Awhile ago, while my two-year-old was napping, I had the idea to play spa with my five-year-old, to give her some extra attention. I remember my two younger sisters and I having so much fun giving each other pedicures and homemade facials when we were growing up. I gave my daughter a facial of a honey mask and then rubbed whipped shea butter on her clean face and massaged her hands and arms with whipped shea butter, too. She loved it.

Recently, I had the opportunity to try marble & milkweed’s winter getaway kit. marble & milkweed is a company I’ve been intrigued by for some time. The creator, Briar, handcrafts her products from organic, fair-trade, and wild botanical materials. The packaging is beautiful in its simplicity and the photography on her site is beautiful, too.

Immediately upon receiving it, I thought the winter getaway kit would be just the thing to elevate the at-home spa experience. This time, we let little sister in on the fun, too.

First, we burnt a little of the cedar smudge stick, which cozied up our little cottage, and then we made the forest tea. I let the girls put the pretty mix into the tea infusers.

We brewed the tea and they took sips while they waited their turns for their spa treatments.

The forest tea is so delicious. The beautiful blue color is from blue cornflowers, and the rest of the organic-based blend is made up of heirloom pu-erh, lanspang souchong, blackberry leaves, violet leaves, and wild-harvested douglas fir spring tips. I don’t think I’ve ever sampled such an imaginative tea before! We drank ours with milk and it had a smokey, sweet taste.

Before we began the treatments, my five-year-old arranged everything on the table, “setting up the spa.” The smokey quartz crystal gave my two-year-old something pretty to look at while she waited. My five-year-old called me Miss Spa Lady and I spoke to the girls as a professional would: “Would you care for more tea?”

We began with the nourishing facial balm. It is intensely fragrant, possessing a lovely, bright, fresh floral scent, made up of essential oils of helichrysum, frankincense, neroli, wild carrot, wild chamomile, and rose otto. It’s recommended use is a moisturizer or a cleansing oil. I applied the heavenly balm to both girls faces. We now call it the flower cream. I really love the consistency and fragrance of the nourishing facial balm and can imagine incorporating it into my regular routine.

At some point during our spa session, my husband walked in and asked, “Don’t you girls need some Enya?” Yes, we do! I told the girls it was faerie music.

With the balm on their faces, I warmed up the organic cotton facial cloth, and another cloth as well, with hot water, and let the girls drape them over their faces, telling them to relax and take deep breaths.

Next, they closed their eyes tight and got a refreshing spritz of forest facial tonic, a blend of wildcrafted witch hazel hydrosol, wildcrafted red cedar hydrosol, wildcrafted douglas fir hydrosol, and wildcrafted juniper.

Finally, I massaged their hands and feet with winter nourishing body oil. The winter nourishing body oil is my favorite potion in the kit. It smells as though it’s composed by some sort of magic. From the marble & milkweed description: “The Winter edition showcases the dry warmth of Himalayan cedar, the sweet lushness of wildcrafted douglas and silver firs, the timeless beauty of frankincense and myrrh, and the barest hint of smoky choya loban, created through a traditional Indian method of frankincense distillation that uses direct heat in a clay pot. An incredible sensory treat!”

We live on the edge of forest, but the winter nourishing body oil smells like somewhere pure and set apart, in the deep, deep woods. I recently finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my daughter and I told her, “This must be what Narnia smells like.” When Daddy walked through again, to get his coffee, we slathered his arms with it. I put some on the back of my hand, while writing this post and I keep holding my hand up to my nose, because it smells so good! I just ordered the larger size, because we love it so much and are going through this bottle rather quickly.

After I finished my girls’ treatments, they wanted to give me one. I got misty-eyed as my two-year-old sat on my lap and my five-year-old massaged my feet. The three of us can all be a little high-strung, at times, and this spa session completely blissed us out.

The girls went on to give all of their stuffed animals pretend spa treatments, as well.

Playing spa is a fun and incredibly relaxing activity to do with children. I highly recommend trying it, if you haven’t already! Also, the winter getaway kit is such a treat. It would make a beautiful gift for a friend or for yourself, if you’re wanting a little restorative self-care this winter. Many thanks to Briar from marble & milkweed for giving us the opportunity to try it!