Unbiased Reviews by Real People
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Unbiased Reviews by Real People
Oh, The Bliss of a Hot Bath!May 26, 2001 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line One of life's little pleasures. Take advantage of all the scrumptious bath delights on the market and indulge in a hot bath!
Bath vs. Shower My hubby only takes showers. I am a bath person, always have been, and hubby can't understand why in the world anyone would want to "sit in their own dirty water". I tell him: relaxation, dear, relaxation. Showers are fine when I'm in a hurry, but on days like today when I have worked hard in the yard all day ... boy do I look forward to my bath. And on those cold Alaskan winter nights, there are times when this is the only way to take a chill off! I fill the tub just as hot as I can stand it (it cools off soon enough) and I am ready for 30-60 minutes of pure bliss! No children or pets allowed in the bathroom! This is just for me! We have an over sized tub too, a jacuzzi shell without the jets. I have used those portable whirlpool machines, but they sound like vacuum cleaners - NOT very conducive to relaxing! I always get into the tub and when it's hot enough, I push the faucet in with my foot to shut off the water. Am I lazy or what! Set the Mood My hubby started a tradition of running my bath water for me, and he would light candles all around the room. Just enough to see by, but dark enough that I can really relax. I am into aromatherapy and love scented candles ... however I like to buy the ones that have been scented with essential oils and are made with natural sources like beeswax. The perfumie scents on some candles give me a headache, and many are made from petroleum products - what I consider toxic. I like to keep it as natural as possible. I also like to listen to music while I'm bathing. Classical is my favorite. I used to take my walkman into the bathtub with me - but once I dropped it into the tub by accident and almost ruined it (my hubby actually got it working again!), so now I just put a portable player on the counter. Bath Accessories! There are so many bath accessories to choose from! Places like the Body Shop sell many tempting items, and almost any store you go into these days has a section of bath supplies. I use an inflatable pillow. It's scalloped around the top, and has 4 suction cups to hold it securely to the tub. I used to use one made of plastic, but it was hard to wash. I bought one from Avon a few years ago that has terry cloth on the front and soft plastic on the back - I can throw it in the washing machine when it gets icky from our hard water. As far as making the bath water smell good, there are a plethora of products. Oils, bubble baths, bath salts, bath beads, etc. My favorite is a product I make myself. I mix sea salt with mineral salts and I add some lavender essential oil to them - (lavender is a relaxing scent, and relaxing is what this is all about!). This will last a long time and is very inexpensive to make. Essential oils are very therapeutic. You can also add a few drops of essential oil directly to the bath water. I have even made my own bath oils by adding some of my favorite perfume to jojoba oil! Try it. When using essential oils, they do not leave a film on the skin or tub - they aren't really an oil, but more like strong scented water. I also like bath oils, or scented bath washes. I absolutely love Estee Lauder Beautiful and Calvin Klein Obsession. I use their soap or bath gels to wash up with and when I get out of the bath I powder up with the same scent. My hubby says that the bathroom smells like "me". He told me that if I die and he really gets to missing me, he is going to wash the tub with one of my bath gels so it will still smell like me. How sweet! I used to use bubble baths. There is something special about taking a soak in a hot tub with fragrant bubbles up to your neck! But a few years ago I started having urinary tract infections and my gynecologist recommended that I stop using bubble bath. Ever since I stopped, I have not had one UTI. This is a common problem for many women, and even little girls. If you are having UTI's, this could be a contributing factor. I have a little container that sticks to my tub tiles with suction cups and I have a little razor holder that also stays up with a suction cup. I enjoy shaving my legs and going to bed feeling how silky soft they are. Shaving my legs while in the tub makes the job easier, because the razor just glides over my skin. Exfoliating I love not only getting clean, but getting the dead skin off my body. There are many products that will help exfoliate your skin. Loofah sponges (they are not soft sponges, quite hard actually), and those nylon scrubbers, or a special wash cloth just for exfoliating. I don't use wash cloths. I use scrubbers - a puff ball made of a nylon mesh, they really make just a dab of shower gel go a long way and they leave the scrubber smelling great, which in turn helps to make the bathroom smell good. When I'm done I rinse it out (it can take a long time to rinse out, those soap bubbles just keep comin') and hang it up by it's string. I also have a suction cup on the tile wall that has a hook on it. I have suction cup hooks and doo-dads all over the tiles! There are also topical products that exfoliate the skin, Clinique makes some fantastic ones - their Sparkle Exfoliator is out of this world. I also have a pumice stone in my caddy (the one that's stuck onto the tiles with suction cups). My mom taught me about pumice stone's, they are very abrasive. In case you've never seen one, it almost looks like a tiny block of cement - only hot as hard, and it's very light weight - it will crumble off from time to time. Soak and get your skin nice and soft, then use the pumice on your heels. I hate dry scratchy heels! With regular use this will smooth away that dead rough skin and make your heels as soft as the rest of your body. A friend of mine knows I like "natural" products, and last year she gave me a wonderful product called "Fruit Frappe - Exfoliating Bath Jam". It smells like raspberry, and contains tiny apricot kernels that scrub the dead skin away, and it has aloe vera for soothing the skin. It's made with real fruit extracts, a real treat! But don't eat it! Drinks in the Tub? I like to take drinks into the bathtub with me. I simply set them in the corner of the tub until I need them. In the summer when it's hot I like to drink raspberry lemonade. In the winter hot cocoa or a Kahlua and cream mixed drink are my beverages of choice. The Kahlua will really relax me! You always see gals in the movies drinking champagne or wine in the bath, not me. Towel Racks I have a towel rack right by the tub. I don't like to drip water all over the floor, so I like that it's close by. I long for the day when my hubby buys me a heated rack for my bath towels, that would be heaven! Wrapping up in a warm towel after getting out of the tub! I am usually a little cold when I get out, because the air is so much cooler than the temperature of the bath water. Sometimes in the winter I take a space heater into the bathroom with me - it's almost like being in a sauna! Hair Clips I have long hair, and I don't like to wash it when I'm in the tub. Under the bathroom counter I keep a glass jar full of hair products. I love to comb out my hair and put it up in a clip or bun before I jump into the tub. You need something to get it out of your way and keep it dry. I like to buy all sorts of fancy hair clips. My one little indulgence. Tub Mats You should know that many bath oils can make the bathtub very slippery. We have an extra long bath mat in the bottom of our tub, it literally runs from the front to the back. You can also buy decals to stick on the bottom of the tub that will help prevent a fall. Take precautions so you don't slip and fall in your bathtub! Conclusion If you aren't a bath person, give it a try. It can be a real indulgence! On top of the relaxation factor, it can also be therapeutic if you have achy muscles. There are cold and flu bath products these days, and when I get a cold I use one that has a strong eucalyptus scent in it, boy it really helps open the sinuses. A hot bath is what I look forward to at the end of a stressful or hectic day. In fact, I am going to go and soak my achy muscles right now ... my hubby just called out to me "I thought you were going to take a bath?" I am dear!  |
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