It’s a crisp, spring morning in Windmill, just a stone’s throw from bustling Cashel, and there is barely a sound across the rolling countryside except a tractor trundling along in the distance.
Stepping inside is quite a different story, however. The shed is full of bleating, the strangely comforting soundtrack of sheep. It’s lambing time, so there are ewes and lambs in an adapted polytunnel that is now the maternity ward.
What’s immediately apparent is that they are not the usual ovine seen frolicking in the fields. They look larger, they are more friendly to meddling humans, and the floppy ears of both the ewe and lamb would make the most hardened person impressed with the beauty of the natural world.
Farmer Michael Crosse explains that they are the Assaf and Lacaune breed of sheep, usually seen in countries like France and Spain, and are renowned for their milk yield – giving on average two litres a day from September to February. Milking sheep since 2016, he describes it as a rich, creamy, velvety, sweet drink that is very high in fats, vitamins and minerals.
And it is these very properties that inspired his sister Elaine and her school friend Nicola Lyons to put the shepherd or shepherdess into skincare to develop their own business, Bánór. It means white gold, and that’s exactly what the pair know sheep milk is for the skin.
A chance conversation at the kitchen table of the farmhouse set Elaine, who is head of advocacy and communications in Airfield Farm in Dublin, and Nicola, a pharmacist, to look at the milk with new purpose.
Nicola explains, “It was March of 2021, COVID restrictions were just lifting, and I was asking the lads [Elaine’s brothers Michael and Brendan] how they were getting on with the sheep milk. What’s the point of it and the benefits in comparison to cow’s milk? And they said sheep’s milk is really high in fats, vitamins, and minerals, which Elaine would have said to me too. But they were saying it’s really high in vitamin A, so all the anti-ageing stuff.”
At the time, Nicola was working in quality for a company called LEO Pharma, which makes skin products for those suffering from eczema and psoriasis.
“So I said, ‘Oh, could you put the sheep milk on the skin?’ Elaine said there was a place in New Zealand that had done it. We were buzzing then,” Nicola says.
Elaine reminded her friend that when her dad sheared at Nicola’s home farm at Clerihan, just outside Clonmel, he came back with really soft hands because of the lanolin oil in the wool. It is now one of their “hero ingredients” in their range stocked in 50 outlets nationwide from Donegal to Dingle.
Development
Bánór founders Nicola Lyons and Elaine Crosse with Elaine's brother Michael, who milks sheep near Cashel, Co Tipperary. \ Claire Nash
“We thought, this could be really something,” Nicola remembers. After looking into it further, the pair approached their Local Enterprise Office and got a grant to do more research.
“It did take the two years to get there (to go through development) because there was a lot of looking into it, sussing it out, because starting a business wasn’t our background at all. It was very complimentary to what we were doing, though,” adds Nicola.
During the early stages, the friends, who met in school at the Ursuline in Thurles, went to CosmaProf, the most important beauty trade show in the world.
“There were actually a lot of milk [products], which was great, but it was donkey, camel, cow, goat. That further proved to us there’s an appetite [for milk products], but what wasn’t there was sheep,” says Elaine.
While many thought they were mad, Elaine, who has previously worked with Bord Bia and Danone, was convinced by the “uniqueness” of the products and the opportunity to be the first in Europe to bring sheep milk skincare products to the market.
“We [our family] are kind of evangelists at this stage [on sheep milk]. People are like, What are they drinking in that house?” she adds, laughing. “Obviously, we really believe in its properties and want to be able to do something different with it,” reflects Elaine, who looked at what Voya did with seaweed as inspiration.
The team admit there were plenty of challenges along the way – trying to come up with a name, getting sustainable packaging – they opted for glass in the end – and figuring out how to include Tipperary-focused branding like the nearby Rock of Cashel in their artwork.
We also have a candle that has no sheep products, but people like the smell, so it completes the range and that at-home spa feel
With only a handful of cosmetic factories in Ireland, that was another big stumbling block – production. Initially, they had to manufacture in England before moving to Wexford last year.
“Every step takes so long,” says Nicola, who came up with the formulations.
“I think we did nine or ten iterations of the formula to make sure we were happy. Then it has to be tested in the packaging – that’s another four months. There’s a lot to it. And you have to register with HPRA, that’s the health authority to sell.”
After all of that, Elaine jokes, “we are still friends”. For the first year, the range encompassing five unisex products was only sold online. But they had a big breakthrough in December 2023 when Arnotts became the first retailer to sell the brand. And after visiting events and shows, many others followed.
