On letting go. . . Last batch of Vanilla Healing Cream.
Anthea is my creative expression of self—the channel through which I distill my passion for the natural world into an offering I can share with you. It is my deepest honor to alchemize native Idaho botanicals into beautiful products that offer sensorial ways to find joy in the beauty that is within and around you. When this process ceases to feel like magic, I know it is time to pay attention.
We have loved the delicate vanilla orchid to an unsustainable level of demand. The vanilla plantations of Madagascar and Tahiti are suffering the consequences of our desire for more and more natural vanilla products, and severe weather caused by climate change is wreaking havoc on these precious plantations and their dedicated stewards. For all the dermal and aromatherapeutic benefits this exotic tropical beauty holds, ethically I can no longer justify offering Vanilla Healing Cream in the Anthea line.
I built this company to honor the myriad dermatological benefits of native Rocky Mountain botanicals. The real magic of Vanilla Healing Cream lies in its infusion of wild Lomatium dissectum root resin, which I wild harvest each autumn in the mountains above Idaho’s Salmon River. But this plant, too, is in distress. The delicate ecosystem in which Lomatium thrives is drying out and burning up—again, due to climate change. The last time I visited my favorite patch of Lomatium root, I could feel that the plants needed a rest. I decided not to dig any roots that fall—the colony needed every member to remain in-ground to propagate another season.
I have been saving the last of my Lomatium-infused organic sunflower oil and vanilla essential oil, delaying the inevitable. But now, here it is—the final batch of Vanilla Healing Cream. I know many of you are dedicated devotees of this rich, nourishing cream. For those who would like to stock up, I am offering 20% off when you purchase 2 or more jars with the code: VANILLA20.
While I am letting go of Vanilla Healing Cream, I am hopeful that Lomatium dissectum populations will replenish and Anthea can once again offer a cream containing its tremendous healing properties. I had an abundant and profound harvest experience in 2021 (read about it here), and I believe in this robust plant’s ability to rebound. You will be the first to know when this beautiful botanical returns to the Anthea line.
Thank you for embarking on this journey of botanical alchemy with me. Every time you purchase an Anthea product, you are honoring nature and yourself—and joining me in my passion for protecting and celebrating the bounty of our natural world.