Bath and Body Deals

Here are some coupons and deals that will help you relax even if you're trying to be a frugalista:

• L'Occitane's Summer Sale starts today. There are some great items that are up to 50% off and there is free shipping on orders over $80. Might be time to stock up!
• Aveda is focusing on the dads. You can get free 2nd day shipping (in time for Father's Day) with the code DADFREE2ND. (I won't tell anyone if you use the code to buy something for yourself.)
• Makeup and Beauty Blog just reviewed Jouer Bath and Body Oil and Body Butter. If you buy both, you can get a free candle. I haven't tried these products out, but I may have to soon.
• This week at Sephora, you can get Basil Lemon Body Scrub for $8.50. That's half off!
• You can get a free Coconut Foot Cream from Burt's Bees if you make a purchase of $35 or more. Great for sandal season.

If you know of any great deals that I've missed, let me know. Happy bargain hunting!

Hamman: A Turkish (or French or Moroccan) Delight

 O'Kari Hammam

While playing around on the Internets the other day, I came across this post at Hip Paris Blog about Paris’ Hammam Scene. Turns out hammam are traditional North African or Turkish steam baths.

According to SpaFinder, 2010 is the year of the hamman (I've also seen it spelled haman). Basically, these are public baths (men and women bathe separately) that include a massage and exfoliation.

I'm not sure how I feel about public baths, and they don't seem to have caught on in the U.S. yet. But it sounds like they are a more economical and less chi-chi way to get a nice steam and massage. What do you think? Would you try out a hammam during your travels?

Share the Spa

Here are some relaxing links to help you get the week started out right:

1. All Lacquered Up recently visited Isola Day Spa at Put-in-Bay, OH.

2. The Beauty Counter blogs about Lafco's new House & Home candles, which have been designed to complement specific rooms in your house. I really want the Geranium Mint for the patio and the Grass for the laundry room. OK, really I want them all.

What I'm Using Now

This is my monthly update on the bath and body products I'm currently using:

1. L'Occitane Organic Lavender Gel: I have no idea how to pronounce L'Occitane, but I'm a sucker for anything French and anything lavender. So this works on both counts. My sister gave this to me for my birthday (OK, I told her to get it for me), but I think it's a great gift because it is simultaneously practical and luxurious. The scent is great, and it definitely does the job. Not super moisturizing though.



2. Aveda Foot Relief: This foot lotion is great because it moisturizes, exfoliates and deodorizes all at the same time. (Not that my feet need deodorizing! OK, maybe a little bit.) I am a strong believer that every day should end with exfoliation of the feet. This will really help you stretch out the time between pedicures.



3. Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Grapeseed Oil Hand Creme: I picked this up at my campus bookstore one winter's day when my hands were crying out for some lotion. This lotion works in a pinch, but I can't say it's my favorite. It's OK in the moisturizing department, but the honey fragrance is pretty strong. I don't hate honey, but I just don't want to be smelling it all day long (unlike lavender, see above). Also, my biggest gripe about this lotion is that there is no SPF. Hand lotion must have SPF people! Do you want to walk around with brown spots all over your perfectly manicured paws? I think not. Unfortunately I'm too cheap to just throw this away. By next month I hope to have a nice SPF product to share with you.



4. Aveeno Stress Relief Foaming Bath:You had to know I would be all over this lavender bath soak. But unfortunately it also contains chamomile and ylang-ylang oils. And something (I'm blaming the ylang-ylang) is overpowering the lavender. The first time I used this I decided I hated the scent. I tried again and it started to grow on me. But I doubt I will purchase this again. It does foam up nicely and it's not too drying, but I wouldn't say it's very moisturizing either. With the humidity in these parts, which is already out of control (people, it's only June!), I think this will work for me for now.


5. Olay Quench Advanced Healing Body Lotion: This lotion is a real workhorse. It's moisturizing without being greasy. And it smells like . . . nothing! That's exactly what I want in an everyday body lotion. No crazy scents clashing with my shower gel and/or perfume. I just wish it was in a cooler bottle since I have to have some next to my bed at all times.
So that's it! My go to products for now. What about you? Do you like (or hate) any of these? What have you been using lately to keep clean and supple?

Recommendations Needed for Spa in New Orleans

My sister is headed to New Orleans and is looking for advice about at a nice spa there. I don't really have any, so please respond in the comments if you know of one.

Here are a few that look promising:

Travel and Leisure magazine calls the Belladonna Day Spa one of the 10 coziest spas in the U.S. (Note to self: visit all of these spas.)

They also mention the Ritz-Carlton Spa in an article about spas that use local ingredients. (I hope that means they serve Hurricanes.)

And the Guerlain Spa in the Roosevelt Hotel also looks promising.

Hope you have a relaxing trip!

The Irony That is the Gaim Living Catalog

So the Gaim Living catalog came in the mail the other day and on the front it says "earth day, savings and solutions." I'm pretty sure the best solution for the Earth is not to print and send catalogs and not to buy a bunch of stuff.

But now that I've gotten that off my chest, there was plenty of stuff in the catalog I wanted. Here are a couple of items that will help the Earth (or at least make me happy).

This solar buddha fountain costs a pretty penny, but wouldn't it make me feel so peaceful when I saw it in my yard?


Again, this rattan meditation chair is way out of my price range, but I just know it would help me maintain a regular mediation practice.

If you too can embrace the irony, then you can sign up right now for a $500 Gaiam Shopping Spree.

Occasional Randomness:Great post at mnmlist: the only thing you can change.

Best Health Book Ever: Live a Little!

I blogged about this book awhile back when it was mentioned on the New York Times Web site. The thesis of the book sounded pretty good to me, but now that I've had a chance to actually read the book I have to say that I think that every woman (men too, but it is definitely slanted to a female audience) should read this book.

The authors, both doctors make the case that what most of us really want is to be "Pretty Healthy." And if you know the basics about living a healthy life style and are trying to do these thing, (you shouldn't smoke, you should do regular exercise, eat a variety of foods, etc.) then you are probably Pretty Healthy.

They go on to argue, that those of us who become obsessed (not that I would ever do that) with all of the health information floating around are probably making ourselves unnecessarily stressed out. They talk in detail about various diet and exercise studies and why many of them are inconclusive (despite the media hype).

In this book, Drs. Susan M. Love and Alice D. Domar offer some practical advice (backed up by research) about the range of activities that will (probably) lead to good health. And they make the very valid point, that we are all going to die (even if we run marathons and eat wheat germ every day). So why not just Live a Little!
Daily Randomness: Good post on mnmilst about not buying an iPad. Main point: I don't need one.