{"id":36944,"date":"2015-07-10T06:14:31","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T10:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.pro\/?p=36944"},"modified":"2016-03-10T10:53:08","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T15:53:08","slug":"gift-lab-spa-experience-tin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/2015\/gift-lab-spa-experience-tin\/","title":{"rendered":"Gift Lab: Creating the Spa Experience at Home and On the Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gift<\/a><\/p>\n

Product:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Spa Experience Tin<\/a><\/p>\n

Research:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember that bit from My Big Fat Greek Wedding<\/a> where the patriarch of the family insists that Windex is the cure-all for everything<\/a>, from pimples to mysterious rashes? All you ever have to do, he says, is \u201cput some Windex on it!\u201d I\u2019m kind of like that with tea tree oil<\/a>. I never travel without it.<\/p>\n

I am fascinated by natural beauty regimes. I love experimenting with DIY body scrubs and lotions, and learning about alternative beauty trends like the \u201cno-poo method<\/a>.\u201d Unfortunately, I don’t always have the time\u00a0to make my own products, and\u00a0truly natural beauty products can\u00a0be outrageously expensive. So when I first noticed the well-priced Spa Experience Tin<\/a> in our assortment, I knew I had to check it out. I jumped at the chance to relay my\u00a0spa experience for the\u00a0blog.<\/p>\n

Before trying out any new products, I\u2019ve become much more conscious about looking up the ingredients first. (Especially because I’ll\u00a0probably always be worried about the effects of my\u00a0Lip Smackers chapstick<\/a>\u00a0addiction during my youth.) I\u2019ve definitely fallen victim to \u201cgreenwashing<\/a>\u201d in the past, purchasing \u201call-natural\u201d products only to discover that their ingredients looks like a chemistry\u00a0experiment, with one or two organic ingredients mixed in for good measure. I was pleased to see that this handmade collection is assembled by 1818 Farms<\/a>, an idyllic farm in Mooresville, Alabama. But I still wasn\u2019t convinced that these handmade products would meet\u00a0my standards until I saw this short list of recognizable\u00a0ingredients for each product:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lavender Goat’s Milk Bath Tea<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingredients: powdered goats milk, pink Himalayan bath salts, cocoa butter.<\/p>\n

Bath Truffle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingredients: cocoa butter, kaolin clay, fragrance.<\/p>\n

Wedding Cake whipped Shea Creme\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingredients: shea butter, coconut oil, fragrance.<\/p>\n

Hint of Mint Lip Balm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingredients: beeswax, coconut oil, grape seed oil, shea butter, Vitamin E oil, spearmint essential oil, and rosemary essential oil.<\/p>\n

This had me wondering – What is in my latest “all natural” lotion?<\/p>\n

\"Gift<\/a><\/p>\n

Try saying all of that five times fast!<\/em><\/p>\n

Hypothesis:<\/strong><\/p>\n

After reading the farm-fresh ingredient list, I had high expectations for these products. I did wonder, though, if I would notice the lack of preservatives in these products, like I\u2019ve noticed with \u201cnatural\u201d sunscreens that don\u2019t apply as smoothly as the sunscreen with chemicals. Either way, I was excited to find out.<\/p>\n

Experiment:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before I dive in, let’s take a moment to talk about this beautiful presentation! Research say\u00a0that there is an art to anticipation, suggesting\u00a0that we experience just as much happiness in anticipating an experience<\/a> as we do in the actual moment of an experience. I think this is why I was so delighted by the Spa Experience Tin before I even opened it. This clean, rustic presentation made me anticipate deep relaxation. I felt like I was holding a special treat, and I couldn’t wait to open it. This experience was already off to a great start.<\/p>\n

\"Gift<\/a> \"IMG_4691_resized\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Upon opening the tin, I could immediately smell a medley of lavender, vanilla, mint and coconut. Yum! I reached for the Hint of Mint Lip Balm first.<\/p>\n

\"Gift<\/a>\"Gift<\/a><\/p>\n

The lip balm did not disappoint. True to its name, it feels minty, with a clear, smooth application. I love that it\u2019s made with a combination of essential oils and beeswax, rather than petroleum jelly, which is often a main ingredient\u00a0in chapstick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Gift<\/a><\/p>\n

Next, I tried the Wedding Cake Shea Cr\u00e8me. I couldn’t help but smile when I opened it\u00a0– it smells exactly like vanilla cake with buttercream frosting! The light consistency reminded me of whipped cream, and left my skin feeling smooth and non-greasy. This lotion is like dessert for the body. I can easily see this as a perfect treat for a bride-to-be.<\/p>\n

\"Gift<\/a>\"Gift<\/a><\/p>\n

Given that I share my bathtub with roommates in a New York City apartment, I don\u2019t have many opportunities to take long, luxurious baths. Luckily, I was in the midst of\u00a0pre-vacation\u00a0anticipation period<\/a> when I received this product. Instead of trying it at home, I decided to pack the Lavendar Goat Milk Bath Tea and the Bath Truffle in my suitcase for my trip to the west coast. I knew that it was going to be a fun but hectic journey, and that I would crave some R&R (especially since I was traveling to see one of the last\u00a0Grateful Dead concerts in Santa Clara<\/a>).\u00a0I was happy\u00a0that I had the tin to securely pack these products in my suitcase.<\/p>\n

As I expected, I was exhausted the morning after the concert. I woke up feeling very grateful that I packed the\u00a0bath products. From the purple lavender buds to the fresh scent, I felt like\u00a0the muslin bag\u00a0had just\u00a0been assembled minutes before I took it out of my suitcase.<\/p>\n

\"Gift<\/a><\/p>\n

I had never used bath tea before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Luckily, it was an\u00a0effortless process.\u00a0I tossed the bag in the warm bath and squeezed it occasionally as the tub filled. To take even more advantage of my rare bath time, I also used the Bath Truffle, made with cocoa butter and kaolin clay, which dissolved in the water right before my eyes. Though I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary to use both of these products in the same bath, I\u2019m happy I did. The bath smelled incredible, and I felt instantly refreshed and recharged when I submerged in the water. After\u00a0I got out of the bath, my skin felt butter-smooth and I felt amazing.<\/p>\n

\"Gift<\/a><\/p>\n

Anticipation is rising!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Gift<\/a><\/p>\n

I could\u00a0see the freshly-packed ingredients in the tea bag after it soaked for a few minutes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was a wonderful experience at a\u00a0great\u00a0price. I felt much more at ease\u00a0about using these products compared to other popular bath products\u00a0made with\u00a0strange preservatives. Plus, these products made for a more luxurious\u00a0experience than those from bigger brands. I would highly recommend the Spa Experience Tin<\/a> if you’re looking to emulate a budget-friendly, relaxing\u00a0experience at home or while traveling. This would also make a sweet\u00a0gift for any occasion, especially for a bride-to-be.<\/p>\n

\"Spa<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PR & Social Media Associate Jen loves using natural beauty products, but she’s often skeptical when she sees an “all natural” label. Will the Spa Experience Tin live up to her expectations?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":38358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[3,223,1670,1672],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36944"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36944"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44912,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36944\/revisions\/44912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}