Over the weekend, I harvested sagebrush on a friend’s property at the base of the Lost River Range in Idaho. This impressive stretch of the Rocky Mountains is home to 8 of Idaho’s 10 highest peaks—the tallest being Mount Borah, which climbs to 12,662 feet and towers over my friend’s sagebrush-dappled acreage.

I summited Borah in 2017, which was around the time I started to think seriously about what it would take to grow Anthea Skincare into a full-time endeavor. I started this company in 2013, enjoying it initially as a side project and creative outlet. But over the years, as I honed my skills as a formulator and deepened my knowledge of the myriad benefits of Idaho’s native botanicals, Anthea began to take on a new, more formidable form. I saw the company’s potential to fully bloom, and remember telling my climbing partners that day on Borah that someday I would quit my day job and make Anthea my life’s work.

Now, returning to Mount Borah five years later to harvest sagebrush for Anthea’s Sage Simple Cream, that conversation came rushing back to me. I realized with elation that I had finally made that dream a reality.

I processed the sagebrush on-site, setting up my distiller on the front porch of my friend’s cabin in full view of the Lost River Range. A thunder storm rolled in over the jagged peaks as sagebrush essential oil and hydrosol began to trickle from my still. Rain cooled the evening air, and I was overcome with gratitude for the opportunity to work with this beautiful plant and offer it to you.

Sage Simple Cream is the first formula I ever made, and it remains my most personally treasured creation. The clean, herbaceous scent of sagebrush is reminiscent of a walk through the high desert after a thunderstorm. It is at once grounding and uplifting, invigorating and calming. Sagebrush contains camphor and a number of other beneficial constituents—it is tonifying, analgesic, antimicrobial and antiseptic. When applied topically, sagebrush oil helps energize and soothe the skin, keeps blemishes at bay and helps maintain a healthy balance of oil production.

Sometimes called the Sagebrush Sea for its seafoam green color and impressive biodiversity (it is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet), the sagebrush steppe can only be found in the North American West. It is truly special. It is also a deeply imperiled ecosystem, threatened by oil and gas drilling and other industrial developments. As part of my commitment to environmental sustainability, I donate 10% of all Sage Simple Cream sales to Advocates for the West—a nonprofit environmental law firm that fights to protect the West’s public lands and wildlife.

When you open a jar of Sage Simple Cream, know that the fresh, invigorating scent is coming to you directly from the majestic Sagebrush Sea of Idaho’s high desert—and that your purchase is helping save this unique ecosystem for generations to come.

Bloom,

Anna Demetriades
Botanical Alchemist

Harvesting Sagebrush in the Lost River Range