Female Founders We Want to Celebrate this International Women’s Day 

Here at The Publicity Loft we have some amazing female founded brands that should be celebrated every day! Find below some insights into a couple of the most innovative brands that are female led and a snippet of the amazing products they have to offer.

Dr. Joanne Reilly with Kinvara Skincare

Kinvara Skincare, founded by Dr. Joanne Reilly in 2012 is a homegrown Galway brand. Revolutionising natural skincare with a commitment to creating sustainable, effective, and affordable products. Dr. Reilly, a scientist frustrated by the lack of high-quality, natural skincare on the market, took matters into her own hands. She blended her passion for science and nature to create a brand rooted in sustainability, harnessing the power of plants to deliver skincare that truly works. Kinvara’s products are vegan, cruelty-free, and free from unnecessary preservatives, reflecting a strong dedication to ethical beauty.

Rosehip 24HR Face Serum (RRP €34.95): Kinvara Skincare’s 24hr Rosehip Face Serum is a multi-award-winning face serum. Designed to provide intensive care to even the most demanding skin, this concentrated formula is packed with plant extracts, vitamins, antioxidants and calming ingredients. A little bottle that makes a big difference!

Brittany Stewart with BURST Oral Care

Brittany Stewart is co-founder of BURST Oral Care, an innovative oral care brand that has the support of over 40,000 US Dental professionals aiding in the development of all products. Brittany is a serial angel investor and a powerhouse advocate for women in business. She played a pivotal role in securing BURST Oral Care’s Series C funding with Goldman Sachs, enabling BURST’s rapid expansion into major retailers like CVS, Macy’s and Walmart. As part of their global expansion, BURST chose Cork, Ireland as their customer service hub, reflecting their commitment to investing in Ireland. Their recent partnership with Uniphar has brought BURST products to leading pharmacies nationwide, including Chemist Warehouse, Mulligans, McCauley, Adrian Dunne, AllCare, and Hickeys.

BURST’s mouth-watering Teeth Whitening Breath Strips (RRP: €6.99) are a revolutionary dissolving whitening strip that also provides your breath with a polar mint aroma, all in the space of thirty seconds. With a formula of 11% PAP solution, these strips quickly and visibly whiten up to 2.5 shades in a single use.

Michelle McDonald with Sásta Skin Health

Founded by award-winning beauty expert Michelle McDonald from Co. Laois, Sásta Skin Health reflects over 25 years of experience in the beauty industry. A passionate advocate for Guaranteed Irish, Michelle co-founded Sásta with a mission to help people rethink their approach to skin health. Inspired by years of working with clients facing persistent skin issues, she created effective, simple home-care solutions that support the skin’s natural ability to heal by nourishing the microbiome.

Sásta Skin Health is leading the way with its groundbreaking Microbiome Booster Serum RRP (€45). This extraordinary serum combines a powerful blend of prebiotic and postbiotic ingredients to optimize skin health. By protecting the skin’s defensive barrier, restoring its natural pH, and defending against external aggressors, Sásta’s Microbiome Booster Serum ensures your skin reaches its full potential.

Emma King with Cascata

Cascata is a premium Irish hair extension brand founded by award-winning hairstylist Emma King. With over 18 years of experience as a bridal stylist and colour technician, Emma recognised a need for versatile, high-quality clip-in hair extensions that provide fullness without the commitment of beads, bonds, or tapes. This inspiration led to the creation of Cascata, offering seamless, luxury clip-in extensions made from 100% ethically sourced human hair.  Emma’s work has been showcased at London Fashion week as well as featuring in The New York Times, among many other prestigious publications. The brand name “Cascata,” meaning waterfall in Italian, reflects the natural, full, and free-flowing essence of their products.

Cascata Luxury Hair Extensions – Full Set (€255-€265) – These seamless clip-in extensions are crafted from 100% human hair, with Cascata offering a bespoke and tailored colour matching process- ensuring a perfect colour match is achieved to create a natural and seamless look. These extensions can be styled, heated, and washed just like your own hair, offering an instant transformation with low commitment and investment.

