The Gewd behind GB
We aren’t just gewd for your skin. We’re gewd for the earth, you, and EVERYONE in between. All of our ingredients used in our products are all natural, coming directly from the earth and plants. This includes our shipping materials which are 100% compostable as well. Even better, our plastic packaging is made of 100% post-consumer plastic, meaning our company doesn’t add to the huge problem of plastic waste.
But the real gewd of Gewd Botanicals comes from the gewd work we do locally here in Richmond, VA.
With the help of you all, our customers, Gewd Botanicals is able to support local greenspaces through gifting seeds and seedlings, partnering with their leaders and working with the community to further their individual missions, and running after-school gardening education programs in marginalized communities. Recently, we even earned a contract with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority (RRHA) to grow these programs further to other communities. To us, it’s important for youth to have knowledge of plants and access to gardens, since they provide stress relief, nutrition, and help fight the food insecurity problems these communities often face.
We collaborate with Whitcomb Court Community Resource Center, Broad Rock Community Garden, Richmond Community Fridges, Happily Natural day, Sankofa Community Garden, and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School.
Our Story
In 2015, Malique Middleton was having a hard time finding natural skin care products for his sensitive skin. The “Natural” part was important as many chemicals within mass-produced products cause more skin irritation. Through trial and error, he was able to formulate the earliest versions of Gewd Botanicals skin care products in his family kitchen using natural ingredients like shea butter, coconut oil, and various essential oils.
Following his childhood dream of becoming a scientist, he pursued a degree in biology at James Madison University combining his newfound hobby of making skin care products, his love of science, and his love of plants. He soon found many new customers in his friends, their friends, and soon much of the university. Clearly, there was nowhere else to go but up, right?
Following the advice of his friends, and the encouragement of his mother, an entrepreneur herself, Gewd Botanicals was founded in 2017. The thing is, Malique wasn’t just passionate about skin care. He was (and still very much is!) passionate about the science behind it.
With the help of one of his favorite professors, Dr. Mike Renfroe, he made history in 2021 by being one of the first people in America to create a scientific procedure to test the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of any essential oil against the various bacteria of the skin microbiome. For his research, he won accolades from the Virginia Academy of Science and is working to obtain a patent for the procedure.
So where does one go with that? Now, a Biologist and current Master of Product Innovation student at the da Vinci Center for Innovation at VCU, Malique has further developed the formulas, re-innovated the company, and now is growing (literally) across the RVA area. He hopes next to create the Gewd Farm! A production, research, and education urban farm that uses principles of permaculture and biodynamics to be as self-sustaining as possible. Growing medicinal botanicals for use in his products and food crops to donate to community partners. With your continued support (and of course, his hard work), he can make this dream a reality.
Our Team
Malique Middleton
Founder, Chief Scientist, and Everything-in-between
Hello! My name is Malique Middleton, the Founder, CEO, Chief Scientist, and everything in between here at Gewd Botanicals. Recently graduating with my degree in Biology, Pre-Medicine, and Entrepreneurship from James Madison University. Now as a Biologist, I apply my diverse box of tools to all things Gewd Botanicals. Gewd Botanicals has been my baby in development for over 5 years now.
I am beyond happy and joyful to share these amazing products that I have developed over the years with you all. Even better, as you all support this dream of mine, we are able to do gewd throughout the RVA area! So come feel gewd, be gewd, and look gewd in your skin with Gewd Botanicals.