Dear Mama

Mother’s Day is coming up fast, and now’s the best time to show the beautifully maturing bellas in your life that they are appreciated. I’ve been reviewing products, scouting for discounts, and compiling a list of some of the best deals for Mother’s Day, and I’ve got suggestions that will definitely please your mom.

My Mama Bella is what I’d call a decadent mom. She firmly believes in indulging herself. If I could afford it, I’d book her an appointment at a luxury spa for the works. But I can’t. So what I do for my mama, is make her gift baskets of affordable, pampering items.

Luxe Essentials makes amazing body butters that come elegantly packaged in slender silver canisters. The product itself really does slick on light and shiny like butter, but it quickly absorbs into your skin. I keep the canisters on my desk at work, because the air conditioning really dries out my hands, and this stuff makes my hands feel silky but not heavily moisturized.

The orange smells sweet and clean, the lavender has a lovely, lingering perfume, and the fresh and subtle lemongrass is my favorite. A 2 oz. body butter usually costs $10, and right now Luxe is offering an awesome Mother’s Day gift set like this one, that includes a 2 oz lavender body butter, 4 oz body butter, 4 oz bath salts, 8 oz bath & body oils, lavender sachets, and a sisal pad. Receive 10% discount for all gift set orders placed online now until Mother’s Day by using discount code MDS10 at checkout.

For imported, luxurious European bath and body products without imported, luxurious European prices, I can’t recommend Cleo more.

The Italian yogurt based products are on a 20% off sale at drugstore.com, so now’s the time to shop. The body creme is thick and decent, but I was far more impressed by the shower and bathfoam cream. The Blue Fruits Bathfoam Cream is just wonderful, and I’m obsessed with the Chocolate Shower Cream. What I like about Cleo is, the scents aren’t overwhelming. The shower cream is sweet and mild, and smells more like a gourmet chocolate mousse. Cleo also makes an awesome Mint Liquid Soap that keeps your hands smelling fresh and feeling clean. And the best part? The hand soap costs $2.36, the bathfoam cream is $6.36, and the shower cream is a mere $3.96! Your mom will have no idea when she opens her basket, and you can brag that you got her gourmet bath products from Italy!

My mother-in-law is like the polar opposite of Mama Bella. Mama Bella loves facials and spa treatments and getting her makeup done, my mom-in-law is into running and camping and enjoying the outdoors. But that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t also love the finer things in life!

An outdoorsy mom would love a bottle of Hampton Sun Privet Bloom. Now, typically I don’t give perfume as a gift. When it comes to gift giving, I think of perfume and underwear as being in the same category. Meaning, they’re highly personal items that are probably best chosen by the person who’s getting them. Few experiences can be more crushing than opening a lovely gift-wrapped box of panties that don’t fit, or perfume that stinks. But trust me, Privet Bloom is one of those goofproof scents.

It’s a very delicate, fresh, breezy yet sweet fragrance that doesn’t overwhelm or clash. A bottle of eau de parfum normally costs $65, and the eau de toilette is $49.50. If you order before Saturday May 12 and enter the promotion code mothers (all lower case), you get 15% off! Can’t beat that with a bat.

My mother-in-law has a green thumb, and she takes tremendous pride in her garden. She’s also a chef par excellence, and loves doing at-home projects. Schnitting, anyone? Needless to say, she’s a hands-on mom who is not a manicure kind of lady. To keep her hands touchably soft and to giggle at her “what the heck” reaction, I’d give her Gloves in a Bottle. Gloves in a Bottle is a shielding lotion that works like an invisible pair of gloves to protect the deeper layers of skin. She’ll still need to wear her gardening gloves, but this stuff will keep her hands silky soft after she’s been using them all day. At $12.95 a bottle, that isn’t a bad deal.

Some of my favorite bath and beauty companies are offering great deals for Mother’s Day. If you can’t afford to get yo’ mama a bottle of her favorite perfume, check out the designer soap scents made by Maryam’s Soap Nook. I’m dying to try the L’Eau d’Issey soap! Maryam’s also makes fantastically packaged VIP gift bags that come filled with decadent whipped shea monoi body butter, dead sea salts and shea butter salt glow scrub, luxury body mist, exfoliating body wash, Japanese Camellia body oil, and two bars of handmade soap for $65. The range of their scents is endless, and I’ve loved every single product I’ve tried from their line.

Carol’s Daughter has some awesome gift sets, that will be sure to make your mommy smile. I’m not a mom, and not planning to be a mom anytime soon… but I need that Almond Cookie Shining Star gift set in my life. And besides THAT, if you buy a Carol’s Daughter gift set, you get a Mother’s Day bonus discount on their new Candy Paint lipgloss! I’m totally overstocked with lip gloss, but you better believe I’m dying to try this stuff.

And here’s a gift suggestion even better and more affordable than anything I mentioned above — pamper your mom. Treat her like a queen today, take her out for a fabulous brunch, or give her a pedicure, cook dinner, wait on her. Mother’s Day is all about letting her know how much you love her.

What are you planning to get your mamas, bellas? The day’s rapidly approaching, so place those online orders now!