Product Review: Vered Muscle Soothing Massage and Body Oil
Here’s a question: What makes you feel amazing in your own skin?
Ideally your answer is something like…. “My partner who thinks I’m awesome no matter how ridiculous I am at times.” Or maybe it’s “My sense of my own natural beauty, radiating from within.” (But seriously, if you’re going with number 2 and that’s your default feeling, maybe you can explain us your secret over wine and macarons some time?)
For me, it depends on the day. One of the cool and completely frustrating things about being a woman is that these things can vary depending on your mood, on the weather, on the state of your skin, on where you are in your cycle, on how things are going at work and at home, on how nice you’re being to yourself.
Because these things can fluctuate quite a bit, I’ve always thought it important to have certain emergency procedures in place for the days when you want to bring your A game but you woke up feeling like a giant bag of trash.
When that happens, you have to, in the words of Rachael Ray, take a little help from the store. The help I’ve been taking lately is my fancy Vered body oil.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the ayurvedic ritual called abhyanga, a form of daily self massage that involves oils, starting at your feet and ending at your crown. When you consider all the crazy stuff I’ve done over the years—shall we revisit the time I had soup spoons scraped over my back to release blocked energy? Or the astrologers I’ve paid many hundreds of dollars to help me with various peccadilloes?—it seems amazing that I’ve never done tried this simple, soothing technique. Inspired by Alexandra, who has raved about it, and Dr. Claudia Welch, who swears by it, I tried it last night before bed. And I used this incredible body oil by Vered.
Here’s what makes the oil special. The one I have is for achey bodies. As such, it contains the homeopathic standby arnica, as well as calendula, oregano, lavender, eucalyptus, and chamomile in an organic jojoba and sweet almond oil base. As you can imagine, it smells unreal. And like no other oil I’ve used—including pure coconut oil, which I still adore—this stuff absorbs readily into the skin, moisturizes so thoroughly, and leaves behind a kind of touch-my-skin-no-really-touch-it softness that looks and feels amazing.
This is not an ordinary body oil. And at $74 a bottle, it also costs a small fortune, so there’s that. Will I buy more when I run out? Probably not, but that’s why I’m not recommending you buy it for yourself: This is, I’ve decided, the absolute perfect gift. I received mine as a gift—from the lovely Spirit Demerson, no less—and it was the perfect thing because it’s not something I would ever buy myself. But having it around makes me happy, it feels super-luxurious, and after I’ve applied it—either through elaborate self-massage or just with a quick and dirty rub onto my legs before work in the morning—I feel completely amazing in my own skin.
Oh, and yes: As the name suggests, it works wonders on sore muscles.
So we want to know: Have you ever done abhyanga? And what makes you feel amazing in your own skin? Have at it, folks.
I have tried abhyanga! It’s quite good but I’m still looking for a good resource to perfect my technique. So, if you guys know of a good (free) resource on abhyanga, would love some more info!
PS If you like it now, just wait for the cold winter months. It’s amazing! Sesame oil is great for vata imbalance, though not quite so luxurious as this oil you’ve reviewed.
I’m definitely intrigued by abhyanga, it sounds simple enough and the stress-reducing benefits sound amazing! Is there a specific technique to it? I’m with Silvy, any free resources you can recommend would be great!
This oil sounds amazing… I may have to order a sample from Spirit Beauty Lounge!
I have been really into Epsom salt (magnesium) baths recently, after reading about it in Dr Northrup’s book. I find that it’s not only relaxing in the moment, it also helps balance my mood.
Weleda also sells a good Arnica oil, for those who need to feel fabulous on a budget.
I haven’t tried abhyanga formally yet, but I do a good deal of spot self-massage on my crazy tense neck and shoulders. I’ve been working on a DIY oil for muscle soreness and I think I’ve got it – will post about it soon!
What makes me feel amazing is getting a good start on the day with yoga and a good breakfast, and a honey face mask while I do dry brushing pre-shower.
I loooove Abhyanga! Although, in all honestly I don’t know if I’m doing it right. It’s one of those things I just make up as I go along and I do what feels right….then try not to slip and smash my head in the tub (which is counter-productive when you’re trying to relax and unwind.)
