ESPA The Little Box of Calm

Feeling a little frazzled? Partied too hard last night? Has the working week just been a bit too much? You could do with a little box of calm to sooth your senses and gently bring you back to a more zen like state.

I picked out The Little Box of Calm as the perfect little pampering pick me up gift to myself. Who doesn’t need a good long soak at the end of the working week or a blog post writing marathon? The Little Box of Calm contains the restorative bath oil and the restorative body oil, both in 15ml oh so classy glass bottles that look far too pretty on the bathroom counter. They also come so well presented in their cute little purple box that they make the perfect gift for someone else too – I’m a sucker for ESPAs gift packaging!

I took the set along with me when I stayed at Liverpools Malmaison boutique hotel a couple of weeks ago. I knew our room would have a huge, spa sized bath so I wanted to take along some of my favourite spa goodies and have a right ol pampering session, it would have been rude not to that’s for sure!

Restorative Bath Oil

The bath oil is designed to give you the biggest, warmest hug you could ever get in a bath tub. Comforting, rebalancing and so soothing, you can’t help but be calmed and uplifted – and that’s before you even get in the bath! The bathroom smelt amazing, with hints of ylang ylang and sandalwood. I filled the bath up then added half a bottle of the bath oil as it instructed me to.

The one downside to bath oils is there are no bubbles and a bath that big would have looked like the tub out of Curly Sue! (Who remembers that film?) There’s something a little less luxurious about a big bath with no bubbles, but not to be deterred I swished the water around and got myself in there.

The bath oil is heavily scented and laying back in the bath I could feel the vapors going up my nose and relaxing me from the inside out. Yes, I was missing the bubbles, the bath really wasn’t much to look at, but it smelt so good and the water did seem to have a slight sheen across the top of it. I was so relaxed I could feel myself drifting off, it instantly cleared my head and soothed me from top to toe.

Restorative Body Oil

After reluctantly getting out of the bath I patted myself dry with a big fuffly towel and took a few deep, calming breathes, I felt pretty amazing, like I’d just awoken from a good nights sleep (which I hadn’t actually had the night before!). With my skin still warm and slightly damp from the bath, I started to apply the oil.

Working in circular motions from my feet, upwards to my heart, I smoothed the oil onto my skin. The oil itself smells exactly like the bath oil but with a stronger kick which won’t be for everyone. It has a thicker consistency too so feels a little greasy at first until it has soaked in. It didn’t take too long to soak in but I wasn’t really in a rush – I would hand on heart recommend you use these types of products when you have time. There’s nothing calming about rushing a pampering session!

My skin already felt really soft from the bath, but the oil doubled that softness ten fold. The scent did become a little over powering once I was all oiled up, so you’ve really got to like the scent to use both products at the same time! It did wear of after an hour or so and was much lighter after that.

Now, I have a feeling that you can no longer buy this little gift set, I had to reach out to ESPA when I wanted to purchase one and they said they only had a few left in stock. The little info card in the box has snowflakes on so I’m guessing these are from their Christmas line so keep an eye out as the holiday season approaches! These would make the perfect gift for someone you know who could do with a little more me time!

Do you prefer bath oils or bubble bath? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,