SaltyGirl Beauty
“In 2015, I was eight months pregnant and I was diagnosed with stage three, triple-negative breast cancer. So triple-negative breast cancer is not estrogen. It's not, because there was so much estrogen, I don't really know why cancer happened to me at 36 years old. There's no family history. There's no gene. And so after I was diagnosed, I started treatment and Leah, my sister and also an oncology nurse, the two of us kind of put our heads together as to why was cancer happening to me at this time in my life. Was it environmental? What was I putting on my body?” says Sarah Kelly, co-owner of SaltyGirl Beauty, a clean beauty brand based out of Kennebunk, Maine.
Sarah and her sister Leah Robert started SaltyGirl Beauty with the intention of providing clean beauty products to women when they found that so many beauty and self-care items were manufactured with harmful ingredients.
“It's the fear-mongering that I think the beauty industry can really instill on women. We really try to focus on why, what ingredients are helpful, but why you want to use them, because they're so nourishing and they feel, well, feel good on your body,” says Leah.
SaltyGirl Beauty products include multi-sticks, lip glosses, scrubs, soaps and so much more.
Photographed by Amanda Libby
Sarah Kelly and Leah Robert decided to start a business venture together in the midst of Sarah’s breast cancer treatment journey. When they couldn’t find clean self-care or beauty products on the market, they decided to fill the void with a line of their own.
“I love our foundation. It's our top-selling product. It feels good. It's really lightweight. When you put it on, but it gives you really good coverage. And I just hate putting on something that I feel like I've put a mask on my skin,” says Sarah.
Not only does this sister duo focus on what they put on their body but they also want to provide a positive, safe space for women to go to when feeling down or facing challenging times.
“The SaltyGirl customer, in general, is normally a woman that is a mom and she's working and she's juggling a lot of shit, you know, and so we're just trying to be, and we are those women, too! And so we've created this group of women that are going through the same thing, basically,” says Sarah.
Photographed by Amanda Libby
In 2020 Sarah celebrated her fifth year being cancer-free. She uses her strength to mentor those who are battling cancer to give them positivity and hope throughout their journey.
Sarah and Leah are both mothers and full-time career women so their day-to-day lives are busy, fulfilling and give them a great perspective to share insight with other women. They started a Facebook community where they delve into a variety of topics, that may or may not include SaltyGirl Beauty, to share and uplift their online community.
Maine is a big part of the sisters’ lives, even inspiring them to name their business after the salty seas Maine is known for.
“We are lucky to be able to establish a business and instill the values of what, I think, Maine is about, which are working hard and serving your community and also living a fulfilling life outside of work,” says Sarah.