Jennifer Rock, owner and founder of Skingredients and The Skin Nerd.com

Jennifer Rock is an award-winning skin tutor, dermal facialist, bestselling author and the CEO and founder of the multi-award winning Skingredients® skincare range, The Skin Nerd® educational

platform, store and the Skin Nerd Network® online skin consultations service, which has welcomed over 60,000 clients through its virtual doors to date. Jennifer has published two

bestselling books and is a regular contributor across multiple Irish and UK media platforms including Today FM, RTE 2FM and Dancing with the Stars.

Spritz O’Clock (€25) NEW to Skingredients: Spritz O’Clock is an anti-ageing + antioxidant-infused spritz that protects from pollution and offers so much more than just hydration!

Denise Walsh with CurlyCo

Founded by award-winning hairdresser Denise Walsh, CurlyCo, now an award-winning brand is an Irish owned hair care brand specifically for loose, tight and coily curly hair. After years of neglecting & mistreating her own curls, Denise Walsh set out on a path to embrace & care for her curls. Denise began her hair training journey in Ireland and has also studied in Australia and London having benefited from soaking up knowledge on both sides of the equator. Denise pursued her keen interest in the business aspect of the hair industry by completing business programmes in both London and Ireland. Since the launch of her salon, she has won numerous accolades including multiple wins from the Fantastic Hair Awards, including Fantastic Salon of the Year and Fantastic Hairdresser of the Year.

CurlyCo’s creamy and nourishing Curl Defining Shampoo (RRP: €18.99) will gently cleanse, detangle and strengthen your curlys giving them moisture, definition and bounce. For glorious silky-smooth-defined curlys all day every day, let’s cleanse it up.

Dr. Nicola Ralph and Dr. Caitriona Ryan, Founder and Consultant Dermatologists at Institute of Dermatologists

Institute of Dermatologists is a patient-centric, world-class facility established by the amazing duo of Consultant Dermatologists, Professor Caitriona Ryan and Professor Nicola Ralph.  Their mission is to deliver excellence in Medical and Cosmetic Dermatologic care by Specialist Registered, Consultant Dermatologists in a state-of-the-art Dermatology clinic. At the Institute of Dermatologists® they strive to safeguard the very highest standards in Dermatology. With a team of eight leading Consultant Dermatologists who are experts across all fields of Medical and Cosmetic Dermatology, their goal is to empower individuals to achieve optimal skin health and wellness.  

Professors Nicola Ralph and Caitriona Ryan are esteemed Consultant Dermatologists based in Dublin, Ireland, both co-founders of the Institute of Dermatologists. Professor Ralph, an honours graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, has a special interest in photodermatology and inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis, acne, and eczema. She has served as a Consultant Dermatologist at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and is a Clinical Assistant Professor at University College Dublin. Professor Ryan, who graduated first in her class from University College Dublin, completed her dermatology residency and research fellowship at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, Texas. She has published extensively on psoriasis and other inflammatory dermatological conditions, with over 70 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals, including first-author articles in JAMA and The Lancet. Her expertise encompasses both medical and cosmetic dermatology, with a focus on conditions like psoriasis, skin cancer, acne, and atopic dermatitis.

Trinny Woodall with Trinny London

When Founder and CEO Trinny Woodall created her disruptive namesake brand, Trinny London, in 2017, it quickly became one of Europe’s fastest-growing direct-to-consumer start-ups. Trinny London was born with a clear mission – to give women the tools they need to feel their best through personalised, stackable, multitasking makeup and highly active skincare. Trinny’s unrivalled entrepreneurship has seen the business grow rapidly, with over 7 million products sold in 180 countries since launch. As the business has scaled, Trinny has built an incredibly loyal community through both her personal and Trinny London audiences, while also nurturing a dedicated global online community, known as the Trinny Tribe. In 2023, Trinny published her Sunday Times bestselling book Fearless and launched its accompanying, chart-topping podcast.

Trinny London Bounce Back (€68) is a youth-boosting hydrator to visibly smooth wrinkles and boost vibrancy – this is so much more than just a moisturiser.