Jane Buckley was already a very successful beauty entrepreneur when she came up with the idea for her latest brand. But Juvaré has come from a personal quest to help other women who found themselves in the same situation.
'My mother and my grandad both have snow white hair and they went grey in their early 20s,' Jane says.
'But I went grey in secondary school. Doctors think that was because I got hit by a golf club when I was nine years old and I got my teeth knocked out.'
The stress of the accident was what doctors believed caused Jane's premature ageing.
'I was lucky in the beginning because I was dark around my crown so if I put a hair band on, for a certain amount of time I'd get away with it,' she says. But the colour soon left that area.
'It was a case of putting on a woolly hat during the winter, trying to cover it up.'
It was at that young age that Jane started dyeing her hair.
'My hair grows extremely fast so I was dyeing my hair once a week or every two weeks, depending on whether I had something on or not,' she says.
'But because the colour was so white, after six or seven days I had instant roots.'
It isn't easy being a self-conscious teenager at the best of times and Jane says that while she wasn't bullied, she was affected by her hair colour.
'It wasn't very nice to be that age and grey,' Jane says. 'When I was 21, I was told I had arthritis in my spine and I remember thinking, I'm 21, arthritis in my spine, grey hair and false teeth - there's no hope for me at all.
'I'd have a huge complex over my teeth too and I'd be very conscious of all that.'
'The way someone could ring a friend and say "do you want to go out tonight?" and you'd be gone out the door, I could never do that because I had to have my hair dyed.'
To look at Jane now, it's hard to believe she would have any issues with self confidence. The stunning mother of three boys says she has turned what was once a negative into a positive by creating a hair product especially designed for white and grey hair.
'I remember being in the sitting room one evening and I was crying because I have psoriasis on my scalp. Putting dye on it feels like you are putting acid on it, it is so sore.
'My husband said, "Just stop dying your hair." But I was in my 20s, it was crazy. However, I decided to go blonde so I wouldn’t have to dye my hair as often.'
As with so many people, the bleach for blonde hair left Jane’s tresses in bad condition and prior to that, she had always used the cheapest dyes and shampoos.
'When I bleached my hair, I was well warned by my hairdresser that I was going to leave my hair in bits,' she says.
'My hair was like chewing gum and all of a sudden I had to go and buy the expensive treatments and shampoos to try and re-strengthen my hair after the damage I did with bleaching it. After a couple of weeks, my hair, because it’s so white, made the blonde look really yellow and I decided maybe I won’t dye it and we’ll see how it looks.
‘That’s ten years ago so I was 30 when I let my hair go.’
Innovator Jane Buckley has developed a specialist haircare range
Five years before that Jane had joined her family business, which was digital cameras and binoculars, but was looking for a pivot as these were disappearing overnight because of smartphones.
While looking for a new product to supply to pharmacies, Jane came across Adee Phelan hair colour removal products, which set her on a path to the beauty industry.
She first began working with Bellamianta as the exclusive distributor for the tanning brand in Ireland. From her home in Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, Jane became the go-to beauty supplier and after a while developed her own brand, perfume company Jenny Glow, with her sister Katie.
But her hair had always been a passion and as Jenny Glow is set to turn ten this year, Jane wanted to develop something new to give women with grey hair the chance to have glossy and groomed locks with the help of products that were easy on the pocket too.
'We started looking for factories,' she says. 'We wanted to find a factory that was solely haircare and had loads and loads of knowledge and expertise. You can go to some factories and they do haircare, they do tan, they do skincare, and they just wouldn't have the knowledge that we were looking for.
'I really wanted something for my hair. My hair was so dry; I would have been the ideal person for an upstyle because my hair doesn't move. I have that naturally real coarse, dry, horrible fuzzy hair. So I thought what can we find that will help my hair?'
It's not just bleaching that affects hair; it can be all sorts from the atmosphere you're in, smoking, sun, dyeing your hair and even swimming or sport.
