This week, Crabtree & Evelyn just announced it is one of — what, thousands? — of shops to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy within the last few months. I’ve always preferred their body lotions and soaps to Bath & Body’s line and found the news sad and disappointing. And then I visited their website and learned how I could pitch in to help keep them afloat, while stocking up on wonderful products.

As you can imagine, there are some major sales cooking at Crabtree, with select items, including solid perfumes and home fragrances, slashed by up to 75 percent off their retail price.

Found Solid Perfume

Some of their body lotions and creams are buy two, get the third one free — and I’m delighted to see the Rosewater Triple-Milled Soap with Cold Cream is one.

Rosewater Triple-Milled Soap with Cold Cream

I’ve tried La Source Mini Revitalising Mineral Muscle Soak and can’t believe it’s going for just $5. Infused with peppermint, it soothes your muscles and makes for a perfectly fresh and relaxing summer bath treatment.

La Source Mini Revitalising Mineral Muscle Soak

Act quickly — these deals may not last!

Images: Crabtree & Evelyn

Homemade spa treatments always seem like a good idea — in theory. You read about them in magazines, run out and spend $15 at the supermarket on two avocados, an ounce of turmeric powder and almond oil, and wind up with a dirty counter, a blender that needs washing and a mask that’s either too oily or dry as cake.

Save yourself the time and frustration and cheat a little. BeFine Warming Clay Mask comes straight out of a kitchen you won’t have to clean, and contains all of the natural ingredients you want in a facial product, like pomegranate, cardamom, kaolin, a natural clay that saps dirt and oil from the skin and Arnica Montana flower extract, which has anti-inflammatory properties.

Befine Warming Clay Mask

The mask heats upon skin contact, making you feel as if you’re relaxing in a sauna. The mix of ingredients are a bit rich, which is great if you have slightly dry or normal skin and want to look dewy and fresh, but may leave combination or oily complexions feeling gummy.

At just $15.99, BeFine’s natural spa solution is affordable, effective and will keep you from washing dishes. What’s not to like?

Image: BeFine.com

July 15th marks the start of International Massage Week. This week is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the benefits of therapeutic massage. Throughout the week, look for wonderful bargains on spa products, spa retreats and more.

mySpaShop celebrates International Massage Week with great deals on massage products to encourage individuals to take the extra time to care for their health through massage.

Image: sxc.hu

mySpaShop is offering 30% off of the Just Good for You Wild Rose & Jasper Body Oil. This soothing, scented body oil will be available on discount for the whole month of July.

Spoil your sweetie with the Essence of Vali sleep massage. The Essence of Vali products are fortified with plant botanicals and no synthetics or preservatives. The blend of lavender, marjoram, cedarwood and ylang/ylang promotes relaxation and sleep naturally.

Visit mySpaShop.com to purchase Just Good for You, Essence of Vali and other fabulous spa and beauty products.

If you love bath products, you are probably already familiar with LUSH bath bombs. But have you tried their bubble bars? These bars produce that type of foam you expect from a liquid bubble bath but they come in solid bars. It’s a LUSH original invention and the first-ever product of its kind. They have been around for a while now. If you haven’t tried them, it’s time!

Like other LUSH products, the bubble bars are cute and colorful. They are also made without preservatives and harsh irritants. You simply crumble them under running water and get tubful of deliciously scented bubbles. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Image: LUSH

Psychodelic Bubble Bar - $6.95
This vegan bar features a retro swirl of colors. This one is a spicy bubble bar with a cinnamon-citrus scent. It’s invigorating!

Flosty Gritter Bubble Bar - $5.65
This pretty pink bubble bar features of vanilla and lavender for a sweet, sexy fragrance that is perfect for a night out. Love the color!

Check out these and the rest of the LUSH Bubble Bars!

In the summertime, I don’t like to wear perfume or other heavily fragranced products, but I do like perfumed body lotions. Lately, my favorite is Vera Wang Princess Body Lotion. Yes, I know the fragrance has been out for quite sometime. And actually, I don’t wear the perfume itself — it’s a little too floral for me. However the body lotion is just perfect.

Image: Neiman Marcus

Lightly scented with the exotic fruity floral perfume, it has notes of vanilla and guava that give it a summer sweetness that I really love.

Unlike some other perfumed lotions, this one is actually a really good product too. Incorporating cocoa butter, shea butter and aloe vera, it hydrates and nourishes your skin while infusing antioxidant vitamins A, C and E.

