Ladyburg Celebrates a Year of Great Business

Ladyburg, the modern skincare apothecary in downtown Fredericksburg, is celebrating a year in business.  It's been a great year. 

"The store has had end-over-end revenue growth every month," owner Crystal Wellman said.  "We have passionate return customers, male and female clients of all ages," she sad.  She's added a second skin care studio in the store to meet growing demand.  "It's going very well," she said.

How did this all begin?

"I was doing skin care and my daughter and I went to a soap making class, just for or fun," Wellman said.  Soon she was making homemade lotions and body creams. 

"I'd make some and bring them in for my clients," she said.  "They'd ask if I could add Bergamot or tea tree.  I did that enough times a light bulb went off in my head," she said.  Her great idea is Ladyburg's feature -- a blending bar.

"We have a lot of lotions, body butters, creams, bubble bath  -- all sorts of things that can be customer blended," Wellman said.  "Rather than just buying a stock fragrance off the shelf, we have over 80 fragrances you can choose from," she said.  "You create your own custom blend; something you can't get anywhere else," she said.

Wellman's shop also includes handcrafted bath, body and skincare products. Wellman and her staff make most of what they sell themselves.  "What we don't make we get from other handcraft artisans," Wellman said.  "Nothing comes from a factory.  It's all people like us, working in collaboration."

The skincare treatments at Ladyburg are not facials.  "Our treatments are more of that -- a treatment," Wellman said.  "They are results oriented," she said. 

Wellman and her associate Vicki Neulinger are master aestheticians and acne specialists.

"People come to us because they have age spots, or fine lines or acne.  We help them come up with a plan to treat those and to improve it," Wellman said. "That's how we're different," she said.  "Our treatments are still relaxing, but they're really focused on causes and results."

Their acne clinic has an updated focus. 

"Even I was taught in school to treat the symptom of acne, which is bacteria," Wellman said.  "But what I have learned in all my advanced education is the cause of acne is retention hyperkeratosis, a disorder of the follicle," she said. "It's not something that can be cured, but it can be controlled," she said. "Bacteria come into play down the road.  So our treatments focus on the cause of the acne."

As she begins her second year with Ladyburg, Wellman said she feels much more relaxed.  "I read before I started the business that it takes a year to come up with all the processes and get used to the flow of how everything works," she said.  "It's so true.  It's really taken us that amount of time to get the feel for what to expect.  Now we can plan more because we have an idea of what it is going to be like," she said.

Ladyburg is in the growth phase now, Wellman said  "We want Ladyburg to be a destination location," Wellman said.  "When people come to town, they come here; that's what we want," she said. 

"We want people to know Ladyburg as the place to come if you have acne. We want to solidify our position as the best quality skin care.  It's really gratifying when we hear people say they had to come here and bring their friends," she said. 

"There are terrific institutions and spas in town," Wellman said.  "We're next to a terrific spa [Studio d'Esthetique].  They're lovely people and they're very good at what they do.  But what we do is different from what they do and so it works for us all to be downtown," she said

Why the name Ladyburg?  "I wanted something fun, a good theme, a color scheme," Wellman said.  "I was wracking my brain and I couldn't come up with anything," she said.  Driving on Rt. 17, Wellman saw a VW that looked like a ladybug, with a license plate that said ladybug.  She really wanted to tie in with Fredericksburg, and so ladybug became Ladyburg. 

Ladyburg is located at 807 Caroline St. in downtown Fredericksburg. 

• 540-479-6353
• On Facebook at Ladyburg LLC
• On Twitter @LadyburgVA
• On the Web at LADYburg

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• Monkee's Reopen After Flood Damage
• City Resident Brings European Fashion Direct to Fredericksburg
• New Boutique Offers Hope for Hair Loss Sufferers
• Ryan Bullock Brings Sushi To Downtown Fredericksburg
• Chef To Open Sandwich Shop Downtown

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