Side note: I’ve stopped oiling up my scalp because I heard that the bacteria that causes dandruff loves vegetable oils, literally eats it up…and I’m not sure if this includes seed and nut oils (which is mainly what I use for general oiling). I don’t know if it’s true. Anybody heard of this?
@jessica, I don’t know about other oils, but coconut is antifungal/antibacterial – and fungus may be an issue with dandruff. The only thing that makes a seriously positive impact on my husband’s dandruff is coconut oil. When my son gets flakes it helps him too.
I second the recommendation of the Weleda arnica massage oil for those looking for a lovely and more affordable alternative. It’s a pleasure to use. They even sell little travel/sampler bottles of it some places, if you prefer to give things like this a test run to avoid waste.
I don’t do this specific Ayurvedic massage, but I am a HUGE fan of the self-foot massage. I have cranky feet from old dance injuries. They get super sore when I’m tired and stressed or putting them through a bunch of heavy duty physical activity, and they really appreciate the extra attention if I give them a rub before bed. It seems to relax the rest of me, too.
You ladies and gents who use oils, what do you find is the lease messy technique and bottle to use? Do you like gravity fed bottles or pump? Where are you when you apply it and how do you keep it off the floor and everything else around you. Do you stand or sit? I love oils, and so does my skin, but I always feel like a messy amateur putting them on anywhere buy my face! I look forward to my evening bath/shower and ending it with an oil rub always seems like the perfect way to end the day before bed, but instead of feeling luxurious, I feel like I’m making a mess! Help please :)
@Jessica I totally agree. Is there a right way? Claudia described it in the book, and I kind of just do broad, sort-of circular strokes. In another post, I will describe it in more detail!
Looks like I know what to get Siobhan for Christmas. :)
@Katy, for my DIY I use a regular dropper bottle, but my preference is a pump. I drop/pump a small amount into one hand, rub hands together and pat on skin, then rub in. I don’t usually end up making a mess, maybe a drop escapes occasionally. I would say typically I’m standing, but I also do oil or body butter on hands and feet when I get in bed for the night. If you have a problem with messes I would guess either you are using too much oil at once or the type of oil you are using is very thin.
I have not tried Abhyanga but use oils religiously (rotating between Apricot kernel oil, Jojoba, Kukui among others, all from Mountain Rose Herbs). I try to apply them in the same pattern I use for dry brushing.. The ritual of dry brushing/bath/oil afterwards is a real pleasure and makes you feel great in your own skin,definitely.
On a semi off topic… For all that favor dry brushing… How do you care for your dry brushes?
@ Rebecca, I’ll be looking forward for your future post on your new potion:)
I’ve been doing abhyanga for a few weeks and just found this video http://vimeo.com/36063837 which really helped my technique. I’ve bee using sesame oil, which is great for my skin but I do worry I smell like a stirfry. Any recommendations on what I could add to counteract that greatly appreciated.
Waiting for a Friday deal on Vered and Lotus Wei before indulging!!
@nancy, I am lazy and don’t wash the brushes as often as I’ve heard one should. I guess it’s every few months that I wash them in mild soap (Dr. Bronner’s or similar) and dry outdoors on a sunny day. All my brushes are plant fiber so I don’t know if boar bristle would need different care.
@ Rebecca, thank you. I was trying to finish up a bottle of coco butter oil before I opened anything else. I’m really working on cleaning out my stock as I tend to collect too much :) I tried one of my sample Weleda bottles and it worked marvelously. I think it was a combination of the texture of the oil was the problem.
edit *combination of the texture of the oil and the messy flip cap that was the problem.
@Rebecca. Yes, you’re right! Coconut oil is amazing for hair and scalp. It penetrates far better than any other oil, too. It’s molecular structure is almost like it’s made for human hair, because it truly does *get right in there*, and doesn’t just sit on top. I was thinking more about olive oil. I feel like I *should* know this, but is olive oil a vegetable or a nut oil? I don’t know if it comes from the fruit’s kernel or what.
@jessica: Olive oil is a vegetable oil.
@jessica, I think that olive oil comes from pressing the fruit (not the seed) so I guess technically it’s a fruit oil but probably just saying vegetable is fine. But I guess the point is whether that makes any difference in if it has anything to do with dandruff. I’m guessing there’s not much difference but I suppose it’s possible micro-organisms like some oils better than others.