Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Davidson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been a practicing Community Herbalist since around 2003 after I graduated herb school here in Austin. I started my first company, Viriditas Botanicals, in 2011. Viriditas product line was based on the most popular botanical remedies I made for family and clients in my herbal practice over the years. People liked them so much I started selling certain items regularly enough to start a company. My business has evolved over the course of time, while my practice, products, and services have continued to showcase the art and magic that plants hold to support holistic wellness body, mind, and soul.
I’ve always been deeply connected to the natural world, plant medicine, mysticism. A total plant nerd, I wholeheartedly believe in connecting people to the energy and magic of plants in whatever way I can.
I was always the kid who made potions and experiments, learning the how and why of things both physical and mystically. I started reading tarot and got into my own solitary spiritual practice in my early teens. I’m also pretty DIY, so I think my product lines were a natural progression once I went to school for herbal medicine and started making basic herbal extracts and products.
Last year I rebranded and created my second line, Libertine which has more esoteric and energetic items added, as well as botanical perfumes and tarot readings. I currently focus most of my time on the Libertine boutique apothecary products and our custom services for events but I still have both lines available.
The name Viriditas was coined by a German Benedictine nun named Hildegard of Bingen in the 12th century. A fascinating and extraordinary Christian mystic, healer, artist, poet, musician, whose work and influence was profound. Viriditas, which is Latin for Green Life, was her philosophy on the Divine vital life force found in nature and plants and their healing power on people. I resonated with that concept and took it on as tribute.
Libertine as a second brand concept evolved over time after I started coming into my own, and my kids started growing up. I began learning a whole new level of who I am, refining what I wanted to offer and put out into the world. Libertine is all about liberation, freedom. In my case part of the free expression of myself and journey into a different, more creative, empowered part of life.
Libertine’s brand has had more emphasis on esoteric blending, aromatics, concepts, and experiences than Viriditas, which is much more practical and utilitarian. With Libertines offerings I’m able to be more creative in the total experience; product, design, message.
I like having fun with these concepts and find it interesting how juxtaposed in origin the names of my companies came to be, and as places in my life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My businesses have grown organically by word of mouth, in what little time and resources I’ve had available to dedicate to them. As primary caretaker of my two kids, I worked second and third jobs in-home healthcare and as a sustainable landscape designer/installer over the years to be able to fund my business and support my family. Now that my children have gotten a bit older, (27 and 17) I’ve had more time to put into growing both professionally and personally.
As a single mom, and small LGBTQ business owner, safely navigating a world pandemic in a booming town where rent continues to skyrocket yearly, life and business have taken on a lot more uncertainty. That said, I’m still here going strong, thanks to my community and a growing public interest in what I do and offer.
I’ve built my business piece by piece over the years without any kind of loans or major grants. I put everything I am into my family and business to keep going, growing and evolving. Doing so has presented challenges of course, but it’s also made me adaptable, resourceful, and acutely attuned to the needs of my clients.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Viriditas Botanicals and Libertine (Libertine +VB)?
I’m a Practicing Herbalist, Botanical Perfumer, Tarotist, and product maker. My company formulates holistic, botanically based beauty, personal care, and wellness products. I also blend a line of niche botanical fragrances and aromatherapy blends which are inspired by spirit, mysticism, energetics, art, stories, places, and experiences.
My specialty is in custom formulation and personalized services of all of the above for individuals, boutiques, and special events such as weddings and birthdays, openings, etc.
I also offer tarot readings and create aromatic and herbal blends and kits based on astrology, magic, and readings for clients.
I grow many of the ingredients I use in my products, as well as harvest, process, and formulate synergistically with the seasons, astrological and lunar correspondences. I distill some of my own essential oils and hydrosols. I love the whole process, working with the plants directly as much as possible. I’m particular about sourcing exceptionally high-quality ingredients and packaging outside of my own production. I work as locally as possible, and actively support companies who also have exceptional standards on quality, ethics, and health of people and the planet.
