ÓGRA, a Gaelic word meaning youth, is Ireland’s only full range of cosmetic products that uses peat from raised bogs as the integral ingredient in its range. Since time immemorial, nature has held the secrets to youth, beauty and vitality. Deep in the valleys of Ireland, we have uncovered this secret. 

ÓGRA was conceptualized, conceived, cultured and cultivated from from one of the most perfectly designed natural ecosystems on the planet -- a 9,100-year old plant- and vegetation-rich, oxygen-free bog in Co. Offaly. From the Roman Empire right through to modern times, natural peat has been used in cosmetic formulations and beauty rituals the world over for thousands of years.  For 9,000 years the bog has been compacting with flowers, cottons, heathers, mosses and many more of nature’s gifts. The totality of these herbal properties and nutrients, with nothing added but nature and time, is a natural face-mask that has the ability to retrieve a natural luminosity that's normally associated with youthful skin, back to a skin that beginning to mature in age. It can do this because the molecule size of the anti-oxidant in peat is able to penetrate the skin barrier and promote healing from inside out.

Ógra's founders are passionate peat pioneers who grew up immersed in the healing and preservative properties of this 10,000-year-old natural ingredient. This unwavering belief in the benefits of the bog was compounded by the 2003 discovery of a 2,500-year-old bog body. Suspecting that they had a murder on their hands, the Gardaí were shocked to discover that this man did indeed meet his end with foul play, but 2,500 years earlier. He was given the name 'Old Croghan Man' by the local school children. Scientists were facilitated by this Iron Age man because of how well he was preserved in the bog. The preservative qualities of the peat were able to keep this pre-historic man's skin and nails perfectly intact. Experts were even able to decipher what he had eaten for his last meal. It turns out the the science of the bog that had the capability of preserving bog bodies also has the ability to preserve the natural goodness that's within all the vegetation that grows on the bogs. 

Ógra has also designed a range of Celtic beauty treatments that is based on the Celtic calender of festivals and incorporates the rituals and traditions of our Celtic forefathers. For example, the Celts used a 'sweat house' to contemplate and reflect on their year's accomplishments. They did this by coating themselves in peat and climbing into a hole in the ground. They believed in taking time out to rest, to be, and to heal. Ógra have encapsulated this Celtic ethos into their spa treatments offering a truly authentic Irish experience. These spa treatments are available in RadissonBlu Farnham Estate in Co. Cavan; Lough Eske in Co. Donegal; Trump International in Doonbeg, Co. Clare; Dingle Skellig in Co. Kerry, to name but a few.

See www.OgraSkincare.com for more information.