"True beauty builds on a simple thought: that you are indeed beautiful, from every cell to every inch of skin."
- Patricia Mayer, 1965
Born to art and science
Our visionary founder, Mrs. Patricia Mayer was born in September 1928 in Berlin. At the age of 5, Patricia moved to Switzerland from Berlin with her father, Paul, who was a Bauhaus architect. Paul home-schooled Patricia about art and science through the Bauhaus way, experimenting and unifying.
Patricia pursued her higher education at the University of Basel, where she completed her undergraduate studies in biochemistry in 1952. Despite the challenges of being one of the few women in her field, she excelled academically and began her research career at the university's Pharmaceutical Institute, working under Dr. Tadeus Reichstein, a Nobel Prize laureate. Later she joined a multi-national pharmaceutical corporation in Basel as a research scientist with a focus on antioxidants and was assigned to develop formulas for the Pantene brand.
By 1958, after years of working as a formula scientist, Patricia was fascinated by the mechanisms of antioxidants and their role in beauty care. She saw a chance to explore the vast world of natural bioactives and to uncover their potential. However, despite her innovative proposals, her ideas were repeatedly overlooked by the company, which prioritized research paths focusing on vitamins.
The beauty institute
In 1963, Patricia founded her own laboratory with the help from Dr. Lotte Loewe, a chemist at the J.R. Geigy AG firm who shared her interests in cosmetics.
In the winter of 1965, after hundreds of experiments, the lab found a special combination of antioxidants and natural bioactives that depicts great potency in supporting fibroblast cell functions against oxidative stress and induce effective wound healing of skin tissues, which was named "Cellumiva" and became the renowned complex of PAREMINA.
The impact was immediate—the cosmetic and skincare world took notice, the lab was soon invited to conjointly research and develop formulas for some world-famous cosmetic and skincare companies in Switzerland.
Years later, the small laboratory founded by two pioneering women grew into a beacon of innovation, the Basel Beauty Institute (BBI), pushing the scientific boundaries of beauty and pioneering in anti-aging in multiple scientific fields till this day.
Presence in new age
In 2000, successors of Patricia Mayer established PAREMINA, a brand inspired by her vision and named for the concept 'to bring forth what was within'. PAREMINA offers avant-garde anti-aging nutrition supplements, extending Patricia's commitment to integrating scientific advancements into everyday health and beauty regimens.
In 2020, the Paremina Institute in Basel was acquired by the American pharmaceutical company Express RX. This acquisition introduced PAREMINA to the American market under the mission of 'Elongating Beautyspan', encapsulating Patricia Mayer's lifelong pursuit of supporting beauty through science.
