Creating That Perfect Bath-Time Ritual
At the end of the busy working week, it can be easy to flop on the sofa with a glass of wine in-hand and watch something which requires no brain-power. But have you considered whether this is really the best way to unwind and prepare your mind and body for the weekend ahead?
The calming properties of a long, hot soak are well-known. But the reality can mean sitting for just a few short minutes in a lukewarm bath thinking about things you really should be doing. This is not the Bathroom Boutique Hebden bridge experience! We want to help you make the most of bath-time and truly savour those precious minutes, or hours, in your new tub.
By following these simple tips, you’ll have a bath-time ritual which you look forward to when you’re having a long day at work, and one which quickly gets you from frantic to mellow in a few easy steps.
Set the Scene
When choosing your bathroom design, so often our customers focus on good lighting. We preen ourselves in our bathroom, so it’s important to have a combination of natural light and a strong artificial light for these tasks. But so many people forget about that soft, ambient lighting we want when relaxing in the tub. LED mirrors, wall-hung lights and dimmable spotlights all enable you to adapt the light based on your bathroom requirements. When you’re enjoying that long-anticipated soak you don’t want to be lying back in the dark so you can’t see what you’re doing, but nor do you want to relax with bright spotlights in your face! We recommend the combination of an LED mirror and an expensive candle, lit and placed somewhere safe such as your windowsill. By choosing a candle and bubble bath in complementing scents from a luxury brand, you’ll prolong the experience of the fragrance, taking your mind to a higher level of calm.
Product recommendation:
We especially like Jo Malone, Molton Brown and White Company products for bath-time. All offer products across the “scent family”; so you can indulge in a candle, bubble bath and body lotion all in the same fragrance.
Book some “me-time”
If you’re a parent, getting any time for yourself can be a luxury, even if that time is wandering around the supermarket at 9pm on a Friday evening! Schedule some dedicated “me-time” with your other half; agree that for an hour, you won’t be the parent on-duty and you’ll be kept from family squabbles and interruptions and left to enjoy your bath. There is a certain peace which comes from knowing that, for that hour, your time is your own and it’s not for you to resolve any panic which ensues downstairs.
Lie back, enjoy that time and remember that to be a good parent you have to look after yourself too. Bath-time is precious; when you’re busy it can be all too easy to sacrifice “me-time”; book it in as scheduled, non-negotiable time and recharge those batteries before the madness ensures once again.
Invest in good products
Guardian Beauty writer, Sali Highes, recommends going cheap on shower-gel and investing in bubble bath, and for good reason “I do love a bath. My rule is shower = cheap, bath = expensive. So if I have a soak I go to town with a bath milk from Elemis, herbal bath gel from Clarins or the gorgeous honey baths from Laura Mercier. I figure it’s only once a week or so, so I might as well go for it.”
We agree with this approach. If you’re going to lie in a bath for at least 20 minutes, choose a product which will benefit your skin, moisturising and softening so that your skin will thank you for that time in the hours and days to come.
Product recommendation:
We share Sali’s love of Laura Mercier honey baths. Sold in a large tub, with a wooden honey-dipper to dispense just the right amount of product for the perfect bath, they are richly-scented and produce tonnes of bubbles. Your skin will smell of the divine scent for hours after your bath is over, prolonging that relaxing experience even more.
Choose your entertainment
If you know your limits and cant switch off your brain during bath-time, download a podcast which will take you to a higher state of calm. We particularly enjoy meditative podcasts; regulating your breathing and embracing a guided meditation can take your mind off the endless to-do lists whirring through your mind. Just make sure they’re not so relaxing that you nod-off in the bath!
We also really enjoy listening to Desert Island Discs during our bath-time; the BBC archive contains episode going back over 20 years, and there’s something about the combination of music and chat which really helps take our minds off other things. We’ve spent our recent bath-times listening to the likes of Jo Malone, Elton John, Len Goodman, Professor Brian Cox and Terry Wogan. They’re a varied bunch but they’ve all shared bath-time with members of the Bathroom Boutique team at some point over the past few years!
Search for your favourite celebrity, or spend that time getting to know the life-story of someone you’ve never even heard of. It’s all quality time; and there’s something about Kirsty Young’s deep Scottish tones which really help us to relax and drift away…
Pop into our showroom in Hebden Bridge to find that perfect bath to unwind in…