A SALON owner who dedicated her business to her five-month-old daughter who died is celebrating five years in the community. 

Anna Louise Naylor from Newton-le-Willows set up her business in 2017, two years after her daughter Scarlett Olivia passed away.

Scarlett was born prematurely and due to the condition of her health, she passed away just over five months later. 

Discussing the loss of her daughter, Anna said: "My daughter died Christmas 2015 and I didn’t want to go back to my high-pressured job, so I took a couple of years out and then wanted to work for myself but didn’t know what.

"We didn’t realise during pregnancy that she wasn’t going to survive, we only found out when she was four months old when they said there was no light at the end of Scarlett’s tunnel.

"We had five and a half months with her which was amazing."

Following a two-year break to grieve, Anna set up Anna's Beauty in Earlestown; spurred on by her 12-year-old son Jamie. 

St Helens Star: Anna wanted to show her 12-year-old son Jamie that things get betterAnna wanted to show her 12-year-old son Jamie that things get better (Image: Anna Naylor)

The 46-year-old added: "I needed to do something because I thought I could just spiral into quite a deep depression after losing our daughter and I didn’t want to do that; I wanted to try to find the positives and realise even though we’ve been through the worst ever, we have a happy and fulfilled life with our little boy as well and I needed to do something to show him good things can come out of a bad situation.

"I had a conversation with a friend and she encouraged me to start doing lash extensions and work in beauty, so even though it’s something I had never done before, I did a couple of courses and absolutely loved it and that’s how my business started.

St Helens Star: Anna had never imagined opening her own salonAnna had never imagined opening her own salon (Image: Anna Naylor)

"It’s really taken off and it’s crazy that we’ve done that, got through covid, and still going from strength to strength. It’s brilliant and a really positive thing."

Looking ahead, Anna hopes to introduce a sustainable environment to her salon, an up-and-coming subject in the beauty industry that she feels passionate about.