On the other hand, a bath that's not quite right can be one of life's biggest disappointments (remember the scene in Friends when Chandler gets his bath all wrong?) A bath that's too hot makes you clammy and uncomfortable, and trying to warm up a bath thats too cold leaves you with burnt feet and chattery teeth.
I always have enjoyed a nice long soak, and to be honest don't really see a bath as a way of getting clean, but more a way to switch off and relax for as long as I can get away with hiding in there! Mostly, I'll have a bath in the evening right before bed, but sometimes (especially if I've got a rare day completely to myself) I love a bath first thing too. To wake up slowly and plan the day ahead surrounded by warm water and bubbles is really just a slightly more productive way of extending a lay in!
There are a few things that make up the perfect bath in my opinion, and if you haven't got them all you might as well just have a shower because it just won't be the same!
1: Reading Material
At the moment I'm midway through a couple of books, The Book Thief (which my father in law bought me so I had no excuse to keep saying 'no' when he asked if I'd read it yet) and The Island of Adventure by Enid Blyton, which was a silly stocking present that has taken me straight back to my childhood when I used to work my way right through The Famous Five series, then start back at the beginning again! I also like a magazine in the bath, but they do have a tendency to get dunked in the water, and those little leaflets always fall out and end up soggy!
2: Drink
This depends on the mood, and the day of the week for me. Sometimes hot chocolate, sometime chamomile tea, or sometimes red wine. Some people don't think hot drinks and baths go together, but I beg to differ! If it's a morning bath then green tea is the way to go.
3: Candles
I like lots and lots of tea lights, lined up along the edges of the bath and around the edge of the room on the floor. I used to have fairy lights strung up in the bathroom too, but I think the battery part must have got damp because they stopped working. A goal for our new house is to get a dimmer installed in the bathroom - atmosphere and enough light to read by!
4: Bubbles
I go one of two ways here. Either something lovely and grown up from L'Occitane (I LOVE the Lavender Foaming Bath!) or something neon pink that smells of sweets with glitter and sequins from LUSH (which always seem fun until you can't get the glitter off of the bath/the towels/your face/the cat) Again, it depends on the mood!
5: Pillow
I am yet to find the perfect bath pillow. I had a pretty good one that I think came from The Body Shop, but the cat managed to bite through it and deflate it (another new house goal - find somewhere else for the litter box so the cat NEVER goes in the bathroom!) The one I'm using at the moment is from Tiger, and it's the same shape as those travel neck pillows, but with suction cups that are supposed to keep it attached to the bath. It's ok, but I don't love it. The search continues!
6: Radiator PJs
This only applies to evening baths (unless you're having a proper pyjama day of course!) but getting out of the bath and putting on fresh pyjamas that have been warming up on the radiator - heaven!
7: Face Mask
I usually wash and exfoliate my face, then put on a face mask before I get in the bath. At the moment I like the Vitamin C Radience mask from Vitage. Just before I get out, I'll turn the taps on and use some fresh water and a flannel to remove the mask so I'm not putting used bath water on my face.
8: Music
I usually spend ages going through Spotify looking for a playlist, then settle back on the same thing. My Mum used to listen Medicine Woman by Medwyn Goodall when I was little (I think she might have bought it from one of those stalls you sometimes see with a dancing man in a headdress selling Pan-Pipe music) and it's a sort of new age, pan pipe, meditative, spiritual, percussion-y type album (I don't know!) which is very relaxing. I do yoga to it sometimes too! Volume One is on Spotify, but I've just noticed on Amazon there are also Volumes Two and Three (I wonder if Mum bought those from a dancing pan-pipe man too...hmmm)
9: Body Scrub
Lastly, a body scrub. I don't always do this, sometimes I just use my dry body brush, but I really like a himalayan salt scrub before I get in the bath. I make my own by mixing a handful of himalayan salt (which I bought in TK Maxx) with a small amount of oil - olive, coconut, or sometimes L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil which is my favourite and smells of marzipan and amaretto, but it's also pretty expensive! I stand on a towel and use the scrub on dry skin, then get in the bath and let the salt dissolve, so it's sort of like a scrub and bath soak in one!
As I said, once we move house the cat will not be allowed in the bathroom anymore, so I'm looking forward to making it into a proper sanctuary, where we can actually leave pretty things out without them getting catapulted around the bath, and where the towels and dressing gowns don't get hunted and mauled to death (I'm sure he's quite pleased with himself when he successfully tears apart a dressing gown belt - but us, not so much!)
(image from freeimages.co.uk)
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