Mother knows best

Pernilla Ronnberg's background as CEO of a skincare business taught her a great many things. But chief among them - and the factor that proved the biggest impetus to starting her own line - was knowing how many harsh chemicals went into most skincare products.

'I just knew that there were a lot of ingredients that weren't good,' Ronnberg says.

In 2008 the Stockholm-based entrepreneur founded Estelle & Thild, with six organic baby care products, which she created between the birth of her two daughters, Estelle and Mathilde.

The idea came about, she says, when she realised that it was almost impossible to find baby creams and oils that didn't contain the usual repertoire of synthetics, including parabens and sulphates.

A drugstore-variety lotion can have up to 25 chemicals in it - and given the extent to which the body absorbs topical products, R?nnberg was alarmed enough to jump into action.

Since then, Estelle & Thild has expanded to 35 products including those for adults in the body, face, hair and lip categories. But the focus remains on pure and organic ingredients and an absence of synthetics.

'Our whole company is built on these values,' says Ronnberg, whose brand is now sold in some 930 stores in Scandinavia and a growing number in Asia and Europe. 'We think of sustainability, health and the environment.'