Home Spa Products
Put a new twist on indulgence.
Indulgence is possible inside your own house. Luxury is available without leaving your bathroom. A recent offering of home spa kits entices consumers to pamper themselves by bringing the spa home every day. The products, which fall into categories of bath and body spa products, foot care and nail accessories, put a new twist on caring for yourself.
Fresh and Fanciful
Take Get Fresh, for example. The fresh natural products are packaged with a whimsical flair. Designed with vibrant colors and bold graphics, they are emblazoned with fun and funky names, such as those of the foot products: "Knock Your Socks Off" lemongrass deodorizing foot spray; "Poor Soles" lemon grass moisture stick; "Rescue Me" intensive foot repair creme; and "Down 'N Dirty" foot scrub.
"Get Fresh is about good ingredients on the inside but interesting, aesthetically pleasing, whimsical stuff on the outside. The whimsical is very important to us," explains Jacquelyn Overcash, president and creative director of the three-year-old Santa Monica, CA, beauty firm. She runs the company with her husband, Jim Palladino.
"At Get Fresh, we all have a hand in the names of products. It's a kind of a group effort," she explains. Overcash, who was the director of merchandising for Victoria's Secret catalog, says her previous work experience gave her the business savvy to find packagers to meet her specialized needs. "I shopped the packaging trade shows, but a lot of what we do is custom. I source the packaging in Asia because I am familiar with the market. Although I did not do bath and beauty for Victoria's Secret, once you know how to deal with the Asian market, it [the market] is actually very small."
Overcash explains that her company needed a small number of custom items in the beginning. "It is very difficult for someone small who is starting out to do something different because even with upcharges none of the companies want to do interesting packaging for under 25,000 units," she said. "I was forced to explore other options."
The products are catching on with stars like Drew Barrymore, Gwneyth Paltrow and Ben Affleck, as well as consumers across the country. The company's new SpaRx Dead Sea body treatment line boasts beautiful clear glass bottles with white aluminum twist-off caps. An illustration of a woman in a bathtub with her head wrapped in a towel adorns the front of the bottle. The line includes mineral bath treatments, body scrubs (Salt Scrub Souffle) and a mask and body wash all in one (Soy Body Facial).
"Get Fresh products are definitely an indulgence, they are about a healthy mind, healthy body connection," Overcash says. "They are definitely for the person who is affected by the little things in [her] life, and for those who want the minimal amount of preservatives."
Getting Philosophical
Philosophy, New York, NY, is no stranger to imaginative word play with its products. Staples of the line include cleverly named products such as "Hope in a Jar" skin care and "It's All in Your Head" shampoo. "
For $42.50 consumers can become a philosophy devotee from head to toe," says Beth Berdofe, Philosophy spokesperson. "The 'Miracle Worker' is a collection of products that truly do work miracles for the miracle worker in your life."
Philosophy's best-selling features sample size products in a tin "lunchbox." The Miracle Worker home spa line gets a new look for the season with a purple box replacing the silver one.
Gorgeous and Glowing
The Ultimate Body Glo Kit, from Essentiel Elements Spathecary, San Francisco, CA, helps gently polish away dry cells, leaving skin feeling soft, supple and nourished.
The collection includes a 25oz. Sea Salt Scrub packaged in a frost glass container with spring-action lid, 4.5oz. shower gel in an opaque plastic tube, a lotion packet, a body brush and a stainless steel shower caddy. The home spa is available in four scents: Citrus Dream, Wake Up Rosemary, Joie de Lavender and Fleur d'amour.
Pacific Rim Relaxation
The Traditional Japanese Bath Kit is the newest spa product from the Jaqua Girls, Santa Barbara, CA. This kit encapsulates the essence of the Japanese bath experience.
An instruction booklet provides the history of the Japanese bath. Bath salts, seaweed soap, bamboo soap dish, floating candles and incense are included in the kit. A Japanese bamboo bath ladle (to rinse the body) is included as well as a natural body brush and minerals salts. This serene gift in a can retails for about $35.
Other Jaqua Girls products include the Beauty Parlor Night Kit. Housed in a gallon paint can, the beauty parlor night kit contains natural, botanical, spa-quality ingredients for up to six people. Nail Voodoo Kit is another pampering product housed in a can. This smaller kit, which retails for $20, is good for up to four people and contains ingredients for both manicures and pedicures.
Traveling Spa
The Gilden Tree Home Spa Footbath Kit goes wherever you go. The contents of the portable kit are encased in a retro aluminum box that even comes with an inflatable footbath. It also contains a terra cotta footscrubber, foot cream, foot cleansing gel and 10 foot soak tablets. Three signature scents are available including lavender and tea tree, wintergreen peppermint and lemon verveine.
Lucky Lady
The Lucky Chick line of spa products was designed with the idea that gift giving should be a pleasure for the giver as well as the receiver.
This line of gifts-to-go requires no wrapping or additional boxes. It features bright, whimsical drawings that address the needs of a particular "Lucky Chick." They fall into three categories: Lucky Chick Classic, Blushing Bride and Sole Survivor.
Each box is designed to pamper and include body products with natural oils and fun bath accessories (retails for about $30.00.)