THE FOUNDER
Hi, I'm Shay
Herbalist, gardener, skincare maker, and former micro-farmer, I took a YouTube sailor's advice to get off the farm and go sailing (true story), but you'll never find me away from the herbs for long. Plants are my North Star.
⚓︎ ABOUT SALT HABIT (my pun for getting hooked on sailing)
We (me & my husband, Hawkeye) started with a backyard garden in Western Massachusetts, which we expanded into a small farm.
I was studying Traditional Western Herbalism while learning to grow herbs, and got really interested in using herbs topically.
Body oils, salves, face creams, scrubs and masks, toners, tub teas, even soaps and perfumes. I put herbs in everything and was fortunate to be able to share my concoctions at a farmer's market, our local food co-op, and a Whole Foods Market.
We loved farming but we were getting older and it was wearing us out. In 2020, after several years dreaming of running away to the water, we were finally able to take one of our favorite YouTube sailors, Yosh's (Sailing Nandji), advice. We moved 700 miles south to the inner banks of North Carolina and bought our sailboat, a sweet Bayfield 32C.
Sailing inspired me to explore using vitamin and mineral-rich seaweed in my skincare, and though I'm still learning to enjoy eating it, I love what is does for skin.
I leaned into improving my technical skills too, studying organic skincare formulation for 2 years at Formula Botanica, the award-winning online cosmetic formulation teaching institution. Concentrating on anhydrous products and anti-aging ingredients during my courses, this made Salt Habit Skincare what it is today.
VEGAN + ALL-NATURAL
Ingredients we're using
Herbs
Calendula (Calendula officinalis, certified organic, grown in U.S.)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis, certified organic, grown in U.S.)
Seaweeds
Dulse (Palmaria palmata, sustainably harvested from the Maine shore)
Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosis, sustainably harvested from the Maine shore)
Sugar Kelp (Laminaria saccharina, sustainably harvested from the Maine shore)
Oils
Babassu (Orbignya oleifera seed oil, certified organic. Sourced from Brazil, Indonesia, Sri Lanka)
Buriti (Mauritia flexuosa fruit oil, virgin/unrefined, cold pressed. Sourced from Brazil)
Passionfruit Seed (Passiflora edulis seed oil, virgin/unrefined, cold pressed. Sourced from Peru)
Patauá (Oenocarpus Pataua seed oil, virgin/unrefined, cold pressed. Sourced from Brazil)
Pequi (Caryocar braziliense oil, virgin/unrefined, cold pressed. Sourced from Brazil)
Seasame Seed (Sesamum indicum seed oil, certified organic, virgin/unrefined. Sourced from United States, Mexico, Paraguay, India)
Sunflower Seed (Helianthus annuus seed oil, certified organic, expeller pressed. Sourced from Argentina, China, Italy, Netherlands)
Butters
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao seed butter, cold pressed/unrefined. Sourced from Brazil)
Cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter, cold pressed/unrefined. Sourced from Brazil)
Murumuru (Astrocaryum murumuru seed butter, cold pressed/unrefined. Sourced from Brazil)
Ucuuba (Virola sebifera seed butter, cold pressed/unrefined. Sourced from Brazil)
Waxes
Candelilla (Euphorbia cerifera wax, Sourced from Mexico, United States)
Laurel (Myrica pubescens fruit wax, Sourced from United States)
Myrica fruit (Myrica pubescens fruit wax, Sourced from Latin America)
Extracts
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis leaf extract, Sourced from Canada)