How much of life is determined by our own will and how much is our destiny? 

Perhaps it is a sacred mix of both. 

For entrepreneur Brooke Anthon life is a dance between desire and surrender.

Creator of Brooke’s Body Butters and Sugar Scrubs, Brooke Anthon pours love, prayers and even Reiki into her line of skin care. With her bright blue eyes and contagious smile, it is nearly impossible not to feel a bit giggly in her presence. Her joy comes from bringing others joy and not in that fake-spiritual, superficial way. Brooke radiates sunshine that’s the real-deal: straight from her heart.  

When Brooke came to Sedona 28 years ago she declared, “Someday I will live here.”

This willful declaration could’ve set the stage for her move to Sedona. Or, perhaps it was Brooke’s surrender to grief and challenging life circumstances that spurred Sedona to welcome her with open arms. In any case, Brooke’s destiny was the spa industry, where she’d be asked to create an organic body butter that nowadays spas can’t keep on their shelves. Her desire to develop nourishing skincare products drives her to expand her brand and business. 

With some downtime in between making her ‘butters’ (as she calls them) and her work as administrator at Gateway Cottage Wellness Center, we discussed Sedona, skin and soul work. 

Kirstyn: A lot of locals are asked how they came to live in Sedona. What's your Sedona story? How did you end up here?

Brooke: Well, after raising three children and living in Utah, Idaho, and Las Vegas, my twenty-five year marriage ended. In 2014, after the divorce, I came to Sedona to meet up with a girlfriend. She said, “Why don't you come and stay with me? You need some love and tenderness. I will take care of you.” So, I packed up my car just to check out Sedona. I didn't think I would stay. When I got here, I fell in love with this place. I ended up staying. I never went back. 

Kirstyn: That's incredible. You just knew that this was your place.

Brooke: Yeah, I'm just happy to be here. I'm still learning, growing, and healing every day. It's my happy place.

Kirstyn: What do you enjoy most about working at Gateway Cottage Wellness Center?

Brooke: First of all, the employees that I work with are amazing. I love the atmosphere: the energies that everybody brings to the front desk and all the love that they share. Everybody's so caring. It's like family. I love greeting the crystals and minerals every morning. Being able to go out and hug Joy (the gigantic Quartz crystal at Gateway’s front door) fulfills my morning and gets the day started. I also love interacting with the clients and making them happy. The joy that everybody's bringing to them – I love that. 

Kirstyn: You’ve been in the spa industry for a while. What do you think drew you to this field of work?

Brooke: I love the healing aspect of the spa. It’s wonderful to see people’s success. When they come in, they may be in pain but to see them leave with hardly any pain is amazing. They might come in feeling emotionally upset, then they leave feeling relieved and lighter. Witnessing the difference of before and after makes my job that much better because I see that it's working. It’s helping people.

Kirstyn: How did you get started making body butters?

Brooke: When working with other Sedona spas, before I arrived here at Gateway, I was asked to create a body butter recipe because they didn't want to pay for an expensive product that still had chemicals in it. They wanted a body butter that was organic and allergen-free. So, I started experimenting. It took me a while to get the right texture because the spa that I was making it for wanted it to be like whipped cream, light and fluffy, and something that would melt the minute it touched your skin. So, I went to work and it took a while but once I got it going I just fell in love with doing it.  

Kirstyn: Had you been making body butters before this?

Brooke: No, never before in my life. I just did it because they asked me if I'd be interested. I’d been a doTERRA member for over 10 years and loved the 100% pure essential oils. So I just messed around, played with it, and fell in love with the idea. 

Kirstyn: What are some of the benefits of your body butter?

Brooke: First of all, you only need a tiny amount and it spreads easily, so one body butter can last a long time. I have people using it to repair and maintain healthy skin. I have a client that uses it for for eczema. It's a great moisturizer, of course, and helps with scars and bruising. I have another client that uses it as conditioner for her dry hair. It leaves her hair feeling soft and it doesn't look greasy. I have testimonials from women who have used it for their pregnancy and they haven’t had one stretch mark. One woman had twins and she has zero stretch marks! 

Kirstyn: Wow!

Brooke: I wish I had it back when I was having children [laughs]. I wish I invented it years ago. And the fact that it's organic and healthy makes it amazing too.

Kirstyn: Tell me about your sugar scrub. 

Brooke: We all have dead skin and it's very important to exfoliate. I recommend exfoliating at least once or twice a month. I do it twice a week!  When I’m in the shower, I exfoliate with my sugar scrub. The great thing is the scrub is just as moisturizing as the body butter. 

Kirstyn: How did you come up with the different scents? There's a cupcake body butter that I love. It really smells like a cupcake. 

Brooke: Basically DoTERRA has a chart and you can mix different blends together to make a different scent. For instance, I have one [product] called Serenity that has bergamot, geranium and palmarosa and the scent is really soothing. It's a light, floral scent. Balance has orange and clove in there to give it a little zest.
 

Kirstyn: Do you have any plans to make any new products?

Brooke: Yes, I do. I want to experiment and make an organic face cream with all the things that our skin needs to rejuvenate our skin cells. 

Kirstyn: What blows my mind about your story is that it seems so serendipitous that a spa would ask you to make a product for their massage therapists to use during their sessions, and now, you’ve built and grown your own business as a result. Where do you think your creativity and craftiness to develop your products came from? 

Brooke: Back in high school I took science and I was intrigued by all of the different chemistries of things, mixing things together and making a potion. Plus, I'm really into arts and crafts. Get out the glue gun and I'll make something! I also make acrylic art. I actually didn't have anything to do with art until 10 years ago. This is all new for me. Working full time and raising three children was my whole life. So now that my kids are grown, I have free time to experiment with all this creativity that has probably been there the whole time but I've never been able to tap into. 

Kirstyn: Would you say that making body butters and scrubs is your soul work?

Brooke: Yeah, for sure and the same goes for acrylic painting. You just get into your own little zen and it's a therapeutic thing for me. It takes me out of the real world and into my fun, creative world. It's relaxing. Knowing that I'm putting my love into it, doing something that I love, makes it special.

Kirstyn: What inspires you?

Brooke: I get inspired when people say, “I love your butters. I love your art. Can you make some for me?” And I’ll customize it. It inspires me knowing that people love my work. So I'm like okay, let's play, let's make something else, let's try this. That's why I'm excited about doing the face cream. 

Kirstyn: What's your favorite spot or thing to do in Sedona?

Brooke: I feel like I'm living in a postcard. I'm so blessed to be here. Sedona has healed me in many ways. Just going out and meditating, watching the sunset, being grateful for everything that I have in life – that’s my favorite thing to do.

If you are interested in ordering Brooke’s Body Butter or Sugar Scrub, please call or text 801-440-1918.

Story by: Kirstyn Lazur 

Kirstyn Lazur is the author of I Was Cursed in Connecticut, a memoir that recounts her unique and supernatural journey after the death of her mother. Her book is available through Amazon and Gateway Cottage Wellness Center’s online store.