Greek skincare has had a glow up and is ready to take the French crown. Our managing editor Katie Silcox has lived in Greece for the last seven years, and these are the brands she recommends.
Walk down any street in Greece – Athens or the islands – and there are two things you’ll come across over and over again: coffee shops and pharmacies, the latter easily identified by the large, green, flashing-LED cross outside it. Not just a place to pick up medicine (though they’re great for that too), Greek pharmacies are a true treasure trove of skincare as well.
And it’s no surprise to those in the know: wellness in Greece stems back thousands of years, with evidence of Crete’s Minoan civilisation using the country’s fertile lands to create creams, oils and ointments as long as 4,500 years ago. In Greece, the country’s bountiful natural ingredients find their way into its skincare as much as they do onto dinner plates in homes and restaurants.
Credit: Lillian Muir
Proving great high-street skincare isn’t reserved for French pharmacies only, pharmacies in Greece are plentiful, and they stock international brands (including a recent uptick in the number of K Beauty products on sale) as well as Greece-produced products, many inspired by ancient Greek beauty rituals. Mirroring the way Greeks tend to eat (locally sourced, clean ingredients), Greek skincare leans on natural, Greece-grown ingredients: olive oil from the Peloponnese, mountain herbs from Crete, and botanicals from islands like Naxos, Lesvos and Amorgos.
As a resident of Greece, I’ve tried many of the Greek skincare brands – whether picking something up on a pharmacist’s or friend’s recommendation, or trying a new-to-me brand that comes stocked in a hotel bathroom (most hotels in Greece use these homegrown natural-by-nature products as their bathroom amenities).
These are some of the best Greek skincare products to pick up next time you visit.
Korres
If there’s one product I’ll never leave behind when packing for a Greek-island getaway, it’s the Korres Yoghurt Sunscreen Face Cream SPF 50. The Queen of Greek beauty brands, Korres, an Athens-based skincare brand using natural products, is well-known around the world and available to pick up globally too. But top tip: it’s often cheaper to purchase when you’re in Greece. Founder Georgios Korres brought plenty of real-world experience to the brand when he founded it in 1996: his mother owned a pharmacy and he was a pharmacy student at the University of Athens. Celebrating “natural Greek beauty”, you’ll find their flagship store – with the widest selection of products stocked anywhere in the city – on Athens’ main shopping high-street (13 Ermou), but you’ll also find a curated selection of Korres products inside many of the city’s pharmacies and, if all else fails, there’s a stand at Athens airport too (Shengen Area Departures only, Hall B).
Eolia Cosmetics
The family behind Eolia Cosmetics first founded an olive and olive oil business in 1925, and it’s this knowledge of Greece’s “liquid gold” that drove the skincare business. Hailing from the Peloponnese – one of the country’s top olive oil producing regions – this now fourth-generation business expanded into natural skincare, using Greek-grown produce to create its face, body and hair care products; namely olive oil (no surprises there!) as well as honey and herbs from the Laconia region. I have a few of their products stocked in my bathroom, and am a particular fan of the Greek Riviera Nectarine Love body lotion, packed with cold-pressed olive oil, hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, Vitamin E and St John’s Wort oil; the Shimmering Dry Oil made up of olive and argan oil with a sparkling shimmer to replicate sun-kissed skin; the Hydra Shine Mask for the face which uses macadamia, avocado oil, oat and spirulina extract for a deeply moisturising night mask; and the Pistachio Caramel Body Gel Oil scrub which combines olive and almond oil with salt, sugars and ground olive stones to produce a scrub that feels as delicious as it smells.
Apivita
In my opinion, propolis – a resin produced by honeybees – is one of the best wellbeing ingredients around. I’ve used it as a throat spray when feeling under the weather, in tablet form as an immunity boost, and in all forms of bodycare – mainly products produced by Apivita. Some of my favourites include their lip balm that I always pick up from the pharmacy on my doorstep; their Bee Sun Safe face SPF which is made from propolis extract alongside seaweed, organic aloe and a wild rose infusion; and their C15 Propolis Correct Serum made from Vitamins C, E, and propolis. Other bee-sourced ingredients used in Apivita products are honey and royal jelly. Best of all, the company has made a commitment to support bees, which includes sourcing from sustainable and responsible beekeepers across Greece and educating others through in-person training at both their facility plus schools and ‘bee camps’.