I sometimes also offer classes and apprenticeships for people, which typically revolve around plants in one form or another from facilitating organic gardening classes, to workshops on botanical perfume blending, product making, and cosmetic chemistry in this field, to aromatic distillation, and plant identification.
My first product line, Viriditas Botanicals, was featured in Austin Monthly/ August 2013, in my early days.
My all-natural Mosquito repellant was recently featured in Rachel Ray Every Day magazine’s top 5 favorite products of the month/July 2019 which took me completely by surprise. Her assistant happened to pop into the Hotel San Jose product area and purchased Viriditas Botanicals Mosquito Repellant. Her people reached out to let me know that she loved how well my product worked so much that she decided to feature it.
I’ve also supplied both Hotel San Jose and El Cosmico with that product for the past 10 years consistently and has become a staple item in their shop. Additionally, D Magazine featured a line of products I formulated under a private label for my client’s boutique here in Austin which was pretty neat.
Aside from bug spray, I’m known for my nutrient-rich body creams, fresh hydrosols, custom wellness, body products, and botanical perfume blending, as well as creating unique experiences for my clients whether in shop or on location.
Prior to the COVID pandemic, my business model centered around the achievement of providing a brick-and-mortar boutique experience. As I pivot to meet the ever-changing needs of my community, I’m currently expanding my business model to be mobile, while maintaining the highly curated experience of what I offer in order to connect with people and special events, wherever they may be. To that end, my girlfriend and I began renovating a vintage RV to be used as a pop-up boutique apothecary.
With the popularity in open-air pop-up markets increasing and added interest in unique, immersive, and highly curated experiences at events such as weddings and birthdays, I aim to make mysticism, tarot, and botanical fragrances and products accessible.
In this way, we can provide ample ventilation and sanitization protocols, along with the ability to be more particular about where and when we are available outside of online sales and scheduled appointments. Clients can rest assured they’re as safe as possible being able to purchase or learn about products, plants, and wellness with us.
Currently still have my base apothecary and perfume studio space located at 1803 S. 1st St. in Calyx Wellness Studio, where I work on an appointment basis to the public. Before Covid, my plans for a brick-and-mortar boutique apothecary revolved around having one dedicated space at that location. As Covid took hold, I wasn’t sure how to safely continue that dream but I kept moving forward as carefully as possible. I worked through some challenges, while at the same time refining what I wanted to offer in terms of experience and design.
People really love the mystical, apothecary vibe I’ve created for my space over the past year and a half and I am now excited to bring my vision out into the world of events. The process has been accelerated in part due to accommodate safety and flexibility with the continuation of Covid.
What makes you happy?
I find happiness in many places; my family, the garden, the studio, in community. I’m at my best when I’m inspired, and able to be creative while sustaining my family. I take immense joy in the fact that people love the things I put so much time into perfecting, and in what my brand offers people. I like connecting people to the vitality of life via plants and mysticism, experientially and in practical ways.
I also find a great deal of satisfaction in showing people how to make their own connections with plants and magic whether it’s in gardening, little perfume rituals, observing the cycles of the moon or learning how to make their own herbal blends.
Creating immersive experiences that can shift people’s perspectives in a thoughtful, positive way that may inspire people’s focus and connection to plants, and the inherent value of the environment itself is important to me.
I put a lot of intention and thought into the products and experiences I offer. It’s my life, my art, and ever-evolving. It’s how I communicate with the world in a way, even as introverted as I can be at times. It’s how I nurture, how I help, how I heal myself and others and others along the way.
These things all make me happy, and keep me going.
Contact Info:
- Email: viriditasbotanicals@gmail.com or libertineaustin@gmail.com
- Website: www.libertineaustin.com OR www.viriditasaustin.com (same place)
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/x.libertine.x
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ViriditasBotanicals (Libertine + VB)
Image Credits
Kendra Bremer
