Star Maker: Òir

Micaela Sharp meets Jolene Roberts, founder of luxury eco soap brand Òir

Conscious of her family’s plastic consumption but also a big fan of luxury cosmetics, Jolene Roberts started to experiment making her own soap during lockdown as a plastic-free replacement for shower gel. This led her to launch Òir in 2021.

Pronounced ‘oar’, Òir is Gaelic for gold. It’s a nod to the brand’s Scottish roots and an association with luxury, while also celebrating a natural product taken from the earth. Jolene’s small team makes all-natural hand and body soaps, plus gorgeous vegan lip balms – again, all-natural.

What makes you stand out from the crowd?

I created Òir because I wanted to have lovely products that were eco-friendly, but also beautiful. I felt there was a real gap in the market, as most eco-friendly stuff is quite rustic. We also have a strong brand that we hope people recognise easily.

What part of the process of making your items do you enjoy the most?

I love trying to concoct new products. We’ve been so busy this last year that we’ve not managed to launch anything new, but we have a few things that are very nearly there.

When did you realise you were a creative soul?

It’s always been there. My mum is an artist who specialises in glass and we had a big cupboard in the house that was the art cupboard. My sister and I were always making stuff and I love all sorts of crafts. My sister went on to be a fashion designer, and I honed in on my love for making lotions and potions.

What’s the best feedback you’ve received about your brand or products?

Repeat sales. When you see the returning customer stats it’s such a big boost. Actions speak louder than words and all that!

Why is sustainability so important to you personally and how you build your brand identity?

It’s at the heart of what we do and why the brand was launched. It’s important to me because sometimes the news makes it seem like an impossible fix, but the reality is that if we all make little changes they’ll add up. For example, say every household in the UK uses a bottle of shower gel every two weeks (there’s 28.2 million households) – that’s 7.3 trillion empty plastic bottles. We could eliminate that by all switching to solid soap.

When looking at your journey so far, what would you do differently?

I’d not be so hard on myself for not being at the same stage as other businesses that either have a lot of investment or have been running for far longer. Everyone has a first day, a good few wobbles and can mask the reality of running small business on social media, so you should never compare your journey to others.

What’s next for your brand?  What newness should we keep a lookout for?

We have a few new products in the pipeline that we’re really excited about. As I said, we didn’t get round to launching anything new last year, but 2025 is going to start with a bang! I don’t want to give anything away, but you can follow us on our journey to see what we have up our sleeves!

How can we find you?

We have a little store not far from Edinburgh at 8a Main Street, Dalmeny EH30 9TU. We also attend many markets – you can see everywhere we will be exhibiting on our social media.