BóNua: The Quiet Revolution of Irish Wagyu Skincare

Roots and Origins

The first time someone mentioned skincare to County Antrim farmer Neal Reid, he was standing in the middle of a field, surrounded by his small herd of fullblood Wagyu cattle. “It’s not the most likely place,” he laughs now. “But for me, it always comes back to the land. That’s where everything begins.”

Neal is a fifth-generation farmer, cultivating a patchwork of rain-fed grasslands in the fertile Six-Mile Valley. His family once farmed dairy, but reflection on the future and consideration of its heritage led him to Wagyu — a Japanese heritage breed renowned for its marbling. To Neal, it wasn’t just a commercial decision. It was about legacy. “Wagyu are an ancient breed,” he says. “Rearing wagyu is a lesson in patience. Wagyu rewards care and time.”

That patience, it turns out, would become the cornerstone of BóNua, the Irish luxury skincare brand he co-founded with his wife Lindsay, and Michelle Hourigan from Ridgeway Farm.

Michelle’s Craft

Living among the rolling hills of County Wickow, and with a background in biochemistry, Michelle started experimenting with Wagyu tallow harvested from Wagyu cattle on her family farm. Michelle quickly discovered the remarkable nourishment of Wagyu tallow as a rare, natural skincare ingredient - rich, gentle and full of goodness for the skin.

Lindsay’s Perspective

Lindsay’s perspective on BóNua is shaped by a life lived in layers. Nearly two decades as a mother, the same years spent in surgery caring for skin, and a lifetime managing her own eczema. It is this combination — clinical precision, lived experience, and an intimate knowledge of skin’s struggles — that makes her voice central to the brand.

When she first tried tallow cream, she admits she was uncertain. Years of medical training had made her cautious; years of personal flare-ups had made her sceptical. But the early results surprised her. The itch eased, the dryness softened, and for the first time in years she found herself reaching for one jar consistently. “I wasn’t happy to sell something that I wouldn’t choose to use myself,” she explains. “Well, it’s all I’ve used on my face since we made it. It has also become the mainstay of my eczema care.”

The benefits went beyond relief. She noticed hydration and glow, subtle changes in areas marked by age and sun, a skin that felt more resilient. Others, too, began reporting improvements — dry patches softened, long-standing irritation calmed. For Lindsay, this personal and shared experience opened a new horizon: a hope to see Wagyu tallow explored more widely for those living with dry or compromised skin.

“The knowledge we already have about Wagyu fat’s composition suggests it is particularly suited to ageing skin,” she reflects. “It’s encouraging to see science and nature meeting in such a natural way. I’m excited to see what more we can discover.”

For Lindsay, the future is important in the sense of the impact the products can have. What stays with her most are the voices of the people who use BóNua. “What I love most is hearing people’s stories,” she says, “the moments when they tell me our cream has helped them through dry, damaged, or ageing skin. Those stories mean everything to me.”

A Meeting of Worlds

If Neal is the steward of provenance, Michelle the formulator of texture, and Lindsay the clinician of compatibility, then BóNua exists where their worlds intersect. Farming, craft, and medicine — each discipline distinct, but together shaping a new way of thinking about skincare.

“It’s unusual,” Neal concedes. “Most brands start with a lab or a marketing concept. We started with cows in a field, a bowl in a kitchen, and some gathered knowledge. It was messy, but it was real.”

The Name BóNua

Even the name reflects this personal, grounded ethos. Bó means cow in Irish; nua means new. Together: BóNua. New cow, new way, new chapter.

“It’s a nod to tradition, but also to reimagining it,” Michelle explains. “We’re not trying to romanticise the past. We’re trying to carry it forward, with care.”

Neal adds, “For me, BóNua is about respect. Respect for the animals, respect for the land, respect for the people who’ll one day open the jar. If we can hold all that in one word, then we’re doing it right.”

Early Struggles

Like many family ventures, the beginnings were not easy. Neal recalls rendering the first batches in a pan, the air in the kitchen heavy with scent. “It wasn’t glamorous,” he admits. “But when we whipped it and saw the texture change, we believed we were onto something.”

