Kaplow hosted a 2nd annual press trip to Finland last week, brining two US Beauty Directors to the home of Lumene. The Arctic north offers a unique treasure-trove of untouched wilderness where Lumene product ingredients grow wild and are harvested by hand. “Beyond organic” is how they refer to their ingredients – and it’s a claim not many beauty companies can make. Cloudberry, lingonberry and Arctic blueberries were in season and on display in as we traveled deep into Finnish Lappland to see the truly unique growing environment. The US editors joined an international group of nearly 100 journalists and retailers from all over the globe to learn of the exciting new Vitamin C + line launches, available at CVS/pharmacy stores in early ’08.

More pics and highlights after the jump.

A visit to a reindeer reserve.

A trip to a cloudberry bog where we picked and tasted Vitamin C rich cloudberries, while enjoying cloudberry champagne.

Mid-night Sun Party in Levi – it’s 11PM in this picture and still light out!