Brought to you by
LILYBEE
Originated in former nurse Katy Kennedy's own kitchen, LilyBee's magnesium cream offers a natural solution for menopause symptoms and other ailments– with its success now taking her family firm to another level
A LITTLE jar of ‘magic cream’ dreamt up by a former nurse in her kitchen is on the verge of becoming a global success story.
Katy Kennedy created LilyBee magnesium cream to help her get through some of the debilitating symptoms of menopause.
Now, Katy, daughter Lauren and partner Robert believe the product has the potential to help many people, from menopausal and pregnant women and athletes to those suffering stress or anxiety and children and adults with sleep issues.
With support from Scottish Enterprise and Inverclyde Business Gateway, the couple have made “significant” connections with retailers around the world and are already planning to expand a newly-packaged and rebranded collection into South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Europe. China, too, is on the horizon.
Robert explains: “We have had a great response to our initial products and it feels like 2023 is the right time to take the business to another level.”
Katy was a neonatal nurse in intensive care at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow and following retirement, she started to feel the onset of the menopause and associated issues such as restless leg syndrome and hot flushes that affected her sleep patterns.
She said: “I started to do some research into what actually happens to your body during the menopause. I thought if I could discover how to replace what nature takes away naturally during the process, I might be able to help myself get through it.” She says, laughing: “And I did it, I made a magic cream.
“It really helped me. Magnesium powers the mitochondria in our cells to provide energy to our bodies and this helps to revitalise muscles and prevent cramping. People's diets have changed a lot – with processed foods not having high contents of minerals such as magnesium that our body needs. Combining it with essential oils like lavender and ylang ylang which aid calm and relax your muscles and brain, I found I had a cream that really helped me relax and get a good night’s sleep.”
Katy gave the cream to friends experiencing similar symptoms and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Katy and Robert launched the LilyBee website in June last year with five main products – the magnesium cream (with and without essential oils), therapy candles, a sea moss moisturiser and a herbal tea.
“Everything is focussed on wellness, and our ethos has always been around sustainability, natural, organic and eco-friendly,” says Katy. “There is a huge variety of markets to explore. We are now outsourcing the manufacturing and we move into a small unit in Greenock in February.”
Robert adds: “Scottish Enterprise introduced us to the wholesaler portal Faire, which allows us to promote LilyBee to more than 600,000 retailers, and we have contracts with distributors in Miami and Ireland.
Other LilyBee products on the horizon include a new product to reduce scarring from hormonal acne for teenagers, a face polish for sensitive and mature skin, a luxurious moisturiser made from sea collagen and travel-size versions of the magnesium cream.
The name LilyBee will remain (“Lily is my mum’s name and I have always secretly wanted to be a beekeeper,” explains Katy) but the new packaging will be rebranded as, among other things, LB Recovery.
“I’m also looking into an after-sun cream, a healthy soap and a spray-mist for the face,” adds Katy. “Lots more experimentation, lots more research. It feels like things are happening very quickly, which is fantastic - if a little over-whelming at times.
“I still can’t quite believe the wee cream I made has led to this.”
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