The Gift of Self-Care: Why It Makes the Best Holiday Gift
The Provence Journal
The holidays fill up quickly. Somewhere between the first invitation and the last plate put away, there is usually one person who carries most of it: the one who sets the table, times the turkey, remembers who eats what, and sits down last. By the end of November they have given a great deal of time to everyone else, and very little to themselves. The gift of self-care is a small way of giving some of it back.
The quietest part of the day
For most people, self-care is not a spa weekend. It is the few minutes at the end of the day when the house goes still: warm water, a bar of soap, a scent that has nothing to do with the kitchen. It is ordinary, and it is often the only part of a long day that belongs to no one else.
That is what makes a self-care gift such a considered thing to give. It does not add to anyone's list. It simply makes the end of the day a little better, every day, for as long as the bar lasts.
Most of the holiday belongs to other people. The last few minutes of the day can still belong to you.
Why self-care makes a good gift
The gifts that stay with people are rarely the largest ones. They are the ones that get used. A bar of soap is opened, set by the basin and reached for every evening, long after the wrapping paper has gone. It suits a mother as well as a neighbor, a host as well as a close friend, and it asks nothing of the person who receives it.
It also says something a gift card cannot: this is for you, not for the house.
What goes into the bar
If the point is a few good minutes, the soap has to be worth them. Every Averal bar is made in Provence with 72 percent organic olive oil and organic shea butter, and keeps the glycerin that forms while the soap is made. The bars are triple-milled, milled three times until they are dense and smooth, which is why they give a rich, creamy lather, hold their shape in a wet shower and last considerably longer than a standard bar.
Each one comes in a box made of recyclable materials, with no plastic wrap. It is ready to give as it is.
A few we would give
For the end of a long day, the Orange Blossom bar, or the Lavender Exfoliating bar with real lavender buds set into it. For a gift that needs to look like one, the Personalized Gift Box, eight bars boxed together. For someone whose tastes you know well, the Build Your Own Gift Set, where the scents are yours to choose. For the cold months, when skin starts to feel tight, the Winter Ultra Moisturizing Set gathers the richest bars in one box. And for a small thank-you, the Lavender Sachets, filled with dried lavender flowers from Provence, for a drawer or a linen cupboard.
If you are a guest at someone's table this Thanksgiving, a French soap gift set is a quiet way to thank the host, and one that is meant for them rather than for the meal. Our French Soap Gift Guide goes through the sets one by one, and our guide to triple-milled soap explains how the milling works.
The table will be full again next year. The few quiet minutes are worth keeping in between.