From donkey milk soap to body scrubs made from sheep milk, products packed in mushrooms to creams made with snail mucus - there's more than meets the eye in our Wellness category at Showcase 2024.
The wellness sector is booming as customers seek out products to help them look and feel great. Showcase 2024 has you covered with a wide range of excellent, effective and beautifully presented products from established brands such as Brooke & Shoals Wellness, Jo Browne and Jane Darcy.
The Brooke & Shoals Wellness range includes aromatherapy body washes and Jo Browne specialises in natural products including solid perfumes, cleansing balms and luxurious bamboo bedding, meanhile Jane Darcy’s luxury sleep sets are designed with relaxation in mind.
Elsewhere at Showcase 2024 you’ll find a surprising array of unique products on show from independent businesses putting their customers’ needs first. Many of these businesses are run by individuals who hand make their products in small-scale facilities - some of them employing some pretty unusual ingrediants. How about some soap made from donkey milk, a body scrub made from sheep milk or a facial serum packed in mycellium?
Oh, and did we mention the snail trails?
12 Quail Farm
12 Quail Farm makes handcrafted soap from donkey milk sourced right on the farm in the heart of the Co. Leitrim countryside. Not only are these soaps effective and nourishing but they come in many different shapes including little moulded donkeys, pigs and even Irish wolfhounds.
Donkey milk is renowned for its therapeutic and anti-allergic properties. At 12 Quail Farm the milk is mixed with other ingredients - for example activated charcoal, clay and essential oils.
The 12 Quail Farm range can be found in stores across Ireland, the UK, Europe, the US and Canada with customers keen to embrace the soothing power of donkey milk just as the Egyptian queen Cleopatra once did.
Find 12 Quail Farm at Stand D24 in the Main Hall.
Nunaïa
Nicola Connolly’s multi-award-winning brand Nunaïa is loved by customers for its luxury, functionality and sustainability.
Connolly spent many years living and working with local people on the Galapagos Islands, the Ecuadorian Amazon and the Andes in Peru helping them to develop sustainable business models. Inspired by the people she met along the way, people with a deep connection to their environments, their culture and their local natural resources, Connolly set about developing a skincare brand with a philosophy of “Beauty Within”.
The Nunaïa products are made using sustainably-sourced, potent, nutrient-dense botanicals from the Peruvian rainforest and the Andes - ingredients designed to nourish the skin and soothe the soul. The result is a small but beautifully-formed range of “superfood” skincare products that really work - including their Nourishing Radiance Serum and their Ground and Glow Ritual Set which is packed in award-winning, innovative biodegradable mycelium packaging.
Find Nunaïa at Stand C22 in the DCCI Area.
Bánór
Bánór means “white gold” in Irish and is therefore the perfect name for a brand that employs a natural Irish ingredient with many therapeutic qualities. Founded by two friends, Nicola Lyons and Elaine Crosse (aka the “Skin Shepherdesses”) with combined expertise in the pharmaceutical and food and drinks industries, Bánór’s heritage is in the rich farmland of Co. Tipperary.
Milk for the products is sourced locally from Elaine’s brothers’ farm and used to create products including body scrubs, cream washes and milk lotions that leave the skin nourished and revitalised. Essential oils such as lavender, geranium and Ylang Ylang mean the products smell great too.
Sheep milk is naturally rich in good fats, vitamins including retinol, ascorbic acid and Vitamin C and in proteins with a strong amino acid profile making it the perfect skincare ingredient.
Find Banor at Stand A22 in Shelbourne Hall.
Bragan Skincare
If you’ve been intrigued by the mention of snail slime at the top then you'll want to learn more about Bragan Skincare here. Bragan skincare was born in the shadow of the Bragan Mountains of Co. Monaghan where snail farmer and skincare farmer Kieran Corley jokes that he has over a million employees.
Inspired by the old tales of his grandmother about the healing power of snails, Corley found himself with time on his hands during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. He purchased a secondhand mushroom house - converting it for use for cultivating snails.
As Cleopatra was aware of the benefits of donkey milk, so Hippocrates was aware of the healing properties of snail mucus as far back as the 5th Century. Now Corley is creating products for a very modern customer - harnessing the power of snail mucin which is packed with nutrients and antioxidants, collagen, hyaluronic acid, glycoprotein enzymes, antimicrobial and copper peptides - common ingredients in commercial skincare and beauty products.
Corley works with a manufacturing partner in Italy to produce his range of products which include an anti-ageing cleanser and moisturiser as well as products to help soothe ailments such as psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis, itchy scalp and even restless legs.
Find Bragan at Stand L29 in the Local Enterprise Showcase Hall.
