When she launched Jo Browne Ireland in 2016, it wasn’t with a sprawling product line or a big investor behind Joanne Browne, but with a single idea: a solid perfume that felt natural, travel-friendly and entirely different to what was already on the market.

“My company is 10 years old this year”, she says proudly, explaining its beginnings came from wanting a different perfume than what was readily available. “I never wore spray perfume or anything like that. I always found it too overpowering,” she says.

“So in 2016, I launched my hero product… it was a solid perfume in a bamboo tube, so no alcohol, no preservatives… and travel friendly.”

All handmade and poured in Carlow, nearly a decade on, that instinct to do things differently still defines the brand.

From the beginning, Browne has taken a hands-on approach to every element of the business, right down to formulation. “I formulate everything myself. There’s no outdoor chemist. I’ve taught myself everything,” she explains, adding that once she had shelf space in the likes of Kilkenny’s and Meadows & Byrne, it was time to start building the range.

That commitment meant time, trial and error – and a lot of persistence. “Even with the cleansing balms… I would have made over 100 cleansing balms just to get the formula right.”

It’s this level of care that underpins the entire brand, she agrees, adding that many won’t necessarily see the work involved to launch even one product. “People often don’t realise… it could take a good year and a half to launch your product… there’s so much work in just one product, people have no idea.”

All natural 

While many brands now lean into “natural” positioning, Browne has been part of that movement from the beginning, but with a clear focus on innovation.

“The main thing about our products is they’re only scented by essential oils. We don’t use synthetic scent,” she explains. “You might smell something and go, ‘Oh my God, that smells fabulous’ [but] if it smells overpowering, it’s usually synthetic.”

Instead, her products, from perfume to serums to soap, rely on carefully blended essential oils, including a signature scent that runs across the range. “There’s a blend of eight different essential oils in our signature scent, our biggest seller.”

But crucially, it’s not just about what’s left out; it’s also about what’s added, both to the product and down to how it’s packaged.

“The whole thing, everything I’ve launched, is bamboo packaging. But also we use ingredients from the bamboo tree… bamboo scrub… bamboo silk… bamboo extract in our serum, for example.”

“Everything I launch is different… we’re not just putting oils together. We try to add in another ingredient that no one else has. Our body oils contain magnesium (designed for joint pain, inflammation, and muscle recovery).”