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Give The Gift Of Homemade Relaxation

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By MARCIA BIGGS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

Is the stress of the holiday season starting to get to you?

It's probably taking a toll on your friends and loved ones, too.

Everyone could use a gentle massage, some healing aromatherapy, a hot soak in a tub with some soft music to unwind. So why not give the gift of relaxation for Christmas? Make-at-home spa gifts with natural ingredients are easy and fun to create. And the personal touch you add will make it a real gift from the heart.

Consider soothing bath salts and oils scented in lavender, rose or vanilla. Exfoliating scrubs for feet and hands can be made with salt or sugar and a number of butters and oils. Bath pouches filled with herbs or oatmeal will relieve sunburn or steam stress away.

To create your gift, start with a container. Baskets need not be the typical wicker variety, although there are many shapes and sizes to choose from. Get creative and opt for a pretty glazed ceramic flower pot or a decorative cookie tin.

Elaine Roberts, a Tampa-based aromatherapist and skin-care specialist, suggests presenting travel-size containers in a large coffee mug or small soup bowl.

"This way the gift does double-duty," says Roberts, who has developed er aromatherapy, her own line of natural body care products. "Just wrap it in colored cellophane and tie with a raffia ribbon. "

Small cosmetic cases work well, too.

"They can be used for trial-size soaps, gels or lotions," Roberts says. "Just add some colorful packaging grass and a ribbon, and you're good to go."

Thrift stores and dollar stores can be gold mines for baskets and containers. You also can pick up some small scented candles (soy are the best), loofahs, net shower scrunchees and other bath items.

Ideally, you'll want colored glass jars with tight-fitting lids for your bath products, but clear jars will work, too.

Next, gather your ingredients. Most can be found in natural food stores.

Shea butter, sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oils and cocoa butter are excellent for replacing the skin's own oils. Epsom salts and Dead Sea salts are best for soaking. Roberts prefers coconut oil, grapeseed oil (it's the lightest) and Dead Sea salts for many of her products.

"The Dead Sea salts are the best for bath soaks," she says. "They come from 1,300 feet below sea level, so they contain nearly 10 times the mineral content of other salts."

Essential oils are a must for infusing aroma and healing properties into your bath products. These highly concentrated oils derived from leaves, roots, fruit peels and flower petals contain potent natural compounds that can be used as medicine, for beauty and pampering, and for perfumes and aromatherapy.

Although there are hundreds of oils, the four used most often to create natural spa treatments and healthy home recipes are lavender (calming), lemon (uplifting), eucalyptus (revitalizing) and peppermint (invigorating).

Mix a few drops of essential oil in unscented lotion or gels and bath salts to add fragrance.

Don't forget to add a small candle to your gift basket.

"Pine, fir, or any 'green' scent is always a good clean candle for the bath," Roberts says. "Lavender, orange, lemon or eucalyptus are all good for relaxation baths, even though citrus is an uplifter."

Roberts of er aromatherapy offers the following holiday gift idea. Dried lavender and rose petals look lovely mixed in with bath salts. Present with a clean seashell to use as a scoop.

Bath Salt Mug Gift

1 oversized coffee mug or small soup bowl

1½ cups Dead Sea salt or Epsom salt

Dried lavender leaves or chamomile loose leaf tea

Essential oils (your choice)

Place salt in mug or bowl and add sprinkles of dried lavender leaves or chamomile loose-leaf tea for color. Add 15 drops total of lavender, clary sage and lemon essential oils for relaxation, or 10 drops total of peppermint, rosemary and orange essential oils for invigoration.

Blend thoroughly.

Set mug on square of cellophane wrap and fold all four sides up; tie with matching raffia ribbon.

Green-Papaya Brightening Mask

1/2 cup unripe papaya, diced

1 teaspoon plain yogurt

1 teaspoon honey

Blend ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Store in small jar with tight-fitting lid.

Note for gift card: Keep refrigerated until use. Apply to clean skin using fingers; leave on for 8 to 10 minutes. Rinse off using cool water and pat dry. Finish by applying a gentle moisturizer.

Source: marthastewartliving.com

Brown Sugar Body Polish

1 (3-inch) vanilla bean

11/3 cups lightly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup oil (sweet almond, avocado, apricot, jojoba, grapeseed, light olive oil, sunflower, safflower or a blend of these)

1 tablespoon vitamin E oil

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Place vanilla bean in decorative 12-ounce container with tight lid. Set aside.

Stir sugar, oils and spice mix together in mixing bowl. Pack mixture into decorative container.

Attach a gift card with the following instructions: For smooth skin that glows, apply this well-stirred scrub to moist skin and gently exfoliate with circular motion. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. This scrub is not intended for facial use.

Source: recipegoldmine.com

This herbal bath blend, made for steeping in lukewarm or cool water, is full of ingredients that will help relieve a sunburn or rash. Oats soothe itchy, peeling skin, and the fat in whole-milk powder moisturizes as its lactic acid gently exfoliates. Green-tea leaves and lavender essential oil soothe sunburn, while peppermint oil provides a cooling sensation.

Cooling Bath Pouches

1 cup oats, finely ground in a food processor

1/2 cup whole-milk powder

4 teaspoons green-tea leaves

15 drops lavender essential oil

5 drops peppermint essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; blend thoroughly using a fork. Using a tablespoon, fill several small muslin pouches with the bath blend. (Depending on the size of the pouches, this recipe makes enough for 3 to 4 baths.)

Tighten and secure the pouch strings with a tight knot. Or make your own bath pouch: Place several tablespoons of the bath blend in the center of an 8-inch square of muslin cloth. Gather the sides, and close the pouch using ribbon or twine. Store cloth bath pouches in a closed container (such as a Mason jar) until ready to use, up to 2 weeks.

Add a card with these instructions: To prepare a bath, place the pouch in the tub, and fill with lukewarm water. Allow the herbs to steep and the water to cool for about 15 minutes before entering the tub. As you soak, you can use the wet bath pouch as a soothing compress for sunburned skin. Soak for 10 to 20 minutes; rinse with cool water, and gently pat skin dry.

Dry Skin Bath Oil

1 ounce bottle

1/2 ounce avocado oil

1/2 ounce evening primrose oil

6 drops rose geranium essential oil

3 drops lavender essential oil

2 drops chamomile oil

Fill bottle halfway with grapeseed oil. Add essential oils, cap bottle and shake well. Top off with half-ounce of evening primrose oil and shake again.

Note for gift card: Empty bottle into warm running bath water and soak for 10-20 minutes.

Source: Marthastewartliving.com

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