Beautea and The Bubble Roome bath and body collections

Why It's Good:

The Bubble Roome bath bars, body gels, scrubs and salts look "neo-Victorian," according to owner David Johnston, but to me, they are delightfully reminiscent of sweets on a shelf, or something you would find at the Willy Wonka factory. Beautea organic bath and body products, including hand soap, candles, linen and room sprays, are infused with divine antioxidant and anti-aging properties from such different tea families as black Ceylon Pekoe, white Darjeeling and green oolong (a good thing, since the skin absorbs 65% of what goes on it!). Taking a sniff from a product in either one of these auspicious aromatic lines is as good as inhaling a big whiff from a fresh bouquet of flowers: The pure essential smells will knock your socks off.

Why It's Green:

Beautea, a division of Pure Living products, are made with USDA certified organic 100% pure essential oils, containing no pesticides, sulfates (which can inflame the skin and be potentially carcinogenic) or parabens (which have been linked to breast cancer). All promotional material and packaging is printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based ink. The Bubble Roome eschews certain ingredients; for example, the body wash is sulfate-free, and any preservatives are free of parabens. The Bubble Roome products are in HDPE recyclable plastic packaging (PET plastics are more toxic to manufacture), and their soap-wrapping paper is 100% post-consumer recycled.

Where To Get It:

To order The Bubble Roome products, click here. To order Beautea Organic products, click here.

Our Favorite Bathing Beauties

I had a harrowing day at IKEA on Easter: The place was packed, some people were wearing bunny ears while shopping, some not watching where they were going (i.e., bumping into me), and I was navigating it all with a wired two-year-old. The store is a genius marketing monster of a maze: Once you're inside, you feel like you can't get out! At one point, I did manage to seclude ourselves on a lower bunk bed amidst screaming children to gather my strength for Gloria's next diaper change. I pulled out my black Ceylon Pekoe tea moisturizing body lotion from Beautea and gave my and Gloria's arms a quick rubdown. Instant invigoration. That faux bedroom never smelled so good. A little boy making his way down a slide shouted mid-slide, "It smells like FLOWERS in here." I flashed him the lotion as we made our way to the bathroom. When I came home after dropping Gloria off with her mom and dad, instead of crying, I loaded the bath with The Bubble Roome spearmint & eucalyptus mineral salts, and they woke me up, right out of my Swedish-meatball coma. I sunk in and got my head screwed back on straight. (Did I mention I spent the day in IKEA with a two-year-old??)—Allison Reynolds