Holly and Joely didn’t set out to build a brand around bowel movements. But after nearly two decades of Holly’s own unexplained symptoms – and a beauty industry career spent making uncomfortable subjects feel normal – that’s exactly what they did. WE ARE. REGULAR. is the result: a gut-health brand that talks about poo loudly, proudly and without a single euphemism.

The 17-year misdiagnosis

For most of her adult life, Holly assumed her symptoms were unrelated. “For 17 years I experienced: low energy, skin changes, brain fog and generally just feeling a bit blurgh,” she says. “I wasn’t functioning at my full potential – and I knew it.”

The turning point came when she started investigating her fertility in her early thirties and realised she had concerningly high levels of oestrogen. It was a specialist who joined the dots. “My specialist at the time drew the connected between my constipation and my high oestrogen,” Holly says. “Calling it out there and then as a direct causal link. It blew my mind as I had no idea one would impact the other.”

What followed was a period of trial and error in order to poo more regularly, which reached an alarming peak of 30 supplements. Overdosing on supplements seemed to have worked, but was, naturally, unsustainable. Once she found consistency, the effects went far beyond the bathroom.

“Something surprising happened: I had more energy, better skin, less brain fog and my oestrogen levels had dropped right down – proven by a recent round of blood tests. It turned out that the answer to so many of my problems had been sitting in my gut all along.”

Killing the “if you’re pooing, you’re fine” myth

Joely is quick to name the misconception she hears most from customers: that if you’re pooing at all, your gut must be fine. “There’s a huge spectrum of what’s considered ‘normal’, but frequency isn’t the only thing that matters.” Ease, satisfaction and consistency count too – as does the discomfort of feeling permanently bloated. There’s a bigger target behind the joke.

“We also want to challenge the idea that constipation is something you should quietly put up with – particularly as a woman,” Joely says. “We hear from customers who have struggled for years and simply accepted crap poos as their ‘normal’. Women have been conditioned to suffer silently through far too many things. We are on a mission to change that.”

A beauty editor’s approach to bowel health

Before co-founding WE ARE. REGULAR., Joely spent 14 years in beauty journalism, including seven as Head of Beauty and Wellness at Grazia. That’s where she learned how to strip the awkwardness out of a subject without dumbing it down – a skill that turned out to translate from serums to stool more easily than you’d expect.

It shows in the brand’s refusal to be clinical or apologetic. Joely’s view is that a poo product deserves to look as good on your shelf as a fancy fragrance. So the giant lilac posters ask “Have you had a poo today?” in the same tone a skincare brand might ask about your routine, The humour is doing a job, not covering for a lack of substance. “It’s playful on the outside, but there’s a serious mission – and a lot of science – underneath,” Joely says.

What’s actually in the product

Holly built the 01. Bowel + Bloat formula after exhausting pretty much everything else on the market. Fibre supplements left her more bloated, probiotics didn’t get things moving, and laxatives were uncomfortable and unsustainable — a cycle she describes as a slippery slope she wanted no part of.

The result is ten ingredients in a single daily stick, including magnesium, vitamin C, L-glutamine, gluten-free barley grass, ginger and peppermint, mixed with water. The simplicity is the point: anything that adds friction to your day is a habit waiting to be dropped, so Holly built something that wouldn’t ask too much of anyone.

An internal seven-day consumer trial of 25 participants backs it up: 79% had a satisfying poo within 24 hours, and by day seven, every participant reported soft, easy-to-pass stools. As Holly puts it: “No drama, no urgency – just a much better time on the toilet.”

Building the VIPoos

The brand’s openness has rubbed off on everyone around its founders. Friends, family and – most tellingly – the community now update Joely and Holly on their poo frequency, consistency and general toilet action, whether asked or not. As Joely puts it: “Some people get baby photos; we get Bristol Stool Chart updates.”

Even the men in their lives have come round to it. The HABs – Husbands and Boyfriends of the brand – have got used to poo chat over breakfast. It’s a mission Joely and Holly have taken to the streets, literally. Between building a business around poo and carrying giant signs through London asking strangers whether they’ve been today, they’ve built a community they call the VIPoos. As Joely says, “if that isn’t commitment to the cause, we don’t know what is – and we’re only just getting started.”

So, what is a healthy bowel movement? A nutritionist’s view

Laura Jennings, Head of Nutrition (MSc Adv Nut.), has a few reality checks worth holding onto — starting with the number one myth she hears constantly.

The daily-poo pressure is largely just that: pressure, not biology. “A healthy bowel habit can range anywhere from three times a day to three times a week,” Jennings says – a far wider window than most people assume is normal. What matters more than hitting a specific number is consistency for your own body: going regularly for you, passing stools easily and doing so without pain or excessive straining.

Struggle the moment you leave home? You’re far from alone. Travel constipation is one of the most common complaints Jennings sees, and it makes sense when you consider how much changes at once: routine, diet, hydration levels, physical activity, time zones and stress can all slow gut motility simultaneously.

Her advice for staying ahead of it is to protect the basics – regular mealtimes, proper hydration, enough fibre and staying active – and not to ignore the urge to go when it hits, since holding on only compounds the problem. “I also swear by eating the local yogurt of your destination mixed with chia seeds and fruit!”

Diet matters, but it’s easy to overstate how much control it gives you. Hormones, stress, anxiety, medications, physical activity levels and your gut’s own natural transit time all shape your bowel habits too.

As for when it’s worth raising with a doctor: a persistent change in your usual bowel habits lasting more than a few weeks, or symptoms like blood in the stool, unexplained weight loss, severe abdominal pain, or ongoing constipation or diarrhoea, shouldn’t be brushed off.

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