New
for over a century

If you want to really treat yourself, then this cream is a must-have. With its rich, firm texture, every moisturising moment becomes a moment of caring for your body and soul. Gentle touch plays a big role in helping us feel content. It gives babies a sense of closeness and security. When we are not touched, we know something is missing. Research shows that a child’s emotional and mental development is supported by human contact. And applying cream is also a way of taking time to focus on yourself.

When NIVEA first saw the light of day well over 100 years ago, all the research was done by just three people: Dr Oscar Troplowitz, Prof. Paul Gerson Unna and Dr Isaac Lifschütz. Today, more than 500 people work in our research and development teams to unlock the complex processes in the skin and to create new, effective skin care products. Over the decades, we have developed many ground-breaking innovations: our classic skin cream, body lotion, sun cream with SPF, a special NIVEA Men range, pump sprays, skin care for mature skin and even anti-ageing products with Q10. It is always important to us to meet the needs and wishes of our customers. By talking directly with them, we have created products that stand for top quality and that people trust completely.

Before NIVEA Creme’s success story could begin, something else very different had to be invented: Eucerit. Eucerit acts as an emulsifier and combines oil and water into an extremely fine, stable mixture. Fortunately, Dr Isaac Lifschütz had developed this completely new emulsifier by 1911. Dermatologist Professor Paul Gerson Unna admired Dr Lifschütz’s specialist knowledge in this area and introduced it to Dr Oscar Troplowitz, the chemist and co-founder of the Beiersdorf company. He immediately recognised that the water-in-oil emulsion was the perfect base for a cosmetic skin cream. All they needed now was a name. For that, Dr Troplowitz simply looked at the cream itself. Once the emulsion was finished, it had a snow‑white colour. The name NIVEA comes from the Latin “nix, nivis”, meaning snow, so NIVEA can be translated as “snow white”.