In the heart of Barcelona, in 1979, a skincare brand was born, promising to give each skin type what it needed most. Forty-three years later, various products and treatments have been created to fulfill that mission, but one thing remains intact: the Catalan city will always be its home.
In the heart of Barcelona, in 1979, a skincare brand was born, promising to give each skin type what it needed most. Forty-three years later, various products and treatments have been created to fulfill that mission, but one thing remains intact: the Catalan city will always be its home.

I was barely out of the airport and everywhere you could already feel the energies so particular to Barcelona. This city breathes life, modernity, and on that particular day even victory, since the home soccer club had just won the national championship. But it was not sport that took me to the Catalan city. It was innovation. An innovation born out of an unlikely family history and an unwavering dedication to skin care. In other words, it was Natura Bissé. Barcelona is its birthplace and its identity, but for many years the brand presented itself as a European insignia, seeking to conquer new markets. "When we were talking to Neiman Marcus [department store in the United States], they asked us where we were from. (...) As we had the Olympic Games in 1992, everyone knew where Barcelona was. They told us to put Barcelona [in the logo], because they already had a lot of brands from Europe. At that time, we were the only Spanish [cosmetics] brand selling in major retailers", explains Patricia Fisas, Senior VP Research & Innovation at Natura Bissé. The advice could not have been more correct, given that, from the creation of formulas to the preparation of orders, all the processes are based in the Catalan city.
Inaugurated in 2019 and located in the mountainous suburbs of Barcelona, Casa-Fábrica is Natura Bissé's headquarters, housing both the industrial area and the offices that make up the company. "It's a place where we spend so many hours that we wanted to treat it as if it were our home", clarifies Patricia Fisas about the name given to the building (it translates to Home Factory). The goal was to make sure everyone felt comfortable in their workspace, reflecting the family spirit that has guided the brand's founders since 1979. Natura Bissé was created by Ricardo Fisas and Gloria Vergés, a couple who, in the middle of their professional careers, risked everything for one purpose: to care for all skin types at all times of life. Today, it is the second generation of the Fisas family that leads the company, and the winds of innovation, perhaps blown together with the Barcelona air, can be felt from the architecture of the headquarters to the new products and treatments presented.
When Vogue Portugal visited Casa-Fábrica, the Natura Bissé team was finalizing one of its most intriguing projects. It's the Pure Air Bubble, a portable station that can be used to save both lives and skins. "We are always thinking outside the box, outside of our industry", says Patricia Fisas, who claims to have first heard about this technology when tennis player Rafael Nadal commented that he used it to recover after training. "It was a bubble designed by a Spanish company, from Barcelona, in collaboration with a university in Barcelona, so we got in touch to understand how it worked." They discovered that it was a space with a high percentage of purified air (the new version reaches 99.998%) and that it was being used to perform surgeries in Africa, among other uses. The cosmetics team started thinking about the benefits this would have for skin care. "You are providing oxygen to all your skin cells and the products are absorbed faster, which makes the treatment results even better (...) And also the estheticians, when they are working inside the bubble, feel much less tired," explains the innovation specialist. The Pure Air Bubble by Natura Bissé made its debut in 2008, when it was used by celebrities attending the Oscar ceremony. Now, it travels all over the world, enabling one of the most exclusive spa treatments on the market.
It is not only the purified air that explains the effectiveness of the care provided by Natura Bissé. The secret is also in the products that, following the core of the brand’s values, seek to offer each skin, however distinct, what it needs. Patricia Fisas takes us to the origin of this purpose: “We started in the spa industry almost 45 years ago (...), and the beauty professionals were very demanding. When they are treating a person, in one hour they have to be able to transform that skin. So they were the first ones to ask us to create very specific products, and after several years we created an extensive portfolio of options." Even when applied at home, the formulas developed by Natura Bissé act in a personalized way, achieving visible results in a short time. Perhaps because of this, and all the other factors mentioned, the small Spanish brand has grown to become an international beauty titan. Devotion to the needs of the skin, attention to detail, and an eye for the opportunities of the future are what keep Natura Bissé relevant after more than 40 years on the market. But it is the brand’s connection to Barcelona that keeps its feet firmly planted at home.
Translated from the original on The Voyage Issue, published June 2023.Full stories and credits on the print issue.
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