We chat to Ashley Bellino, founder of Stoned Crystals, about crystals and their place in modern living, and her latest ventures, the crystal concierge and Stoned Crystals App.
Tell us about Stoned Crystals and your product range.
Stoned Crystals is a fresh and modern take on crystals. Positioned as Australia’s first natural crystal decor line, our mission is to evolve crystals beyond their traditional ‘hippy’ status and translate them into the modern lifestyle.
We offer ethically sourced crystals from all around the world including raw pieces and polished and shaped pieces. We’re proudly known as one of the largest retail suppliers of Himalayan Quartz in the world. We also have a curated range of crystal jewellery for those who like to keep natural gemstones and raw pieces close to them, for their healing energy and as wearable art.
We’ve also created our own core collection of products, branded with the Stoned logo to signify that it is a Grade-A certified crystal.
Whether it be through a custom piece of crystal jewellery, a statement cluster or one of our signature curated styling sets, Stoned has a broad range of modern wellness and lifestyle products.
Purchasing crystals as styling décor pieces for the office, retail and salon space has become quite popular, why do you think there is a rise in styling our workspaces with these natural objects?
The same way you would put plants in and around your home and can clearly see the connection and energy they omit, crystals also connect us to the natural elements of Mother Earth. They truly are Mother Earth’s natural sculptures.
Stoned sits on a knife’s edge of spirituality and design—we’re passionate about empowering our customers to create sacred, styled spaces that inspire stillness, presence and mindfulness in their lives.
The rough and fractured texture of a crystal is becoming so popular right now, not only for its spiritual context but also its earthly connections. That said, I think there is still a while to go before people begin to see crystals for what they are irrespective of their energetic principles. If for nothing other than their tactile benefits, rolling these shapes around in your hands releases your mind from the more mundane and automatic reactions we have to almost every object we pick up these days.
As there are so many different types of crystals, do you have in-house experts to advise on the best crystal types suitable to each person/business?
For me, the core of my business model has always been to share my appreciation and my knowledge of crystals. Everything we do is about providing information and advice to customers about crystal types and their energetic properties.
We’ve also built a following because of our styling advice, offering different tips and inspiration for decorating your home or office with the beauty of crystals.
In addition, we have an in-house gemologist, who is the oracle when it comes to the varying elements and mineral make-up of crystals that we ethically source from around the world.
What type of crystal designs are exclusive to Stoned Crystals?
Since starting my business in 2015, my vision was to be a crystal brand positioned for the design and homewares sector, with the aim of bringing crystals into mainstream living. I developed a collection of boxed crystals with accompanying property cards to create a gateway to spirituality for the modern-day person.
Our inaugural ‘Geo Gems’ are a range of geometric shaped crystals that are beautifully gift-boxed and come with their own property card. Each Geo Gem has a signature ‘Stoned Crystals’ diamond icon carved into each one which is our stamp of approval that the crystal is a natural A-Grade quality crystal. Our Geo Gem range is unique to traditional crystals. Getting them cut and polished is no mean feat so I knew it would create a more exclusive offering for our customers. The cut is also an extra layer of sophistication and design to Mother Earth’s work.
I’m also proud to have personally designed our ‘Crystal Crush’ platters and trivets. Made from half glass and half crystal, they are a stylish and functional addition to any space. My goal has always been to bring crystals into modern-day lifestyles and with the Crystal Crush collection, their purpose is to be used for entertaining with food and drinks as well as displaying jewellery, candles and other home decor items.
The styling sets range is quite unique to Stoned Crystals, tell us more about this.
I believe Stoned is paving the way for people to see the obvious benefits of decorating our spaces with crystals just as we do with plants. So many interior stylists are incorporating crystals into their projects, bringing natural elements into living spaces for decorative reasons and even practicality; our crystal platters are perfect entertaining pieces (think luxurious cheese platters).
Stoned hopes to test the conventional use of crystals by making them more accessible and more fashionable to the everyday person. I hope to be instrumental in making crystals on trend and giving people simple steps on how they can integrate them into their lives by sharing tips and concepts on how to style them as well as keeping the integrity of their energy and tradition alive.
What role do crystals have in modern mindful living?
Our homes and workspaces are becoming increasingly overcome by computers, devices and technology. Crystals not only look beautiful when styled but also offer us a natural and tactile distraction to negate stress and encourage balance and mindfulness in our lives.
By using crystals as an aid during meditation and through mindfulness, we are able to ease the chatter of the mind and also help clear negative thought patterns. We all know that setting your mindset with a positive outlook can return positive life experiences. In much the same way setting crystals with positive intentions is the best way to manifest the things you wish to attract into your life. If for nothing other than their tactile benefits, rolling these shapes around in your hands releases your mind from the more mundane and automatic reactions we have to almost every object we pick up these days.
What is your crystal concierge service and how does this benefit your clients?
One of the core pillars of our business is to provide each and every one of our customers personalised customer service. Our staff offer a unique crystal concierge service, which is essentially like personal shopping.
At Stoned you have four ways to shop crystals. You can visit our flagship store in Elsternwick, Victoria or you can shop virtually via our website, through Instagram DMs or via our virtual live shows.
Having been one of the first businesses in the world to utilise social media live video-streaming to sell goods and services, we’ve created a loyal and tight-knit crystal community who tune into our scheduled shows.
We host our virtual live shows every day of the week so that our entire crystal community across the world can shop with us. And, our staff, aptly named our crystal concierge, offer styling advice and personal shopping. How? Through the live shows, we present each item one-by-one and customers can claim the item/s.
Tell us about your live-streaming App. How does it work?
Having pioneered the live video-streaming service through social media platforms for over five years, we noticed our customers were increasingly experiencing issues from streaming dropouts to customers comments being blocked and more. Enter the Stoned Crystals App.
Taking matters into our own hands, we custom-built an App that provided the same live streaming service but was more stable, more streamlined (from claiming a crystal to checking out their order), more secure and overall, more enjoyable for our community. Through the Stoned Crystals App, our customers can get a higher definition video stream, ask questions and learn about crystal origin and energetic properties, and add-to-cart as the show progresses.
Does the live-streaming App allow for a personalised experience? Is this the same experience you would get when visiting the Stoned Crystals retail space?
By far the stand-out feature of our App is the ability to offer a personalised experience for each and every one of our customers. Whether you reside in Melbourne where our bricks and mortar store is located, or anywhere in the world, you can enjoy a virtual tour of our shop floor and chat to like-minded crystal lovers.
From interior styling advice to educating customers about crystals, their origins, how they’re sourced and about their impact on wellness and mindfulness, customers can watch and shop crystals from the comfort of their couch.
Ultimately, the App allows us to provide the same level of personal customer service to everyone.
How often do you run the live sales and where can we download the App from?
We run virtual live sales every day of the week, spanning between two to four hours. Customer can tune in and out at their leisure and the experience for both staff and customers feels more like a virtual hang-out with a group of friends.
Whether you’re a crystal lover, looking for your next home decor statement piece or just want to join a friendly and welcoming online community, we invite you to download our App from the App Store or Google Play. Search ‘Stoned Crystals’ and check the schedule for our next live-streamed show.
