Self care seems to be the order of the day.
Y'know-I think one of the biggest bunches of b.s. about sheltering in place is the message that we should be using this time like we are in some safe, cozy cocoon, metamorphosizing into A Better Self. We should be reorganizing our homes, sussing out the most flattering paint color for the guest bath, purging our closets and drawers, building or acquiring firm glutes, six pack abs and toned arms, learning how to play Beethoven on the alto clarinet, planting the perfect victory garden (even if we are apartment dwellers), perfecting our French and whipping up incredible gastronomical delights, including every variation on sourdough bread imaginable. The content writers who promote this crap are greedy and hungry for bait clicks and clearly do not live in a real world where there is no toilet paper to be found, going to the grocery store is more hazardous than swimming in a rip tide ocean or the polluted Schuylkill, people are frightened, lonely, angry and despondent and no one knows when or IF anything will ever be 'normal' again. Some of us don't have jobs anymore. Some of us have become sick. Some of us died. This is not holiday break or Adult Self Improvement Vacation Boot Camp. This is real life. This is a pandemic.
Since as of today's date, Pennsylvania is still in lock down/SIP, I did not visit this place. My review is for online ordering.
One of my vices (next to eating and drinking) is skin care. My maternal grandparents were immigrants thus growing up using egg white masks, chamomile tea hair rinses, lavender essential oil on burns and so on was completely ordinary and normal. Until just the past few years, 'clean' face and body products were things that you usually only got a very high end spas.
Enter Sabbatical Beauty-a local company (Bok Building-South Philly), woman owned (Dr. Adeline Koh), stressing maximum results with minimum filler and a K-Beauty sensibility. I had a few days of fun, online window shopping, filling my cart, editing my cart, taking the quizzes, exploring the website and reading customer reviews before I pulled the trigger and actually placed my first order. One thing I found appealing was the ability to buy travel sizes of most SB products. In one order, I purchased Caphe Roasters Vietnamese Coffee Scrub. Local coffee roasters who are doing good things for their Kensington neighborhood and using Southeast Asian beans provide the grounds for this. It's a serious dose of caffeine, sugar, coconut milk and botanicals in a pudding-light, very gentle but effective exfoliant. Upon first time use, my skin felt velvetized all week. Yes, from one use. A little goes a long way.
Another order was one of Adeline's Botanical Hand Purifiers. Taken from the site-"These are a combination of two types of ideas: one, an effective antibacterial hand cleanser, and two, a throwback to herbalism and herbal medicine." Hand sanitizing is a way of life now so why not do it as pleasantly as possible without turning your hands into withered claws? This comes in 3 sizes and 3 scent combinations and no, it is not just a pretty smell. When I used it for the first time (Lavender & Chamomile Flower was my first order), for at least an hour after, I was catching whiffs of something very uplifting and delightful. Not heavy, more of a soft, ambient scent that came and went, like blossoms on a breeze. I finally realized it was from this product. I have since ordered the other 2 scents as well and use the hell out of them. No withered claws on Warren.
Because this is a time when supporting small business and performing kindness goes a long way, I've placed gift orders for local friends, too. Nothing but raves and positive feedback from every recipient. With every order (ultra fast UPS shipping), I get a personal thank you e-mail from Adeline. The packaging is Earth friendly, it feels good buying from a woman owned, local, ethical business, you can design a minimal or full skin care routine for yourself (or buy just one travel size thing and incorporate it into your existing toilette) and these small batch products are not just bottles and jars of empty promise. They do what they claim.
Sure. Maybe you can't go and sit, see and be seen at your favorite (fill in the blank) Philly bar/restaurant but while you're still sheltering in place, you can certainly pamper and prepare your visage for when that time finally does come.
P.S.-There's no *SHOULD* here as I wrote about in my preamble. Once you have a Sabbatical Beauty item in hand, you will absolutely WANT to take care of yourself. read more