Much research has been done on Icelandic herbs and studies show that although Icelandic plants are smaller in comparison to their counterparts in other countries they are also tougher and more potent.

Each herb has it’s own special magic to heal and benefit the skin. By selecting herbs based on their function and blending them together we are able to create uniquely effective products.

why should you use our products? 

Our products are made using wild and pure Icelandic herbs. The products contain no chemical preservatives, parabens or synthetic fragrances.