Olive Era
Olive Era’s olive oil, mandarin, lime and basil shampoo and conditioner are the two products my mum always asks me to bring to the UK when I visit, after she first discovered it on a trip to visit me in Greece (in fact, this photo was taken by her, in her bathroom!). Why does she love it so much? Because it leaves her hair “soft, not flyaway, and easy to style” and because she “often gets compliments after using it”. Across their range of face, body and hair care products, the brand’s hero product – biological extra virgin olive oil from the olive groves of Crete – is paired with other Greek-grown produce like pomegranate, mountain tea, amber wood and sea salt (with plenty using the mandarin, lime and basil combination too) and syphoned into bottles made from 100 per cent recycled materials. I first discovered this brand in a hotel in Kythnos, and strongly agree with my mum on its stand-out results!
Bioaroma Crete
Crete’s skincare history stretches back a long way: more than 4,500 years, in fact. The island’s abundance of natural and herbal ingredients was first used by Europe’s oldest civilisation, Crete’s Ancient Minoans, who created oils, ointments and creams using the land’s produce, such as olive oil. And it’s this concept that inspires Crete-born brand Bioaroma Crete who, as founder Manousos Pediaditis tells us, “carries forward a legacy that began over 4,500 years ago, when our Minoan ancestors first harnessed the island’s botanical riches to create natural beauty products,” and that “guided by that same spirit, Bioaroma remains rooted in Cretan tradition”. Today, the brand’s products use organic, raw materials, all grown in a private 100-acre piece of land that’s home to over 150 species of aromatic plants and herbs. The result? As-natural-as-it-gets skincare with ancient roots, but designed for modern-day needs. Dig deeper into the brand’s origins and offerings at their experience store in Crete, where you can also create your own skincare products.
Aegean Beauty
Backed by the scientific knowledge of pharmacists and the horticultural knowledge of Greek farmers, Aegean Beauty was born on the Greek island of Syros in 2016. Using natural, organic ingredients like wild lavender, lemon blossom, plus seabuckthorn and honey from Syros, some of their most exciting products for frequent travellers are the solids – ideal for popping into (and often found in my own) hand-luggage to avoid liquid restrictions, and small enough for hold luggage to allow for all your other essentials. Aegean Beauty’s solids are also vegan and cruelty-free (the latter certified by Cruelty Free Kitty), plus they come in zero-waste packaging. Good for the hair, body, skin – and the environment.
Panacea 3
Snail serum is all the rage in K-Beauty products… and on a farm in Crete! At their Rethimno snail farm, Panacea 3’s founder Dr. Charalampos Kiagias and his team rear the Cretan Snail on a diet that’s mainly (70%) sourced from the farm’s crops, alongside aloe leaves from a local organic farmer. Kiagias, a researcher in the field of Physics-Medicine, also ensures the process uses “natural, ecological, and harmonious methods.” The result? Skincare for the face, hands, eyes, lips and hair – as well as ‘snail first aid’ to treat ailments like burns. Snail mucin is a recent TikTok sensation, but for this Cretan farm it’s simply a way of life. Want to find out more? If you find yourself nearby, you can visit the farm and learn more about their production processes – an educational experience that could have big benefits for your skin.
Body Farm
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Body Farm, founded in Chania, Crete, creates face, body, hair and fragrances from distinct natural hero ingredients: donkey milk, organic extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil; Santorini grape; aloe; and a Greek yoghurt and Royal jelly combination. I have two favourites from this brand – and always have products from one or other stocked in my bathroom cupboard. The first, donkey milk, is an Ancient Greek beauty ritual recommended thousands of years ago by Hippocrates, an Ancient Greek physician and often considered the ‘father of medicine,’ who prescribed it for various ailments. Egypt’s Queen Cleopatra supposedly bathed in it too. My other favourite that I always reach for is the Olive Oil hair care which works miracles on my fine tresses (to the point I’m often complimented on my hair when I’m using it regularly).
