*Spiddal artist, Fiona Concannon cutting her bar of soap the new Airmid Skincare shop in Ennistymon. 

Airmid Natural Handmade Skincare which specialises in natural skincare inspired by the landscape of the Burren has opened its first retail outlet in Ennistymon.

The company, with a base in Kilfenora since 2012 has seen it’s sales soar during lockdown, as demand for natural skincare products increases worldwide.

“It’s a new and exciting chapter for us to open a shop in Ennistymon, which is thriving at the moment. The new store will give customers an opportunity to come and sample our products, inhale the custom hand blended Airmid scents and learn more about how they are made” said owner Kevin Lynch.

“Even though we have had a difficult year, with lock downs and many of our stockists closed, we have continued to focus on the future and find new ways of moving forward. We were fortunate to have built a new workshop, completed in October 2020, so that has also helped us fulfil new orders now”.

The new Ennistymon store will stock a huge array of products, including new candles and bath salts, luxury body and perfume oils, lip balms, beeswax lotion bars as well as shaving and grooming products and handmade soap. It will also stock a range of eco friendly bathroom accessories.

Hospitality and guest soap bars will also be available in singles and bulk boxes. Airmid currently supply a number of five star hotels and also manufacture for other Irish brands.

Airmid products are specially formulated for sensitive skin and contain no parabens, fragrances or artificial colours. The company began in Kilfenora, when Kevin and his partner Tina Robinson were struggling to find skin products for their son who was born with eczema. They developed a unique pure chamomile soap, using herbs from their own garden. This was the first product created and is still one of the most popular sold.

“We grow all the flowers and herbs ourselves, we collect the beeswax and honey from all the beekeepers locally, everything is as Irish as possible. We are genuine manufacturers and the full Airmid collection is produced in our Kilfenora workshop. All soap bars are cut by hand and are cured for at least six weeks to ensure a luxury, long-lasting product.

Creating high quality sustainable products has always been a priority for the company, who use plastic free and sustainable packaging from Irish suppliers.

“During the past year we have seen people’s shopping habits changed with many customers favouring local sustainable businesses and products made by hand by skilled craftspeople.”

“With this in mind, we are offering customers the opportunity to cut their own soap in the shop and buy offcuts as well. We will be encouraging people to bring their own bags, and containers to carry their purchases home, as we want to reduce our waste as much as possible” he added.

The design of the new store also includes a vintage bath, salvaged from a forge in West Clare, upcycled furniture and Airmid’s own twist on retail.