I know what I want for Mother’s Day: a bath. Actually, not just a bath, but a bath experience at home and some me time to really enjoy it. Know any other moms who could use this? Check out these Mother’s Day gift ideas for the spa and tub loving mom (read: every mom).

Ritual bathing has been around for thousands of years and rightly so.  There is something so incredibly luxurious about slipping into a body of water.  Soaking in warm water actually triggers the dilation of blood vessels allowing muscles to relax and release tension.  The other component of the ritual bath is more enigmatic; a cleansing of energy and spirit. It is a way to release stress and encourage some quiet relaxation in order to be fresh for a new experience.

This Mother’s Day why not give mom a gift of time to herself by preparing a bath ritual for her? Here are our top picks for Mother’s Day gift ideas truly embody the art and ritual of relaxation.

Begin with the environment.

Make sure the bathroom is clean and free of clutter. Make it sparkle. She will find that a gift in and of itself!

Set the mood

Light some candles – I first discovered Big Dipper Wax works candles at Whole Foods.  They are made of 100 percent beeswax, which has a lovely sweet honey smell on it’s own. Big Dipper Candles also come in ten blends that are created with pure essential oils. Aromatherapy candles can set the mood whether mom needs to relax (lavender) or energize (lemongrass and grapefruit). I always travel with one of Big Dipper’s candles in a convenient tin, the ylang ylang and tangerine combo is my favorite.

 Prepare the skin

Before getting into the bath, have mom take a warm shower and thoroughly exfoliate the skin. Clairvoyant Beauty’s Blue green Algae Body Polish contains a super-moisturizing blend of shea and cocoa butters, almond and avocado oils, as well as sea salt to gently smooth skin while delivering essential moisture. (Encourage mom to spend a little extra time on elbows ankles and knees). I love that the founder’s grandmother was the inspiration for this line!

Fill the tub, and have mom pick one of the 5 herbal bath formulas from Kneipp, Revive 5 Herbal Bath Collection that best suits her needs. These highly concentrated oils combine with the soothing powers of water to create a spa like atmosphere. Choose to awaken vitality with rosemary, and for deep sleep use valerian and hops; may chang and lemon creates an uplifting experience; juniper is great to sooth muscles; and almond blossom softens the skin. Each bottle contains enough for 1-2 baths.

Set a glass of cold water with lemon near the tub so mom can sip while she soaks.

And don’t forget to leave a clean towel with a bottle of Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil, for mom to use after her bath.  I used this light sweet almond oil blend throughout my pregnancy and still love it after my bath (ten years later).

Now turn off the phone, close the door, and let mom enjoy.

Find Fatima on Twitter @fatimaolive and on Pinterest

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top image: dennis wong

The post The Ritual of Water: Mother’s Day Gift Ideas for a Luxurious, Relaxing Home Spa appeared first on EcoSalon.

Feel good package design that hooks consumers where it matters most: in the shower.

When you found your perfect shower gel, was it love at first sniff? Probably not. When it comes to shower products – be it for cleansing your body or eradicating mildew – packaging is everything. You’d think that social responsibility starts with a good scrub down, but the eco innards are almost secondary to a product’s efficient, streamlined, biodegradable, recyclable, reusable or otherwise feel-good skin.

Take, for example, the German brand Stop the Water While Using Me!, designed by award-winning agency KOREFE. The brief was: “develop a brand for a high-quality range of cosmetics that meet the increasing requirements of an ecologically aware society and set new standards in environmental protection.” The innovation being, “the message is the brand.”

Clean black and white packaging with a casual font (Ana Regular), plus clever copy about not wasting water equals one tempting purchase. Never mind that the product range does, in fact, require water for use and that the country of origin does not actually have a water issue. It’s an international branding exercise at the source – and the package is all that counts.

Two other eco, organic or otherwise “feel good” shower products that rely on a similarly sleek sell?

Philosophy, “a brand that approaches personal care from a skin care point of view, while celebrating the beauty of the human spirit.” they also employ the use of lowercase letters, exclusively, to drive their point into your homes and bathrooms. the point being: there is no “i” in buy me.

And the Estée Lauder eco-brand Origins, founded in 1990 as a botanical treatment line designed for the environmentally conscious consumer who doesn’t mind spending $13 on a bar of bath soap. The company also owns Prescriptives and Clinique demonstrating that personal care relies not only on fabulous packaging, but on a really good name – and potential medical intervention, too.

That’s not to say that the shower and beauty products mentioned above aren’t what they portend to be, or that their core messages aren’t good for humanity. Simply consider their inclusion here as another branding exercise, one that proves eco is still a big sell and that altruism reigns when we’re at our most vulnerable: naked and dirty.

That being said, we really like this vegan, handmade, cold-pressed soap operation run out of Oregon – and their excellent packaging.

Perhaps it’s just a matter of time before Prunella gets picked up by eco-branding company extraordinaire Hain Celestial Group and marketed on the shelves of a Whole Foods near you.

The post Saving the Planet One Package At a Time? appeared first on EcoSalon.