Body positive advocate and model Iskra Lawrence has candidly revealed how the devastating loss of a major modelling contract plunged her into a profound mental health crisis, which ultimately became the catalyst for her now-thriving beauty brand, Saltair.
The Heartbreak That Sparked a New Beginning
In a raw and revealing interview on the Ladies Who Launch podcast with Rochelle Humes, the 35-year-old mother-of-two detailed the sequence of events. After more than six years as the face and spokesperson for clothing retailer Aerie, where she pioneered an anti-retouching movement and worked with the National Eating Disorder Association, her contract was not renewed in 2020. This blow came as she was about to give birth to her first son, Alpha, now four, with partner Philip Payne, and coincided with the onset of the pandemic lockdown.
Lawrence described the termination as deeply "triggering," reigniting painful feelings of inadequacy from her teenage battles with body dysmorphia and an eating disorder. "I felt disposable again," she confessed, explaining that she had been told repeatedly she was "family" to the brand. The loss saw her spiral, stripping away the self-confidence that had defined her career. "I lost my sense of self... I didn’t even feel worthy of taking a shower," she admitted.
A Perfect Storm: Postpartum, Pandemic, and Isolation
Her struggles were compounded by postpartum depression, a cross-country move from New York to Austin, Texas, and the fact her partner's job as a tour manager was also put on hold. Lockdown restrictions meant her parents could not meet her son until he was 18 months old, leaving her without her usual support network. "I was grateful and happy to be a parent, but it just didn’t look like what I thought it was going to," Lawrence said.
She recalled hitting a particularly low point, wearing what she called her "dementor robe" and struggling with basic self-care. "What happened was I stopped showering and that’s when I knew things were bad," she told Humes. Despite having a "toolbox" of mental health strategies from her years of advocacy, she found herself unable to perform the simplest act of looking after herself.
From Breakdown to Breakthrough: The Birth of Saltair
It was from this place of despair that the idea for Saltair was born. Lawrence realised that a simple shower could be a transformative, peaceful escape. "I felt like, 'okay if I shower and I feel and smell good then I might get dressed, I might do something with my hair,'" she explained. This sparked a mission to create an accessible product that offered a moment of luxurious, sensory respite without guilt.
"I wanted to make sure everyone, no matter what they were going through, reminded themselves that you just have to take care of yourself," she stated. Launched in 2022 with a mission to help people feel "confident, comfortable and empowered in their own skin," Saltair is an affordable luxury bodycare line. The brand, which features the tagline "everybody is welcome here," finally landed in the UK at Space NK late last year.
Lawrence now views the painful professional ending as a necessary new beginning. "Sometimes you have to break and be in little pieces to rebuild yourself stronger," she reflected. By channelling her heartbreak and postpartum challenges into entrepreneurship, she has built a cult favourite brand born from a deeply personal need for healing and self-care.
