Perfect Mother's Day gift: luxurious bath products made in Israel by Sabon
Mother's Day will be here before you know it. Hard working moms never seem to have the time to be pampered or to experience the better life they sacrificed to provide for us. A wonderful gift would be something to suspend time, take her far away -- at least in her imagination -- and to feel luxurious. So, how do you achieve that for a reasonable price? How can you duplicate the feeling of an exotic trip?
One of the fun things about staying at a luxury hotel is the exclusive, upscale toiletries that are laid out in the bathroom. Recently, I was a guest at the Hotel Efendi in Akko, Israel, a former Ottoman palace turned into a . . . palace! Decadent bathing practices have always been an important cultural tradition in the cities formerly under Ottoman rule: Turkish baths and hammans are famous the world over. In the Hotel Efendi's sumptuous bathrooms: Sabon products! I was happy to be hosted to experience the line.
Sabon the line originated in Tel Aviv, where its founders used an ancient soap recipe and incorporated locally sourced herbs and flowers. Similarly, their Dead Sea Mud Facial Mask uses the mineral rich clay found in the Dead Sea. It's creamier than most clay masks and doesn't leave a tight or burning feeling, as is often the case.
Sabon Moisturizing Facial Cream has ocean-derived nutritious ingredients like plankton and algae. It has a vegetal scent, rather like avocado. It's rich, yet not greasy or waxy; it doesn't contain any mineral oil. It definitely makes a comforting night cream!
Milky Soap in Rose Tea fragrance provides the best of all worlds: you can use it as bath foam, shower with it or use it to shave your legs. Rose Tea is a modern incarnation of the ancient fragrance: not too sweet, subtle with green notes.
Their Body Scrub uses locally sourced Dead Sea salt, as well as wholesome oils -- including rich nut oil -- along with their fragrances. You have to mix the oils with the salt with each use, as the natural ingredients separate. The salts are finely ground.
Sabon uses recyclable packaging, including glass. To that end, I suggest that you open your Milky Soap bottles and Body Scrub tubs in the kitchen at first, with perhaps a dedicated jar opener. Your wet shower hands might be too slippery to get the tops off and, well, glass is delicate.
For Mother's Day, Sabon is debuting their You Are Loved collection. The collection boxes will include limited edition products, such as specially bottled Lavender Rose bath foam, body lotion, and hand lotion, a You Are Loved Body Duo Kit, which includes Silky Body Milk Scrub and Shower Scrub scented in Delicate Jasmine, a selection of nourishing hand and nail care items, and other assorted goodies.