Lindsay, ever the pragmatist, insisted they test thoroughly. “I wanted to be sure we were only promoting something that actually worked. After months of using it on my face and body, I am happy that it would take a lot to make me change to a different cream now."

The Turning Point

They knew they had something unique when they began sharing jars with friends and family. “People kept coming back,” Neal recalls. “Sometimes they’d find it had calmed down some inflammation, or resolved a patch of itchy skin that had been bothering them for months. That’s when we thought we had something a bit different that people want to use.”

Meaning and Future

That sense of meaning threads through all three founders. For Neal, BóNua is about honouring his role as steward of the land, respecting the cattle. For Michelle, it’s about the quiet craft of creation. For Lindsay, it’s about taking observed benefits of BoNua on her own skin, considering our knowledge of the beneficial components of Wagyu fat which naturally contain high levels of lipids which benefit aging skins and turning what would otherwise be a waste product into something special. Together, they form a portrait of a brand built not in boardrooms, but in fields, kitchens, and clinics.

For Neal, sustainability is not a buzzword but a lived philosophy. On the farm, nothing is wasted: every part of the Wagyu animal is honoured, from prime cuts of beef to the tallow that forms the base of BóNua’s creams. “It’s important to me that we seek to use the whole animal,” he says. “It’s respect. If we rear them with care, then we should ensure their value carries through every part. That’s sustainability — not just recycling, but reverence.”

Luxury, Reimagined

“Luxury, to me, is not about big loud claims,” Neal says. “It’s about rarity. It’s about knowing that what’s in the jar can’t be replicated easily — that it comes from something scarce, cared for, and respected.”

He gestures toward the Wagyu herd grazing at Riversdale Farm. “These animals aren’t mass-produced. Each one is part of a lineage we’re protecting, each one has a name, each one is an individualThat’s what makes the tallow rare. And that’s why BóNua will always be small-batch, even as we grow. Because if you lose that respect, you lose the heart of it.”

The Pride of Provenance

Ireland runs through BóNua like a seam. The rain-fed pastures, the craft traditions, the rhythms of farming — all are woven into the story.

“For me, BóNua is Ireland in a jar,” Neal says plainly. “It carries the grass, the rain, the patience of farming. Every time someone in New York or Tokyo opens it, they’re holding a piece of this place.”

Family, Woven In

At its heart, BóNua is a family project. Neal smiles when asked about working with his wife. “It’s not always easy,” he admits. “We argue — about texture, about messaging, about whether something feels right. But it’s honest. And because it’s family, we always return to trust.”

Challenges and Convictions

The road has not been smooth. Small-batch production is demanding. Wagyu herds are limited. Distribution into the U.S. is a constant logistical challenge.

“There are days you wonder if it’s worth keeping going,” Neal admits. “But then I think of these cattle and this land — they deserve to be part of something meaningful.

Looking Ahead

When asked about the future, all three founders are careful not to rush.

“We would like to grow a bit more,” Neal says, “but not at the cost of quality. The herd must always come first. That means production will never be unlimited. And that’s okay. Luxury can’t be unlimited.”

Michelle already has a range of products in testing, each product crafted with the same restraint. “Six or seven products, no more. Each one should feel essential, inevitable. That’s how we’ll know we’re doing it right.”

Lindsay, meanwhile, loves nothing more than hearing the stories and anecdotes of those who have discovered BóNua has helped them through struggles with dry, damaged or ageing skin.

A Quiet Revolution

“BóNua is a brand that doesn’t need to shout,” Neal says. “It’s proof that heritage ingredients can sit at the highest table, that luxury can be rooted in care rather than excess.”

Though BóNua may be a new name in luxury skincare, it carries the weight of years: eight years of Neal rearing Wagyu cattle on Irish pastures, learning the patience of land and lineage; decades of education in skincare and biochemistry.

“This may be just the beginning but we are committed to expanding the range while staying true to our guiding principles of combining the ancestral quality of Ireland with the quiet luxury of premium skincare” concludes Michelle. If we can achieve this with integrity, sustainability and effectiveness, I’ll be delighted.”