Goop's Jean Godfrey June answers a readers question about an at-home spa vacation. The answer - Kahina Beldi Soap.
Dear Jean, I need a spa vacation. And I am not getting one anytime soon! What at-home ritual makes you feel really indulged and relaxed? - Marni D.
Dear Marni. Making your shower into a spa is an idea at least as old as Calgon, but it is a good one nonetheless. No, a shower is never going to replace the hammam at the Royal Mansour, where you're massaged, steamd and soothed inside three stories of white marble and traditional Arabic latticework as the lanterns flicker moodily beside you. But use this traditional Morocccan soap. It looks like deep-green honey and smells powerfully of eucalyptus and I do think, depending on the size of your shower, you might happily skip the steam room of your average hotel spa devoid of detail save an Enya soundtrack as they tend to be.
The beldi soap is a thick gel-past made of organic olive oil, and to get the full hammam experience, smooth it on your skin just as you're getting into the shower. You can leave it on as a mask for ten minutes (if you have a steam shower or sauna option, this is a particular sort of heaven) or just for a flash. Either way, you then use the traditional mitt (or alternatively a salt scrub) to exfoliate. Rinse and exalt in your miraculously clean yet super soft, moisturized skin.
The soap is also an amazing straight-up moisturizing body wash. So much simpler than the conventional versions made of detergent-infused gels striped with synthetic-chemical-filled lotion.
I love stepping out of the shower clean and moisturized, but what I most love about this soap is the eucalyptus that blooms in the shower, percolating up into my beleagured sinuses and scenting my entire bathroom the way I image the Royal Mansour smells 24/7.
If you aren't eucalyptus-obsessed like me, the soap comes in an exquisite rose scent, too. Both are the moisturizing body wash/super indulgent hammam body mask of a spa lover's ddream. DIY is rarely so A+.
*photo credit: Le Bain Bleu Marrakesh
Watch our video to learn how to apply our Moroccan Beldi Soap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ESgyyHWj0