Benamôr – history of an iconic skincare company

Founded in 1925 by a mysterious pharmacist and beauty expert, the Benamôr apothecary has become an iconic Lisbon beauty destination for almost 100 years. The cult company started out as a small dedicated laboratory at Campo Grande 189 and charmed well-healed locals as well as Queen Amélie of Portugal herself, with miraculous ointments composed of the latest, groundbreaking recipes. Such was the queen’s love of this innovative cosmetics firm, she even bestowed Benamôr with a royal seal of approval in 1935.

The secret ingredients of Benamôr Miracle Face Cream

Benamôr handmade beauty formulas stood out due to their unique balance of natural, high quality ingredients and modern, scientific focus. At Benamôr luxury perfume and organic ingredients grown under the sun of Portugal – lemon, rose, aloe vera and almond oil – were used in conjunction with the latest in skincare technology. The avant garde company was always a beauty pioneer and its first product, The Benamôr Miracle Face Cream, revolutionized contemporary cosmetics with its secret blend of anti-blemish actives, natural glycerin and organic Portuguese rose extracts. The cream gave clients an instant, healthy glow – and remains unchanged until now.

Beautiful packaging for beautiful cosmetics

Benamôr foreshadowed the modern cosmetics industry by combining effective face and body cream formulas with beautiful packaging. The adorable Art Deco tubes were the height of fashion at the time and were an instant hit. Bright young things, Lisbon Belles and Portuguese royalty itself became hooked. These days the iconic Art Deco packaging remains a Benamôr trademark and is testament to the brand’s long and distinguished history as a maker of creams, lotions and moisturizers par excellence.
With a never ending quest to experiment and develop new recipes, Benamôr continued to give birth to some of Portugal’s cult beauty recipes such as the cornerstone, Alantoíne Hand Cream, a national treasure in Portugal. The hand cream features allantoin, an innovative natural ingredient which has keratolytic effects on the skin – promoting increased water levels in the extracellular matrix and smoothing chapped and flaking skin with its mild peeling effects.

The Benamôr bodycare collections

Despite coming a long way since its roots as a small Lisbon apothecary, Benamôr is still one of Portugal’s most beloved beauty brands and has its sights set on making its delicious, quintessentially Portuguese beauty recipes available to customers around the world. Today the brand features a range of products including body lotion, body cream, body butter, shower gel and cream as well as bar soap and liquid soap. Products are divided into 5 major lines based on ingredients and scents:

• Gordíssimo: a lipid-rich, shea-butter infused collection of soap and body creams for normal to dry skin. Allantoin contents ensure that products give high levels of smoothness and hydration.
• Alantoíne: the iconic line of allantoin enriched hand cream and body lotion has become iconic in Portugal thanks to its delicate peeling effect against dead skin cells which has been making hands supple and silky soft for decades now.
• Nata: Deliciously creamy with a sweet scent based on the classic Portuguese Pastel de Nata, a custard based pastry. The milky body cream and hand cream in this line contain egg extract, noted for its anti-free radical effects.
• Jacarandá: named after the electric-blue blossoms of the jacaranda tree, which transforms the Lisbon city-scape for a few days each spring, the body cream, shower gel and liquid soap in this collection are delicately scented and refresh with youthful vitality.
• Rose Amélie: scented with rose, the queen of flowers, this product line references another queen – Amélie of Portugal, who was one of Benamôr’s earliest fans. Sophisticated and feminine body butter and hand cream leaves your skin velvety soft.

Natural ingredients in Benamôr bodycare

Despite the challenges of a globalized world to manufacturing processes, sustainable production and environmental responsibility, Benamôr’s skincare recipes are still handmade with love and care in its Lisbon factory – using natural ingredients, supplied from Portugal as a priority. All have been chosen for their high quality and unique benefits in terms of hydration, nutrition and protection. Importantly, ingredients are intensely researched and universally recognized for their cosmetic qualities. Benamôr uses locally produced sweet almond oil, organic lemon extract, moisturizing aloe vera and exfoliating Algarve sea salt in its recipes.

The key ingredients in Benamôr’s beauty recipes are made of:
Aloe vera, argan oil, shea butter, beeswax, allantoin, glycerin, castor oil, carnauba wax, sunflower oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, inca peanut oil (plukenetia volubilis seed oil), organic lemon extract, organic rosa centifolia extract, organic rose buds, macadamia oil, soybean oil, rosa moschata seed oil, croton lechleri resin extract, cananga odorata leaf oil, lavandula angustifolia oil, carrot extract and carrot seed oil.

Beauty Recipes dermatologicaly tested with NO Parabens, NO Petroleum and NO Animal Testing

Benamôr believes that transparency is an essential part of establishing trust and a loyal customer base for its beauty recipes. The apothecary’s duty is to communicate the complete list of ingredients for each product, even when buying online. As well as using natural ingredients and prohibiting any mineral oil or petroleum derivatives, Benamôr guarantees freshness in its formulas with the minimum use of conservatives possible. All products are paraben free.
Many products are VEGAN, except those formulated with natural beeswax, as the company has yet to find a more effective natural ingredient at providing soft, smooth, instantly kissable lips.

Protect Our Planet

Benamôr’s company philosophy has remained the same since its foundation in 1925: A huge commitment to the environment. The alternative cosmetics company consistently reduces energy consumption and packaging and recycles as much as possible. Benamôr has been working with the same supplier of aluminium tubes since 1926, with a lower impact on the planet than plastic tubes.