Kelly Kehl, who moved back to the Village of Northport in January with her husband, John, recently opened her very own “Little Beauty Kitchen” business location downtown. Kehl, an herbalist, artist, and esthetician, said she could not be more happy to continue her work at the new space in Barb’s Bakery.
“It’s very much like coming home, so it feels very lovely and familiar and safe,” Kehl said. “The future of my business and even my personal life, is to create a lovely life here — just aging here and being with the community.”
After successfully securing a home through the affordable housing nonprofit Peninsula Housing, which was a dream come true for the Leelanau natives, Kehl reached out via social media to let people know she was looking for a new place for her small business that was formerly located off Front Street in Traverse City.
When Margo Millard, who owns Barb’s Bakery with her husband, David, reached out to Kehl about the available space in her bakery, Kehl jumped at the idea because she knew exactly what she was talking about. Kehl was also childhood friends with David in Northport, and she grew up visiting the bakery for donuts and other delicious treats throughout her youth.
“I’ve eaten donuts there since I was 5-years-old, so I went there and looked and said ‘yes, please,’” she said. “It was just a whole beautiful experience and it was wonderful… I got the keys on March 1.”
Since moving into the side space of the bakery, Kehl has made it her own, and transformed it into her studio and retail area, offering holistic skin care through facials and beauty services, apothecary and body care goods. The soft-opening on the weekend of March 23 was a great success as well, Kehl added, with so many people packed inside the small storefront meeting with her and learning about her products and services.
Next week, Kehl said not only will her storefront be open, but she also plans to start offering facial services once again using her homemade herbal remedies. All of her remedies are formulated using organic, wild-harvested, and locally sourced ingredients which are free of essential oils, fragrances and additives, and makes them suitable and safe for people of all different skin types.
“It actually shocked me, so many people drove to Northport, I was overwhelmed and it was full the whole day. I had 10 people in there and I didn’t even know how they were all fitting in there,” she said. “I’ve been making herbal remedies for about eight years now, so I have a nice little following… All of my products I create use whole plants extracted in whatever soluble, oil, or ingredient I use.”
Kehl received her herbal medicine certificate through the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, but said she’s been interested in studying the subject of holistic healing for roughly a decade. Growing up in Leelanau County with parents who both worked outside and harvested their own foods also had a huge impact in Kehl’s appreciation for utilizing natural ingredients in her practice today.
“My dad is also a large-scale gardener, we grew up growing our own food, and then my mom is a phenomenal flower and herbal gardener as well, so they guided us in enjoying that… I think generationally, it passed down through my family,” she said. “It’s a never ending education, it’s very broad and massive — I’m learning every day.”
In the beginning of her practice, Kehl said she gathered through foraging most of her plant ingredients used in her remedies, whether it was plants like St. John’s wort, mullein, or burdock. As someone who was an artist and who always found the connection between the human body and nature fascinating, the study and practice of holistic health was a way to merge Kehl’s creative side and connection to nature.
“I think that started at a very young age, I was very much into the plant world and being outside and immersing myself with nature, and it’s always been like that,” she said. “I make everything that I use in my practice… I’m very passionate about skin care products and remedies and things like that.”
Over a year ago, Kehl received her esthetician license to do beauty treatments and services, but with a focus in facials, furthering her education to work with others that much more. At her new studio location, Kehl will offer a range of services like Gua sha, a traditional Chinese medicine practice, facial cupping, and signature season facials which will change throughout the year.
“I also do scalp treatments, so I help people with different types of scalp conditions, whether they have hair loss or skin conditions on their scalp that are irritating,” she said. “I do a lot of lymphatic work and tissue massage in the face, and I help people with chronic TMJ, so a lot of people come to me for tension and strain in their jaw and eye area. My practice is very holistic.”
Kehl said besides being a lifelong learner of holistic medicine, her favorite part about her practice is helping people to feel good about themselves and showing them the different ways they can care for their bodies.
“It’s really quite beautiful to witness people just feeling their best or feeling cared for or just getting excited about taking care of themselves,” she said. “It’s just a really neat experience to watch and then to also sort of be the person that guides them down that path of taking care of themselves and connecting their body with more natural ways of healing.”
To learn more about Kehl’s business, read about updates, and view hours of operation, visit her website at www.littlebeautykitchen. com or follow her Instagram page “Little Beauty Kitchen.”
