Poko was created from a passion to improve problematic skin. Poko’s Co-Founder, Justine O’Hanlon, suffers from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, a hormonal disorder which is common among women of reproductive age. Justine’s skin was an area of contention for her since signs of PCOS started to show on her skin with aggressive hormonal acne at just 12 years old. Having visited her GP several times, trying all sorts of tablets and topical steroid creams, she continued to struggle with a worsening condition throughout the years.

Eventually, she got diagnosed with PCOS many years later at 25 and that’s when she finally began to look at and understand her skin in a different way. Her passion to find skincare that truly helped hormonal breakouts like you see with women who have PCOS came from wanting to improve her own skin but also to help improve others.

1 in 10 women in Ireland and 1 in 5 women in the UK suffer from PCOS, which is only one of many hormonal imbalances that affect the skin. After learning more about PCOS and the statistics around it, she knew there had to be more people out there that felt the same.