Not available in the high-street pharmacies but worth seeking out:
Lillian Muir
Taking inspiration from the way the light hits ancient Athenian streets, how locals chat over coffee nearby, and how others are nose-down into a morning paper, Kate Muir, an Australian who now calls Athens home, feels she’s hit on the very essence of Mediterranean living: summing up that “it is not the azure seas and the sweeping skies, it is about the way. The way life is lived, cherished and celebrated, even in these small, seemingly insignificant moments”. Her brand Lillian Muir was founded with these small-but-magical Mediterranean moments as its foundation, and her boutique store, in the Greek capital’s upscale neighbourhood of Kolonaki, is an ode to the Mediterranean lifestyle, with Greece at its core. The brand only produces three bodycare products – the Freddo Espresso Transforming Body Scrub, the Whipped Body Cream, and the Body Sweep brush, designed to promote cell renewal and stimulate the lymphatic system – but each is designed with love and care, using Greek-grown ingredients and essential oils, and each designed to give you those small moments of luxury, day in, day out.
Oriad Athens
Vegan, cruelty-free (certified by PETA), pregnancy-friendly and gender neutral, Oriad Athens was founded by Dafni Zoulou and Dora Tsatoucha in the early days of the 2020 pandemic, with a shared vision to create a “movement built on trust and transparency”. Fusing clinically proven ingredients with pure plant-based materials – like Greek mastic oil, olive oil, aloe vera and St. John’s wort oil with vegan collagen, hyaluronic acid and squalene – the duo produce creams, serums, masks and lotions that lead the way in natural skincare. You may come across their products in five-star hotels, wellness centres and high-end skincare stores, including all three outposts of The Greek Designers Store (Athens International Airport, Golden Hall shopping mall, The Ellinikon Experience Park) and at Athena’s Grove (Veikou 68, Koukaki).
The Naxos Apothecary
If there’s one brand that Greeks and tourists can agree on working wonders, it’s The Naxos Apothecary. Using the flora of Naxos and techniques that blend homeopathy and phytotherapy (herbal medicine), this brand produces some of the most lusted-after Greek skincare on the market – I’m a big fan of their Koronos line which includes hand cream and soap bars made with pomelo, ginger and orange flower, among other aromatic ingredients. Step inside their flagship store – a 21st century interpretation of an old apothecary in the centre of Athens, find it at Kolokotroni 3-5 – for a bespoke, boutique experience. Here, their fragrances as well as body balms, oils, creams and gels line the carefully curated shelves, side by side with Korres products (The Naxos Apothecary is a sister brand to Korres; both were founded by Georgios Korres – the latter alongside his brother, Andonis Korres). Once you’re done browsing and buying, head to the second floor for a herbal-infused tea in the cafe-bar. Unsurprisingly, you’ll also find a store on the island of their inspiration, Naxos.
FAQs about Greek skincare
Where can I buy Greek skincare products?
Most of the products in the above list can be found at all or select pharmacies across Greece (aside from those otherwise noted, which can be purchased in the specific stores mentioned). Another great shop to pick up Greek and international skincare and makeup is Hondos Centre, this usually-large department store often has many floors dedicated to skin, body and hair care, and can be found across Athens, the Greek islands, and the rest of the country. If you are not in Greece, many of the products in our list can be purchased online and shipped abroad.
What makes Greek skincare unique?
Greek skincare is known for its natural, plant-based ingredients. With a focus on simplicity, Greek skincare draws from ancient Greek beauty rituals and nourishment from nature.
What are the most common ingredients in Greek skincare?
Some signature ingredients in Greek skincare include: extra virgin olive oil, Greek honey, Greek yoghurt, donkey milk, herbs and aromatics, and aloe vera.
Is Greek skincare good for sensitive skin?
Yes. Most Greek skincare brands focus on natural, gentle formulations free from harsh chemicals, parabens, and synthetic fragrances, making them ideal for sensitive or reactive skin.
Are Greek skincare products cruelty-free?
Many modern Greek skincare brands are natural, cruelty-free and eco-conscious. Check the labels and websites for certification.
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Lead image: Lillian Muir
Any Questions or Tips to add?