Crabtree & Evelyn and Perlier give you reasons to stay home, this holiday season

A wonderful set of products that make the holidays just a bit more tranquil, is the Amber and Myrrh collection by Perlier. Available as a gift set on the Home Shopping Network, you can purchase all 4 products as a very affordable gift set at just $39.95 . This lovely quartet of bath and body products, made in Italy, feature holiday-perfect, warm and woody notes of amber and myrrh (the exotic, ancient Christmas scent!) blended to create a sensual fragrance that make people want to get close to you! The Perlier Amber & Myrrh Gift Set includes:

8.4 oz. tube of Amber & Myrrh Shower Cream that gently cleanses and moisturizes your skin, leaving the Amber & Myrrh scent to help you start (or end) your day.

16.9 oz. flip top tube of Amber & Myrrh Shimmering Body Milk – a velvety body lotion that leaves a light, shimmery finish and of course, a bit of scent.

A tube of 3.3 oz. Amber & Myrrh Hand Cream – hand cream is so necessary in the Winter months and this one gives you soft and nicely fragrant hands.

3.5 oz. plastic shaker jar of Amber & Myrrh Talc – this finely-milled talcum powder helps stop chafing, calms underarms, and adds a nice scent even if you’re nervous.

The entire set comes in a gift bag embellished with a metallic-trimmed bow and matching carrying handles. BONUS! Included with your HSN purchase is a 1-year subscription to Self magazine valued –a $12.00 value! It’s like two gifts in one at $12. *Self magazine order and refund details will be mailed to you directly within 10 days. You will receive your first issue 6 to 8 weeks after ordering.

If you just want to try the Amber & Myrrh products without purchasing a gift set, you can get:

two containers of the Talc for $20.50 or two tubes of the hand cream $20.50

Another nice spa-night or gift option is Aromatherapy Distillations Revitalizing Skin Polishing Ritual $49.50 by Crabtree & Evelyn The set has two parts: a blend of aromatic, exfoliating spices that you blend with rich tropical body butter to suit your personal specifications. Mix a bit of oil and exfoliating spices together in equal parts of more of one, less of the other, to get rid of dry, dead skin cells, and smooth and pamper your body, hands and feet.

This cello-boxed set has the following for smooth skin and a revitalized attitude: Jar of Exotic Spice Medley (5.25 oz): loose grains include ginger root powder (exfoliating, polishing), apricot seed powder (smoothing), clove powder (exfoliating), cinnamon bark powder (exfoliating), nutmeg fruit powder (exfoliating), powdered luffa fruit fibers (exfoliating), and kuki seed oil (skin conditioning). The scent is really spicy, reminiscent of the spice market in Morocco. Jar of Ultra Moisturizing Body Butter (8.8 OZ). This solid and super-emollient product has the uplifting scent of an essential oil blend of lemon, spearmint, mandarin, ylang ylang and star anise. It’s good-for-your-skin ingredients include: essential oil blend: lemon essential oil, spearmint essential oil, mandarin essential oil, ylang ylang essential oil and star anise essential oil (Revitalizing), Mango seed butter (moisturizing), avocado oil (skin nourishing), coconut oil (skin conditioning), sweet almond oil (moisturizing); You also get an ivory, ceramic mixing bowl, and an applicator/mixing implement (I immediately misplaced mine, and just used a small spoon).

I liked the “ritual” of blending the rough and aromatic spices with the emollient solid cream body butter, and the result was definitely smoother, softer skin. The only downside (if there is one) is that you’ll have an additional bowl to clean, and the paste does need to be washed off and out of your tub. However, the process of blending the two ingredients together means that you get just the amount of product you want to use, in just the right blend to suit your personal skin preferences. No jar or tube of exfoliating scrub gives you this option. This four-piece set makes a great gift idea, and a nice little pick-me-up that you can perform once or twice a week for better looking skin.