Romancing The Hubs

All day Wednesday, Rob and I both had migraines. It was awful. I slept and he slept, but every so often, he would get up to get sick, waking me up. I felt so bad for him, but I was useless to help him. And then the Mormons came and knocked on the door, waking me up again. Dudes. I was polite, and they were nice, but all I wanted to do was lie back down on the couch. I was dizzy and shaking, and I could not get rid of them. They insisted on praying for me, and then they put the enormous boxes that were on our porch in the dumpster for us. It was okay, but I have no intention of becoming an LDS just because... I mean, really. I was only wearing a tank top and underwear, and my hair was spiked up all over the place. Go away, already!!

(Seriously. They kept asking me to join their church and get baptised. I've alreadybeen baptised, what, just last year? They didn't care. Ugh.)

So anyway. After the kids went to bed, I decided to take a warm, relaxing bath. Rob came into the bathroom, and with a slight twinkle in my eye, I invited him to join me. I knew his head was still hurting a bit, so I didn't expect him to accept, but he did! All riiiiiight. We used to do Spa Night all the time during my pregnancy with Chloë, long, long ago when JAFRA first came out with their Spa line. We only had a few products then. I can probably count on one hand how many times we've done it since then, and our Spa line has way expanded since then, so I had to teach him as we went along with our romantical night in the tub. 

He kept laughing at me. I said, "You don't really care, do you?" I expected him to agree, but he surprised me by saying, "I like listening to you talk!" He probably wasn't listening, but I know he's always enjoyed me babbling and chattering away as I do...

We queued up our relaxing JAFRA "Rhythmic Retreat" CD on my iPhone's iPod, lit a bunch of scented tea light candles, and hopped in. Now, I highly recommend doing this together if you have a bigger tub, but it was definitely a little compact in there with our standard size bath. I honestly don't know HOW we fit in there together and did this with my big ol' huge belly back in the day! Yet, we managed.

While the water was running, I poured in a handful or two of Soothing Mineral Bath Salts. Oh, my gosh, you guys. One of the things about JAFRA's Spa line is that it's a full-sensory experience. (Except taste. But get yourselves some white zin and some chocolate-covered strawberries, and you're good to go.) The aromatherapy component is key to relaxation, and you'll see what I mean throughout this post. The bath salts are really strong-smelling, but in a good way. You know how some things knock you over and are just too much? Not these. They're not subtle, but you'll love it. I swear.

There isn't a face wash and moisturizer in the SPA line, so I decided we should use our new Tea Blends for this purpose. I normally use Royal Jelly and our PRO line on my face, but I'm loving this simple, clarifying Tea Blend Cleanser + Toner and Nightly Moisturizer at night (along with the Daily Moisturizer SPF 15 in the mornings). It's so gentle and clean-feeling, leaving my face feel nothing but clean and soft. So we washed our faces in the bath and saved the moisturizer for later. I thinked Rob liked it, but he was like, okay, whatever. Hee.

After washing our faces, we washed each other's hair with the Spa line's Detox Shampoo. If you like to use a clarifying shampoo once or twice a week, you'll know what this does. If not, let me tell you: it's great, because it cleans out all the product build-up and gunk, stripping your hair back down to its natural, soft sheen. It revitalizes and purifies. I find there isn't much scent to it, so it doesn't compete with the rest of the aromatherapy going on with our Spa experience. Rob's hair is getting long and curly again, and it's quite thick, which I'm not used to after 12½ years of Navy life with him! 

After I rinsed the Detox Shampoo out of Rob's hair, and vice versa, we massaged each other's head with the Scalp Massage and Hair Treatment. It's rich and creamy, perfect for some luxurious pampering. I've had a professional scalp massage or two before, and I didn't like it too much because it left my hair feeling greasy and oily. This doesn't - it's just clean and simple, like everything else. Rob massaging my head felt so nice; I loved every minute of it.

Neither of us have damaged hair, but I still like to use the Split-End Repair Capsules because it leaves my hair super-soft and touchable. We rinsed the Scalp Massage and Hair Treatment out and then applied a capsule to each other's hair. We left that in for the remainder of the bath to let it work its magic. 

