I remember a time when I used to look in the window of the store they had at the South Street Seaport and look longingly at beautifully packaged, luxurious products. I also thought Crabtree & Evelyn was a very old, English company, but I’ve discovered that I was wrong about the company’s origins. In fact, Crabtree & Evelyn was founded by Cyrus Harvey, in 1973, with the first retail store opening in 1977. Still, there’s a lot in the name: “Crabtree & Evelyn.” It was inspired by the 17th Century renaissance Englishman John Evelyn, who wrote one of the first important works on conservation. And although the company is thoroughly modern, the foundation of Crabtree & Evelyn products are influenced by the English ‘still rooms’ of the 17th Century, where the lady of the house would distill fresh flowers, herbs and fruits to create fragrant waters for the bath, soothing essences for the skin and fruit preserves and sauces for the kitchen.
So much for history of the company. Crabtree & Evelyn products are delightful as a treat for yourself, and most definitely for holiday gift giving, right around the corner. The products always smell great, and they’re fun and effective. If you want to give with panache, but without spending a lot of cash, you can’t go wrong with any of Crabtree & Evelyn’s beautifully packaged, wonderful to use, products and limited edition and gift sets. All are great to own, and will make you proud to present as gifts.
For example, there are six gift sets from the company’s revitalising La Source line. This line for the body, hands and feet us blended with skin-nourishing marine botanicals,mineral salts and seaweeds – plentiful along the coast of Britain. La Source Essentials $32.50 features a zippered fabric travel bag with a pretty floral design that has two elastic inner pouches, and a snap-out zippered mesh pouch containing three La Source goodies: a Relaxing Body Wash 250mL; Relaxing Body Lotion 250mL; and Hand Therapy 100mL. The scent is light and fresh, and the set makes a useful and impressive gift for both women and men.
The limited edition Windsor Forest Home scent from their Noel Collection was inspired by the magnificent evergreens at Royal Windsor Great Park, bordering Windsor Castle. The fragrance is a mix of Fraser fir, balsam and spruce, entwined with English holly. One spritz of the Home Fragrance Spray $15.00 or any of the other Windsor Forest items, will scent the air with an authentic, “Christmas tree” scent that instantly says” holiday time.” A gift that is always appreciated and appropriate is a gorgeous candle, and the Crabtree & Evelyn Poured Candle $28.00 is really special. For starters, it arrives in a metallic cardboard box with a very intricate, green pine and snowflake design. Inside, the same design is etched onto a light green glass votive container, with a plastic keeper decorated with gold snowflakes, covering the white candle. The 3″ H x 3¾” D, candle has about a 50 hrs burn time. It looks a lot more expensive and impressive than the actual cost. This is one you’ll want to get for yourself, as well as for gifts.
