Holos targets US market with eco-friendly skincare products

Founded by Niamh Hogan in 2014, Holos is an Enniscorthy, Co Wexford-based business that develops skincare products entirely from plant-based materials. The business currently has seven staff.

“We manufacture and distribute our own brand of plant-based skincare. We combine nature, science and consciousness. We’re vegan, cruelty-free, and eco-friendly,” Hogan told the Business Post.

“We’re providing vitality for the skin and the world, we provide beautiful aromas, but we’re also very ethical in our choices.”

Hogan came up with the idea for Holos after developing her own range of oils through her work teaching fitness, yoga and aromatherapy.

“I could see that even the aromas were having subtle effects on people. I felt we were under-using these great ingredients. I started selling the oils to my clients, but I wanted to find ways to get people to use them more, which led me to skincare,” she said.

“I started dabbling in my kitchen and, as I made things, I started posting pictures online and people wanted to buy them. I then spent two years studying how to make products, courses on legislation around cosmetics, and it went from there.”

Holos sells cleansers, washes, toners, exfoliators and other products to its clients both through retailers and online.

Since 2016, when she was accepted into the competitive start fund, Hogan has been supported by Enterprise Ireland.

“I got it on my first go, which was great. They’re still helping me now. We’re launching in the US at the moment and they’re supporting me with help at trade shows and on research projects,” Hogan said.

“I’ve been on trips to Berlin and Paris to check out the markets there and to find out what buyers want.”

Hogan said that shifting the company’s focus online has helped considerably with the export potential of the company.

“We tipped along for a few years, but the last two years we’ve doubled our revenues and we already know we’ll double it again when our financial year ends in February. We’re primarily online now, 85 per cent of our sales are through the web,” she said.

“It’s great as it is direct communication with our customers. We didn’t just ride the wave during Covid, we saw the model worked really well and focused on making it last beyond the pandemic. We put everything into driving online and it’s paid off in spades.”

Holos is launching a new range of products next year along with Hogan focusing on cementing the company’s US expansion.

“Growing an online business takes time, but the key thing is learning how the US does it. It’s a different way of working to Ireland. We have to set up affiliates with media partners and influencers there,” she said.

“There’s a PR drive along with our own digital marketing and we have set up a separate US website while we have a fulfilment centre in Illinois. We’ve everything set up and we’re continuing to do trade fairs to meet brick and mortar stockists there as well.”