the gift that kept on giving

back in october i was the winner of the mops door prize. i was rather jazzed to be the recipient of a $50 gift certificate to a local spa. i can't think of a better way to try and remain relaxed during this hectic season of our lives (remember that we are in the middle of this?)! and so this week, off to the spa i went. i usually am all about the massage, but this time i decided to spice it up a little. i went for the caribbean hydrating something-or-other... basically they sand papered me down with scratchy gloves and then applied a crazy seaweed masque and super moisturizing lotion treatment. (it was great, but next time i'm sticking with the massage. no need to switch up an already good thing.)

man, my stories are long. i drive myself crazy- kudos to ya'll for sticking with me here.

at the end of the treatment the gal gave me a gift bag (and a $10 gift card to come again and a $10 gift card for referring scott to get a haircut there... all for redeeming my prize???) anyways, gift bags always leave me feeling unsettled. on one hand, i love to get free stuff. on the other hand, i feel like it is pretty stinkin' wasteful. half of the time you open the bag to discover a lipstick color that was popular in 1986, a sample of shampoo for someone with thin hair (when i have thick), a curling pomade (when i already have naturally curly hair)... you get the picture. it usually end up to be a whole lotta waste. and then it makes me feel bad for being wasteful. so what started out as a free bag jackpot easily turns into a guilt evoking pile of junk that you now have to try to get rid of.

ahhh, but my dear friends at aveda, they totally figured it out. when i arrived home and examined my prize, well, i was in free bag jackpot heaven! thank you aveda. kudos to you and your little gift. i will use it for years to come.

check it out! what you see above is a travel bag (made out of recycled materials). it contains 4 refillable bottles (perfectly sized for my friends at the tsa), one fillable tub and one spray bottle. it also contains stickers to label your bottles. when you remove the green cardboard sleeve (the one above that says fill-ables) the backside contains all sorts of earth friendly travel tips.

hooray aveda! you seem to be one of the few companies out there in touch with the wants/needs of your consumer and are trying to be innovative in how you are doing things.

i'd also like to point out that while aveda products don't eliminate all of the ingredients that i try to avoid, it is the only salon product that i have found that eliminates most of the ingredients that i try to avoid. for me, that is huge!