The result is silky, super soft skin that smells fresh and delicious. You can get the Vera Wang Princess body lotion at most department stores including Neiman Marcus, which sells a 5 oz tube for $32.

What about you? Do you use perfumed lotions? Leave a comment and let us know your favorites!

With beach weather here, hair removal is a big topic for many women. To keep your legs, underarms and bikini line smooth, you can reach for a razor or consider a variety of other treatments for wax to laser hair removal. Philips and Bliss Spa have come together to create this all-inclusive grooming set just for the ladies.

Image: Macy's

The set includes a personal trimmer that has six attachments including both a microshaver and an epilator. Also included is Bliss lemon+sage body butter (which smells delicious) and Bliss ingrown hair eliminating peeling pad. Everything is packed together in a convenient blue beauty bag.

The system is rechargeable so that you can go cordless and you can use either wet or dry. You can get the Philips Bliss Bikini Perfect Deluxe system online from Macy’s for just $78.

Sunscreen is important to use every day, but particularly in the summertime. If you are spending a lot of time outdoors this summer, be sure not to leave home without it. Recently, I started using the Clinque Sun line of products. I have been a big fan of Clinique for years, but had never used their sun products until this season.

One of my new favorite products is the Clinique Sun SPF 25 Body Spray. It’s super convenient spray formula is perfect for women on the go. It protects your skin from the burning and aging effects of the sun’s harmful rays. Priced at just $20, you can find Clinique Sun SPF 25 Body Spray at Clinique counters in most major department stores, or order it online from Saks Fifth Avenue and other retailers.

Image: Saks Fifth Avenue

Other products in the Clinique Sun line that you should try include the SPF 50 Face Cream, which has solar-activated antioxidants that help preven skin damage. You’ll also love the Clinique Sun SPF 45 Targeted Protection Stick. This little twist-up stick allows you to get all those areas you might miss like fragile skin around your eyes, your earlobes and the crease on the side of your nose. The face cream and the stick are priced at $17.50 each.

Image: Saks Fifth Avenue

I love bath oils and bubble baths in unique scents. Recently I checked out the Molton Brown Davana Blossom foaming bath oil and it’s delicious. It features a blend of Indian davana blossom along with raspberry, grapeseed, blackseed and star flower oils. The result is an intoxicating exotic fragrance that you’ll adore.

Image: Saks Fifth Avenue

This bath oil creates a rich creamy foam that cleans as it softens your skin. This is product that feel and smells really luxurious. Unfortunately it has a price tag to match. At $68 for a 10 oz bottle, it’s not cheap. But you only need to use a small amount, so you might find that it’s worth it.

You can get Molton Brown Davana Blossom foaming bath oil at department stores such at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Bath salts can be relaxing or invigorating. These limited edition citrus salts from L’Occitane are a little bit of both. The Citrus Verbena fizzy bath salts contain fizzy sugar which releases million of tiny rejuvenating bubbles. The fabulous scent is energizing as well as soothing.

Image: L'Occitane

Using organic citrus verbena extract, the fragrance is really fresh with a lemon-y citrus aroma. It smells natural, clean and perfect for summer. You can get a 7 oz jar of the limited edition L’Occitane bath salts directly from loccitane.com for just $24.

If you like the scent, they also have dozens of other bath and body products using the verbena extract. From soap to body cream and shampoo to shower gel, there are plenty to choose from.

In addition to the bath salts, I love the citrus verbena shampoo. It leaves your hair really shiny with a light fragrance of citrus fruits. It’s $17 for an 8.4 oz bottle.

In the summertime, I love tropical scents in bath and body products, from coconut and pineapple to mango and papaya. Recently, I tried this lime-papaya body wash from Pacifica and it’s wonderful! The Bali Lime Papaya Body Wash fragrance features a blend of papaya, Kaffir lime and sweet lime blossom, along with touch of ocean air scent. The result is delicious!

Image: Sephora

This vegan body wash doesn’t produce a lot of lather. So if you need to use a little more than you normally do for other washes. However, it does leave your skin soft, clean and with a fresh scent. The aloe vera juice, green and white tea extracts, chamomile, cucumber and other ingredients all work together to soothe and hydrate your skin with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and proteins.

You can find the Pacifica Bali Lime Papaya Body Wash at Sephora for $18 for a 16 oz bottle. Several other products come in the same scent, including body butter, body lotion, solid perfume and a soy candle.

What scents do you love for summer?  I’m a fan of anything citrus-y. Plus, vanilla is my year-round favorite.