From spa treatments to vacations: a look at the lavish gift bags Oscar nominees receive

About $350,000 worth of luxury products are being packaged this year to be gifted to the top acting and directing Oscar nominees — a tradition curated for 24 years by marketer Lash Fary of Distinctive Assets.

Fary, who assembles the unofficial gift bags independently of the Academy, says the goal is simple: make nominees feel celebrated, while giving small and emerging brands a global spotlight.

"This is something we do independently of the Academy with the intention of elevating small businesses, female-founded brands, and minority-owned companies, and also because losing sucks," he said.

One of those small businesses is Rescue Spa, founded by Danuta Mieloch.

For Mieloch, participating in the Oscars gift bag is more than a marketing opportunity. "I think this is one of the most exciting moments," she said. "Coming from Poland 30-something years ago and now being at the Oscars — it means a lot."

Companies pay a fee to include their products, and Rescue Spa is contributing $450 worth of treatments and goods this year per bag. It's the brand's third time being featured, and Mieloch says the exposure is worth the investment.

"I feel like it positions us in a better place. And it aligns with our philosophy. To be nominated requires diligence, a lot of work and excellence — and I feel like my products are aligned with that," she added.

The gift haul ranges from inexpensive snacks to a home interior design package that could be anything from a six-figure full home rebuild to a more modest redo of a room because the nominee's kids have gone off to college, Fary said.

This year's gift bag - actually a small suitcase - also includes five vacations, whisking nominees from snow-covered villas in Finland to the beaches of Costa Rica.

While Fary doesn't always hear directly from recipients, the social-media trail tells him all he needs to know.

"Whenever they take a trip and post pictures, or they go in and get the waitlisted Sculpt and Lift facial at Rescue Spa — which one of the nominees already does — that's the best feedback of all," he said.

-Reporting by Alicia Powell, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien/Reuters