Princess Madeleine of Sweden has faced unexpected criticism after launching her new skincare line, MinLen, in collaboration with Weleda. Despite anticipating some debate, the princess was surprised by the intensity of the backlash, which included accusations of exploiting her royal title and targeting children with skincare products. Madeleine emphasizes that her venture is a personal initiative, not a royal one, and aims to fill a market gap for non-advanced skincare for children.
Princess Madeleine Addresses Skincare Criticism
Princess Madeleine Addresses Skincare Criticism
When Princess Madeleine introduced her new skincare venture alongside the anthroposophical brand Weleda, criticism followed swiftly. In an interview with Dagens Industri, the princess expressed her shock.
"We knew it would spark debate, I was prepared for that. But I was still shocked by the amount of criticism directed at me," she said in the interview.
In March this year, Princess Madeleine launched her new initiative: a skincare brand named MinLen. On her official Instagram account @princess_madeleine_of_sweden, with 351,000 followers, she announced that the products would be developed in collaboration with the skincare and natural medicine company Weleda.
The company, which generates over 5 billion SEK in revenue, was founded and is owned by anthroposophists. Weleda was labeled as "quackery" by the Republican Association, and the organization Science and Education assumed that the princess couple was uninformed and that "the planned collaboration with Weleda will soon be terminated." However, many also criticized the princess for capitalizing on her title and deemed it inappropriate for her to market skincare to children.
The volume of criticism came as a surprise to the princess. She told Dagens Industri that she and her husband Chris O'Neill were prepared for some debate, but not to this extent.
"I found it surprising that my step into the entrepreneurial world as a woman and mother wasn't viewed more positively," she said in the interview.
She emphasizes that she is launching the skincare line not in her capacity as a princess, but as a private individual, Madeleine Bernadotte.
The idea for MinLen arose when she and her daughters noticed a gap in the market: non-advanced skincare for children.
"I had difficulty finding the right products for my children. There are many good baby products, but as they grow older, they want something different. At the same time, I noticed, as did many others, this worrying, growing trend of children buying advanced skincare they see on social media. But much of it is not good for them, like serums with acids and retinol. So I noticed there was a gap in the market."
To critics who find it inappropriate to target children, Madeleine says the trend is already here, not created by MinLen, and that they strive to be a good alternative for children who want and are allowed to use creams at a young age.