No matter if she’s in the Alaskan Panhandle or Bellingham Bay, Amy Gibson’s worldview of the awe and beauty of the earth, fostered by her parents, never wanes. With an eye for the wide world of plant usage, she turns her childhood curiosity into a responsibly harvested and sustainable line of health and beauty products for bath, body, and bartending.
“I was lucky enough to learn about traditional uses of native plants, and knew there was a deeper history of medicinal and herbal plant use, but never really touched into that in my life,” says Gibson in reference to her childhood spent in the woods of the ancestral home of the Tlingit and Haida tribes in Southeast Alaska.
Photo by Rob Eves
Her interest in the natural world continued after finishing a creative writing degree at Western Washington University. Furthering her education with herbal apprenticeship programs– one with Wildroot Botanicals and a “more intensive” experience with Cedar Mountain Herb School– she surrounded herself with herbalists, botanists, and wildcrafters who pushed her to learn more about her hobby.
Gibson frequently found her formulations to exceed the amount she alone could use, which led her to sell the surplus at local markets.
“I’ve always made big batches of things; I grew up canning and preserving food and putting things away for winter,” says Gibson. “So did my mom, she grew up doing it on farmland. So I don’t really know how to just make a little bit of something.”
Photo by Sarah Richardson
Gibson describes her engagement with her hobby-turned-business as an “ebb and flow.” When she has a lot of creative energy, she collaborates with her friends on projects like Herbal Abundance, a community supported agriculture (CSA) system; working with Lauren Olean of Luminary Apothecary they brought subscribers seasonal boxes filled with art, inspirational components, and herbal items: teas, tinctures, bitters, salts, and more.
While Gibson is taking a break from selling at markets to focus on nursing school, you can still find her products on her online store, at Brazen Shop + Studio, and at Cafe Blue in Bellingham.
“A lot of [the products] will touch into a more connected use; I’d really love people to be able to connect with the plants that they’re utilizing and engaging with and putting in and on their bodies,” says Gibson.
Gibson is inspired by plants that would work into everyday routines, and she formulates her Dry Shampoo ($12) with oat and lavender (and cocoa powder for darker hair) in an effort to use less non-reusable or recyclable materials. In other words, she designs products to bridge people’s personal life with the plants that surround them.
“So, part of it is personal health. Part of it is planetary engagement. Part of it is environmental appreciation. And then a lot of it is just the idea of connectedness that really opens up spaces for peace,” says Gibson. “It’s just a personal creative project that expands into products. And do I make money on it? No, but it’s a hobby that pays for itself.”
Bellingham, 360.721.2534, goldstatusbotanicals.com
