Fragrance house

Jao

Founded by Gale Mayron in 1997, Jao began as a family venture: in 1994, Mayron and her father, chemist David Mayron, started developing a portable hand-cleaning product. Its first release, Jao Hand Refresher, arrived in 1997 with an essential-oil formulation and multipurpose positioning. The name came from an old pharmaceutical book held by Mayron’s father and was linked by Mayron to a mystical word associated with an ancient protective amulet. Jao is a woman-owned and operated company whose public identity centers on unisex, multipurpose apothecary and skincare products, combining traditional pharmacopoeia with modern science and emphasizing reduced consumption through products with multiple uses. In 2008, it introduced Goē Oil, a semisolid multipurpose body oil developed by Gale and David Mayron; editorial coverage identifies it as Jao Brand’s bestseller.