Nivea

Nivea is a German skincare institution launched in 1911 by Hamburg-based Beiersdorf, built around the first stable water-in-oil emulsion ever sold to consumers — made possible by the emulsifier Eucerit and championed by company owner Oscar Troplowitz alongside dermatologist Paul Gerson Unna. The instantly recognizable cobalt-blue tin of Nivea Creme has barely changed in over a century and remains one of the best-selling skincare products in the world, sold in nearly 200 countries.

While Nivea is a skincare and body-care brand rather than a color-cosmetics house, it sits squarely inside dupe culture thanks to a handful of cult heroes. The Nivea Lip Butter and Labello lip balms are routinely held up as wallet-friendly stand-ins for prestige lip treatments like Pat McGrath Lip Fetish, and the Nivea Creme itself has a decades-long reputation as a multi-use balm. For Viktoria's readers, Nivea is the proof point that some of the best 'dupes' are products that were affordable classics long before the luxury versions arrived.