It's been a pretty rough winter so far here in Chicago - practically no sun, loads of snow nearly weekly (if not more frequently), temperatures in the -40's (F) with the windchill. Needless to say, this means I've been cooped up in the house avoiding the elements and am starting to get ridiculously depressed because of it.
It's easy to recommend that someone "get out" and grab a bite to eat with friends, go to a museum, head to a spa, but we've made it our goal in 2014 to save money for a number of big trips we'd love to take in the near future (Morocco, Mt. Kilimanjaro, New Zealand....), and there's only so much staying in I can do.
To try to lift my mood, clear my head, and warm up at the same time I started taking weekly or twice weekly baths. Having used up my Lush bath bombs, baths weren't as exciting a prospect as they could be. I remembered my stylist at Fringe Salon mentioned a local store in Wicker Park that pedals goods similar in ideals to Lush, but on a more unique scale - Mojo Spa (1468 N. Milwaukee - right by Wormhole).
One afternoon shortly before Christmas, we headed down to WP to grab a coffee at one of our favorite cafes, The Wormhole, and stopped in to Mojo to see what the fuss was about.
One afternoon shortly before Christmas, we headed down to WP to grab a coffee at one of our favorite cafes, The Wormhole, and stopped in to Mojo to see what the fuss was about.
What a fuss it was - the holidays bring out every single potential shopper in the city and the shop was completely packed with shoppers and staff alike. The staff were insanely friendly - which made me feel I needed to seriously peruse the organic and hand crafted makeup, moisturizing bars (like lotion - but in bar form!), martini glass candles in which the wax can be used as a lotion, lip rescuers, and other assorted bath products to find something to take home.
My sister has been raving about her bath salts, so I looked for a few that would help boost my boo-hoo mood. The staff suggested two: a detox salt and one that would be uplifting. While the detox salt is indeed labeled "Weight Loss and Detox", they insisted that it would help reduce muscle tension and eliminate toxins while boosting the lymphatic system by way of their combination of Asian sea salts, epsom salts, and essential oils such as grapefruit, lemongrass, lavender, juniper berry, ginger, and sage.
They suggested I pair it with their "Revitalize" salts. These again leverage the sea and epsom salts combo to release any tension in your muscles, but the essential oils used are more energizing (peppermint, tangerine, blood orange, and lemon).
I have to say that the detox salts absolutely relax my entire self and, while I'm not sure if they actually "detox" me, my skin seems to follow that general path after I use it. The revitalizing salts are definitely uplifting, with a sweet and refreshing scent. The grains aren't dyed, which I definitely appreciate, and they mix into the bath easily. At $18/bag, I might not go out and purchase these very frequently (one bag is about 4-5 baths in my experience, and you can find giant tubs of salts elsewhere for a lower price - yet not necessarily under the organic and locally made genre), but I'm glad they'll take me through the rest of this miserable winter!
Does anyone in Chicago know of any other great local bath-y places with aromatherapy products that work? I could definitely use the guidance through mid March :)
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