“The lotion and the body wash are made with the sheep milk. They’re for the hands and body. We also have a body scrub and a body and hair oil that use lanolin [oil from the wool]. We also have a candle that has no sheep products, but people like the smell, so it completes the range and that at-home spa feel we are trying to create,” explains Elaine, who says they hope to add to the collection soon.
What is giving the founders great confidence is the repeat orders and reviews from a wide range of customers who have discovered the benefits of their products. These range from those using the body oil during pregnancy or illness to men using it on their beards or for dry hands. Then there are tourists who love anything to do with sheep, buying the lotion or scrub as a gift.
Scientific research
Elaine Crosse with her dad John in the lambing shed with her friend Nicola Lyons. \ Claire Nash
The pair’s strong belief in their range is now backed by scientific research conducted by the Centre for Bioscience in Tralee, who compared Bánór to two global brands.
“We tested for three things: anti-ageing [because sheep milk is high in vitamins], antioxidants, and skin barrier protection. Ours performed really well compared to other cosmetics that don’t have the milk in it,” says Elaine.
Both agree that the uniqueness of the sheep milk product appeals to customers, as does the idea of it coming from and helping to sustain a family farm. To have the “proven benefits” now in terms of anti-ageing, helping collagen production, and offering skin barrier protection is another major plus, Nicola says.
Looking to the future, the duo see major export potential for their brand and have already started with new customers in Germany and the US, following the Showcase event in January.
Nicola, who is now working full-time in the business, took part in Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme, and as a result of that, they were one of eight Irish companies who exhibited at CosmaProf in Italy earlier this month.
The Tipperary friends are also hopeful of securing a new distributor this year to sell their products in other countries.
When asked about what their ultimate ambition for the brand is, Elaine says, laughing, “this is where we get carried away.”
“When you think of brands like Kerrygold butter or even Irish whiskey, and what they’ve done, it’s amazing. They have a visitor centre, and people know about them overseas, and they come here and visit the distillery.
“We would love that – to bring people on a journey where they could come and visit and buy [the products].
“Plus, we’d like to be known for Irish sheep milk,” she adds, smiling broadly.
It’s a crisp, spring morning in Windmill, just a stone’s throw from bustling Cashel, and there is barely a sound across the rolling countryside except a tractor trundling along in the distance.
Stepping inside is quite a different story, however. The shed is full of bleating, the strangely comforting soundtrack of sheep. It’s lambing time, so there are ewes and lambs in an adapted polytunnel that is now the maternity ward.
What’s immediately apparent is that they are not the usual ovine seen frolicking in the fields. They look larger, they are more friendly to meddling humans, and the floppy ears of both the ewe and lamb would make the most hardened person impressed with the beauty of the natural world.
Farmer Michael Crosse explains that they are the Assaf and Lacaune breed of sheep, usually seen in countries like France and Spain, and are renowned for their milk yield – giving on average two litres a day from September to February. Milking sheep since 2016, he describes it as a rich, creamy, velvety, sweet drink that is very high in fats, vitamins and minerals.
And it is these very properties that inspired his sister Elaine and her school friend Nicola Lyons to put the shepherd or shepherdess into skincare to develop their own business, Bánór. It means white gold, and that’s exactly what the pair know sheep milk is for the skin.
A chance conversation at the kitchen table of the farmhouse set Elaine, who is head of advocacy and communications in Airfield Farm in Dublin, and Nicola, a pharmacist, to look at the milk with new purpose.
Nicola explains, “It was March of 2021, COVID restrictions were just lifting, and I was asking the lads [Elaine’s brothers Michael and Brendan] how they were getting on with the sheep milk. What’s the point of it and the benefits in comparison to cow’s milk? And they said sheep’s milk is really high in fats, vitamins, and minerals, which Elaine would have said to me too. But they were saying it’s really high in vitamin A, so all the anti-ageing stuff.”
At the time, Nicola was working in quality for a company called LEO Pharma, which makes skin products for those suffering from eczema and psoriasis.
“So I said, ‘Oh, could you put the sheep milk on the skin?’ Elaine said there was a place in New Zealand that had done it. We were buzzing then,” Nicola says.
Elaine reminded her friend that when her dad sheared at Nicola’s home farm at Clerihan, just outside Clonmel, he came back with really soft hands because of the lanolin oil in the wool. It is now one of their “hero ingredients” in their range stocked in 50 outlets nationwide from Donegal to Dingle.