'We wanted to find a product that we could get that would repair the hair from the inside out,' she says.
Jane's search led her to Spain and a factory which made organic products that were created by a hairdresser there. They decided to collaborate on a brand and Juvaré was born.
'Juvaré is as organic as it can be,' says Jane. 'When we had approved the formula, we got a few hundred bottles made and gave them to the pharmacies unbranded to see what they thought of the range.
'The number one thing that people came back with was, "My hair is so soft." That's down to replacing those amino acids that we lose.'
At the core of Juvaré's five-piece range is the advanced Amino Acid Complex, specifically developed to act on the outer part of the hair fibre. This complex deeply hydrates and moisturises the hair, reinforcing strength while repairing surface damage. The result is hair that feels smoother, looks brighter, and retains its colour for longer.
What makes this technology truly effective is its perfect compatibility with the hair fibre. It is used to mimic the same amino acids naturally present in hair, which are gradually lost due to external stressors such as pollution, UV exposure, chemical treatments, brushing and heat styling. As these essential components are depleted, hair becomes drier, weaker and more prone to breakage. Juvaré works to replenish, restore strength, shine and softness while also noticeably reducing dryness.
The formulas are further boosted with a targeted blend of high-performance ingredients:
- Provitamin B5: Known for its highly moisturising properties, it helps reduce split ends while increasing hair strength and resilience.
- Vegetable Glycerine: A natural moisturiser; it rebalances moisture levels by attracting water from surrounding environment leaving hair supple & hydrated.
- Vitamin E: A powerful antioxidant; it protects hair fibre from free radicals helping prevent oxidative stress that leads to premature aging & deterioration of hair.
- Argan Oil: Thanks to its essential fatty acid content; it boosts hair hydration & restores its natural elasticity.
- Raspberry Oil: Rich in vitamins A & E; it helps absorb UV radiation & prevent effects of free radicals on hair.
- Macadamia Oil: Brightens hair while contributing penetration rest active ingredients formula.
- Sweet Almond Oil: Fatty acid content acts emollient hair fibre; moisturising hydrating hair.
- Wheatgerm Oil: Boosts hydrating nourishing effects other oils formula.
'Really the range is aimed at people with damaged hair and because of the price point, most people can afford it,' Jane says. 'It's trying to bring that kind of salon experience home and that is a bit of our ethos as a company, to give really good products at a price everyone can afford.'
There are five products in the range: a strengthening shampoo; a toning shampoo for blonde and grey hair; a conditioning treatment; a leave-in conditioner; and a bond oil.
The five-product Juvaré range is now available across Ireland
'Originally when I was letting my colour grow out, I was having to use toners and purple shampoos and everything and I found the purple shampoos too drying. I came across a toning conditioning treatment in my salon, but it kind of dulls the hair and sometimes you can get a little bit of a green tone in your hair.
‘So the original product that we wanted to do was actually a toning purple shampoo. Then my dad was saying, there’s no point going out with one product, let’s do a range, so that’s where Juvaré came from.
‘I always double shampoo my hair; just shampoo my scalp with number one, which is the normal shampoo, then I give my hair a little bit of a dry and I put the toning shampoo into the areas where my hair has gone yellow.
‘I hate that because you feel like you look like an old man who smokes, but that’s half the reason why I gave up cigarettes.’
Jane’s hair looks fabulous - glossy and gleaming and the perfect tones - but she hopes that her boys Harry, eight, Daniel, 12, and 16-year-old Jack don’t get the grey-haired gene.
However, she is thankful now for everything her hair has given her - including a new business opportunity.
'Would I have gone into haircare if I hadn't been through that journey?' Jane says. 'Possibly not, to be honest.'
The complete Juvare Complex system includes the Bond Oil (€14.99), Bond Repair Shampoo (€11.99), Intensive Repair Treatment (€11.99), Bond Leave-In Conditioner (€11.99) and Blonde Toning Shampoo (€11.99) and it's available now at juvare.ie.