Iguazu Beauty celebrates 20 years in business

Louise O'Loughlin's Iguazu Beauty is celebrating 20 years in business after beginning in 2003 in her mother's shed.

O'Loughlin had just returned from South America and decided to open her own business in Rush, Co Dublin. “It was a daunting move, but I knew it was the right choice for me, and it's been an absolute rollercoaster over the last 20 years.

“At the start I managed a very small opening order with Repêchage and got going with the support of my family, which was truly amazing. In 2006, I felt it was time to expand, so I opened both the beauty salon and training school on Lower Main Street in Rush. I had a wonderful team of therapists; they came and grew and went on to successful careers and businesses of their own. I am very proud of them all.”

By 2013, O'Loughlin decided to downsize, as she began to specialise in training and take a little more time for family life. “I never stopped, I just slowed it down a little,” she explained. “And my amazing clients supported every move I made.”

Among these moves was the launch in 2018 of Oncology Aesthetics, which is now a major part of O'Loughlin's business. She has a goal to educate the beauty industry and remove the stigma of cancer in the salon space.

Then in 2020, in the middle of the first Covid-19 lockdown, O'Loughlin decided move forward again with the business by starting her own distribution company with Repêchage. “This is a brand I have been very passionate about since I was a young therapist in Buttercups,” she said. “Lip Intimate Care soon followed and in 2021 I launched The Silk Pillowcase, the first Iguazu product.”

O'Loughlin plans to be busier than ever going into 2024. “I'll be going full steam ahead with training, treatments, events, travel and so much more. In the past 20 years, I've experienced recessions, illness, babies, grief and a pandemic – these things may knock us down, but we get back up and keep going!”