The story behind Surly Girl.
ABOUT SURLY GIRL
Skincare for women with better things to do.
Surly Girl is small-batch skincare made for real life, with thoughtfully chosen ingredients, hardworking formulas, and no unnecessary bullshit. Because taking care of your skin shouldn’t become another thing on your to-do list.
HOW WE GOT HERE
A few wrong turns. A lot of curiosity.
Aja didn’t set out to start a skincare company. After studying Sports Management at the University of Dayton, years of sports injuries led her in a different direction. She trained in massage therapy and bodywork and developed a growing curiosity about how we take care of our bodies.
That curiosity eventually made its way into the kitchen, where she started experimenting with homemade body butters and salves. The early results were, well, mixed. When her own kids began showing sensitivities to commercial products, she returned to formulation with a little more determination and eventually added traditional cold-process soap to the mix.
But knowing how to make something wasn’t enough. Aja wanted to understand how to make it well and safely. In 2021, she completed an organic skincare formulation program through Formula Botanica in the UK.
Soon after, Surly Girl was born.
TWO SIDES OF SURLY
What makes a Surly Girl?
SHE GETS SHIT DONE.
She runs companies. She runs households. She runs marathons. Sometimes she just runs late.
She asks questions, speaks her mind, takes up space and doesn’t apologize for knowing what she wants.
Women like that have been called a lot of things. We’re happy to add surly to the list.
SOMETIMES SHE’S JUST… SURLY.
She’s tired. Her shoulders hurt. Her skin is pissed off. Her brain won’t shut up.
She’s spent the day taking care of everything and everyone else, and she could use a little taking care of herself.
WE MAKE THINGS FOR BOTH OF THEM.
Surly Girl celebrates the women who make things happen and makes products that help take care of them along the way.
WHAT GOES IN MATTERS
Thoughtfully formulated. Nothing there by accident.
We choose ingredients for what they bring to a formula. Botanical extracts, nourishing oils and butters, herbs and other hardworking ingredients all have a reason for being there.
Some botanicals even come straight from our own garden. Others come from growers and suppliers we trust. What matters most is choosing quality ingredients and using them with purpose.
Every Surly Girl formula is developed with effectiveness, quality and safety in mind. Because natural is only part of the story. Knowing how to formulate with it matters, too.
FROM AJA
Made for whatever you’re taking on next.
Surly Girl has grown a lot since those first experiments in my kitchen, but the goal hasn’t changed. I want to make products that work hard, feel good to use, and make taking care of yourself a little easier.
Whatever you’re juggling, building, chasing or figuring out, I hope there’s something here that makes taking care of yourself a little easier, too.