Soap to the Rescue!

As a Mom, I’m always trying to find a cheap way to pamper myself. I’ve never been a big fan of manicures or pedicures (hey, if someone else is paying, I’m all in). It’s a luxury that does nothing for me. I don’t like people messing with my feet. Probably because my feet are so dry and cracked you could find Paleozoic fossils buried in my heels. Not to mention, whenever I go to get a pedicure (like, in 1998), as soon as I roll up my pants I realize, “Ugh! I forgot to shave my legs!” Having women massage your legs with several weeks worth of hair growth -- that, my friends, is so gross. And when you are one genetic link away from being a cousin of Sasquatch, it’s even worse. And why spend $25 on a manicure when the first time you wash dishes and clean the kitchen after dinner they are chipped and mangled.

My private time seems to be limited to the 10 minutes or so I get when I use the shower during the morning. The most effective and cost efficient form of pampering for me is a new bar of soap. So simple. I love unwrapping (or un boxing, as the case may be) a new bar of soap. I love their perfect, unused, smooth shape. I love breathing in the enriching aroma. My soap is sacred. Kids and hubbie are forbidden to use it. They can wash themselves with the multi-pack bars of Ivory.

My go to brand of soap is Dove Go Fresh. Their Grapefruit and Lemongrass line is my favorite, but a close second is Cucumber and Green Tea. They’ve recently introduced a “peach” scent, but I opened a new box this morning and hate it. It smells like really cheap peach jam. The other two scents are refreshing and, as the marketing slogan implies, Energizing! I think you can get a three pack for roughly $3. And they always have coupons in the newspaper for a $1 off. Makes for a fairly inexpensive spa treatment.

My higher end favorites are Kiss My Face Olive and Lavender bar soap and Mrs. Meyer’s All Purpose bar soap. I have lavender growing in my garden, so it’s a favorite perennial scent. Kiss My Face soap works up a glorious lather. And if you get the 8oz bar, it lasts forever. Kiss My Face is available at most high end grocery stores (Whole Foods) and retailers (I think you can get it at Target?). Mrs. Meyers is a recent addition to my collection of spa soaps. I use the home cleaning products regularly, but have never tried their personal products, because they are not carried at my retailer. On Earth Day, they offered free shipping via the Internet, so I placed an order for items I either can’t find or don’t normally use. I ordered two bars of soap (lavender and geranium) – and they are both heavenly. Again, the lather is splendid – like bathing with marshmallow cream (without being sticky!). I opened the lavender bar the day it arrived (in May) and I’m still using it. Kiss My Face and Mrs. Meyers both cost about $4.99 a bar. But they last forever and are far cheaper than a manicure!

My final indulgence isn’t soap, but equally important to my pampering repertoire. Burt’s Bees makes a fantastic French clay mask that I use weekly. It makes me look like a character out of Land of the Lost – but it’s well worth the temporary ugliness.

So, my spa regiment is cheap and satisfying and I don’t have to have a strange women looking at my legs and feet to enjoy it!