Development
Bánór founders Nicola Lyons and Elaine Crosse with Elaine's brother Michael, who milks sheep near Cashel, Co Tipperary. \ Claire Nash
“We thought, this could be really something,” Nicola remembers. After looking into it further, the pair approached their Local Enterprise Office and got a grant to do more research.
“It did take the two years to get there (to go through development) because there was a lot of looking into it, sussing it out, because starting a business wasn’t our background at all. It was very complimentary to what we were doing, though,” adds Nicola.
During the early stages, the friends, who met in school at the Ursuline in Thurles, went to CosmaProf, the most important beauty trade show in the world.
“There were actually a lot of milk [products], which was great, but it was donkey, camel, cow, goat. That further proved to us there’s an appetite [for milk products], but what wasn’t there was sheep,” says Elaine.
While many thought they were mad, Elaine, who has previously worked with Bord Bia and Danone, was convinced by the “uniqueness” of the products and the opportunity to be the first in Europe to bring sheep milk skincare products to the market.
“We [our family] are kind of evangelists at this stage [on sheep milk]. People are like, What are they drinking in that house?” she adds, laughing. “Obviously, we really believe in its properties and want to be able to do something different with it,” reflects Elaine, who looked at what Voya did with seaweed as inspiration.
The team admit there were plenty of challenges along the way – trying to come up with a name, getting sustainable packaging – they opted for glass in the end – and figuring out how to include Tipperary-focused branding like the nearby Rock of Cashel in their artwork.
We also have a candle that has no sheep products, but people like the smell, so it completes the range and that at-home spa feel
With only a handful of cosmetic factories in Ireland, that was another big stumbling block – production. Initially, they had to manufacture in England before moving to Wexford last year.
“Every step takes so long,” says Nicola, who came up with the formulations.
“I think we did nine or ten iterations of the formula to make sure we were happy. Then it has to be tested in the packaging – that’s another four months. There’s a lot to it. And you have to register with HPRA, that’s the health authority to sell.”
After all of that, Elaine jokes, “we are still friends”. For the first year, the range encompassing five unisex products was only sold online. But they had a big breakthrough in December 2023 when Arnotts became the first retailer to sell the brand. And after visiting events and shows, many others followed.
“The lotion and the body wash are made with the sheep milk. They’re for the hands and body. We also have a body scrub and a body and hair oil that use lanolin [oil from the wool]. We also have a candle that has no sheep products, but people like the smell, so it completes the range and that at-home spa feel we are trying to create,” explains Elaine, who says they hope to add to the collection soon.
What is giving the founders great confidence is the repeat orders and reviews from a wide range of customers who have discovered the benefits of their products. These range from those using the body oil during pregnancy or illness to men using it on their beards or for dry hands. Then there are tourists who love anything to do with sheep, buying the lotion or scrub as a gift.
Scientific research
Elaine Crosse with her dad John in the lambing shed with her friend Nicola Lyons. \ Claire Nash
The pair’s strong belief in their range is now backed by scientific research conducted by the Centre for Bioscience in Tralee, who compared Bánór to two global brands.
“We tested for three things: anti-ageing [because sheep milk is high in vitamins], antioxidants, and skin barrier protection. Ours performed really well compared to other cosmetics that don’t have the milk in it,” says Elaine.
Both agree that the uniqueness of the sheep milk product appeals to customers, as does the idea of it coming from and helping to sustain a family farm. To have the “proven benefits” now in terms of anti-ageing, helping collagen production, and offering skin barrier protection is another major plus, Nicola says.
Looking to the future, the duo see major export potential for their brand and have already started with new customers in Germany and the US, following the Showcase event in January.
Nicola, who is now working full-time in the business, took part in Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme, and as a result of that, they were one of eight Irish companies who exhibited at CosmaProf in Italy earlier this month.
The Tipperary friends are also hopeful of securing a new distributor this year to sell their products in other countries.
When asked about what their ultimate ambition for the brand is, Elaine says, laughing, “this is where we get carried away.”
“When you think of brands like Kerrygold butter or even Irish whiskey, and what they’ve done, it’s amazing. They have a visitor centre, and people know about them overseas, and they come here and visit the distillery.
“We would love that – to bring people on a journey where they could come and visit and buy [the products].
“Plus, we’d like to be known for Irish sheep milk,” she adds, smiling broadly.
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