The Ginger and Sea Salt Body Rub is probably my favorite product in JAFRA's Spa line, and that's saying something, since there are very few JAFRA products I don't absolutely love. I mean, really, it's that fantastic. It smells SOOO good, and it leaves my skin feeling amazing. I noticed Rob's feet were feeling more than a bit rough, but he doesn't like anyone messing with his feet (though that's not the word he normally uses), so I let him rub his own feet with the Ginger and Sea Salt. I did my own, too, but I did scrub his rough knees for a while. We did our own elbows and hands, too.

When I do the Spa by myself, without the hubs, I usually scrub my whole body with it (except my face and, you know), but we were too squished for all that. Plus, I was getting a little impatient, I have to say. My tailbone sticks out ever since I lost all my weight, and it was digging into the tub drain, so I was kind of uncomfortable. We stuck to the rough spots and moved on.

At that point, I let the water out of the tub, because who wants to rinse their hair and wash up in dirty bath water? Not I, said the fly. So we stood up and ran the shower then (hey, I didn't say this night was about water conservation), and rinsed the Split-End capsules out ourselves. I asked Rob if he wanted to wash himself with the Ginger and Seaweed Bath and Shower Gel or let me do it, and, devil that he is, he let me do it. Let's just say... he liked it. A lot.

I let him soap me up, too, and... it was quite enjoyable. Hot, even. ;)

Less hot and more funny, we did the Mud Mask together after we got out of the tub and dried ourselves off. I begged him to let me Instagram a picture of our faces slathered in mud together, but he would have none of it. For 20 minutes, he snoozed on his back in the bed while I wondered if he'd roll over and make us have to change the sheets - but he was good! I sat and checked email, because I knew he would be out like a light for that 20-minute respite. 

It was fun, though, doing a mask with my husband. He was so cute, asking how to apply it, why mine was thicker, where to put it (everywhere but near the face and mouth, even on the neck). To rinse it off, I started him off with just hot water, but he didn't like it so much, so I gave him a warm, wet washcloth. He can't see at all without his glasses, so he missed a lot. I went in with the cloth and cleaned off the rest for him before doing mine. I asked him how his skin felt compared to usual, and he said, "I don't know, I don't normally feel my face!" 

Well, I do! I am like a mama gorilla, always picking at him, and I feel his face. It's not normally as soft as it is now, not by a long shot. So, totally worth the 20 minutes worrying about the sheets. I caught him admitting that he didn't use his regular "JAFRA crap," as he calls it, on a daily basis, because he doesn't know where it is! Stinker. We'll find it; he really needs it. (We are 40 and 36 now, after all.)

The next part of our relaxing, romantic evening was really quite nice. It's not part of the Spa line, but I threw it in there thinking it would be a special touch - and I was right! I'm showing the whole Hand Treatment trio, though we only used the Night Care with Shea Butter (Step Three). First, I massaged his left hand, and then his right, slowly and while looking lovingly into Rob's eyes. It was sweet. After he massaged my hands in return, I laughed when he said, "My nails are so shiny!" Ha! Too much funny.

Later this morning, when Rob gets up from his peaceful slumber, I'm going to use Steps One and Two on his hands - the Hand Scrub and then the Day Care SPF 15 with Intellishield. Listen, it's important to use SPF all over, especially on the hands and face, because that's where we show our age first. Lots of people only use facial products but neglect their hands, and it shows! You can totally guess their age by their hands. And of course, it helps avoid other damage done by the sun.

After the hand massage, combined with the Ginger and Sea Salt Body Rub, I told Rob his hands were "fit to touch me now." I was joking, but it's true - I can't stand rough hands on my soft skin. It gives me the creepy-crawlies! His hands felt so good on me for this last step:

Speaking of HOT, we really steamed things up giving each other massages with the Ginger and Seaweed Body Massage Cream. I rubbed him all over with it, and then we switched places. Let's just say that what happened next was no surprise. (I'm not going to spell it out! I do keep some things private, and after all, my mother-in-law reads my blahg!)

I will say this, though: the whole time you-know-what was going on, I loved smelling Rob and feeling his soft skin on mine. The spa treatment was definitely a winner for both of us. We'll have to do that again, maybe make it a weekly thing like back in the days of our first pregnancy. We have no problems keeping things spiced up, but I know that if we did, this would be just the thing to kick things back into high gear. I'm totally blushing right now, but it's true. On my own, the Spa line leaves me feeling really soft, relaxed, and yes, sexy. But together? There's a whole new element of sensuality that I really love.

Rob, baby? Thank you. I adore you. ♥

Fin.