Ok, so it’s been a while! In case no one has asked you today. How are you, really?
If you’ve been using this time to learn a new language, bake something impressive or whipping your iced latte I salute you but if you’ve been wearing your pj’s, eating Nutella from the jar and watching anything but the news, I also salute you. This is a no judgement zone.
If I’m honest, my brain has been in a total fog the last few weeks and the usual blog posts have seemed kind of trivial in the wake of a global pandemic. That being said, I’m still finding little glimmers of happiness and calm amidst the anxiety and low-level panic of day to day life and for the first time in weeks, I got a little bit excited about sharing something with you.
I don’t know about you guys but I’ve been feeling like I’ve been living the same day on repeat since lockdown began and so I’ve honed in on the small things that bring me a huge amount of joy and found a few ways to make them extra special. If you don’t have small people to look after every day I’d forget the rest of this post and just add alcohol to each item on your to-do list but for those of us with kids, it’s all about the boujee bath. My little slice of daily happiness comes around at 7pm when my baby is fast asleep and I’ve committed to making it boujee AF.
Baths before lockdown were usually a 5-minute affair surrounded by my baby’s bubble machine and 45768 mini plastic boats as I was too tired to move them before flopping into the bubble-less water. Lockdown baths have major five-star hotel/spa vibes. This means bubbles. Candles. Oils. Salts. Herbs. Oh and liquor. Because sometimes submerging yourself in lashings of oils and salts taken from the Tuscan hills is what you need to stay calm in a crisis.
Your bathing ritual is also a great way to make it feel weekendy. You know how every day feels like a Monday right now? Well, weekend baths are where we step it up. Swap the Aldi candles for the posh ones. Yep. Light your Diptyque candles. Light your Neom ones. Pop a bottle (I’m living for these mini pink champagnes). Swap an inspirational podcast (keep your kumbayah Karen) for something truly trashy on Netflix (I’m watching Shameless from the beginning) or break out your most treasured playlist. Make a G and T with the fancy garnish (that veg box came in handy for something) or learn the art of the ultimate tequila cocktail (spoiler this is just tequila and ice with a fancy orange garnish and ice and that’s ok).
Right. Products. This is where it gets quite exciting. I’ve added a few new products to my bathing ritual and I’m going to give you a little rundown of the ones I would buy again. If you’re hanging on to the hope of that quarantine glow up, you can use your lockdown baths to come out of this with the best hair/skin/body of your life (just don’t read the next bit about snacks). I’m talking about body brushes, sheet masks, charcoal masks, those little under the eye patches that you’ve always wondered about (extra boujee points for the Chanel ones) anything that J-Lo uses or any product Caroline Herons has talked about. Salt scrubs, mud masks, anything that comes with a fancy brush or application tool and not forgetting anything by La Mer. Quartz face rollers, hair masks and lip treatments oh my!
While we’re all staying at home and not spending our money at Starbucks, lunches out, brunches and general purchases out and about, a little indulgent bath purchase never hurt nobody. Also, if you can’t treat yourself in a global pandemic, when can you? And that’s my obscenely expensive Laura Mercier honey bath purchase justified. Here’s what I’ve tried and loved.
My go-to bath bubbles are:
Radox muscle soak (an oldie but a goodie and it’s only £1) // Laura Mercier honey bath (do not focus on price per use for this one, it won’t do anything for your stress levels just focus on enjoying the novelty wand and the scent that lasts for about 4 weeks post-bath) // Molton Brown peppercorn bath gel (a classic) // Ouai Chill Pills (the only bath bombs appropriate for anyone over 30).
My favourite oils/salts are:
Jo Malone bath oil in the Lime Basil and Mandarin (this is worth the price tag as it scents your whole house so no need for candles or diffusers. WIN) // Espa positivity bath oil (Pricey but can you put a price on positivity in a pandemic?) // Elemis aching muscle soak (for those people still working out) // Aromatherapy Associates Deep Relax (good for those who are struggling with sleep) Epsom salts or Himalayan pink salts (for those wanting a little detox).
My favourite scrubs are:
Any of the Frank Body range (gives you baby soft skin and cleaning the bath after counts as cardio) // Sanctuary hot sugar scrub (like being in an actual spa) // Clinique sparkle skin (perfect for removing traces of tan or prepping your skin pre-tan if you are quarantining with anyone relatively new and sex is a thing).
Snacks
You might find your daily slice of happiness at the bottom of a bag of fizzy Percy pigs and that’s also fine. There are absolutely no rules when it comes to bath snacks especially if you have one of those bath caddies or trays. Family size galaxy chocolate bars if you want to feel like that lady in the advert. Champagne truffles if it’s the weekend, a teetering pile of kinder eggs to celebrate making it through Monday if you are still working or a fancy cheese board if you don’t have a sweet tooth but still want to be boujee. You do you boo boo.
Sounds and Sage
If you want to take your bath beyond basic relaxation and cleansing to a full-blown soulful transformation, you’re going to need some music. Hell, throw in some herbs, flowers, coconut milk, and crystals too while we’re here. Sage is a popular one for those wanting to try a ritual bath. Light a sage stick and cleanse your bathroom before you bathe and consider the moon phase for maximum healing properties.
Current favourite song: Love Letters by Mauve – Leave me yours in the comments!
*Am I cool enough to use the word boujee? No. Will I be using it anyway? Yes. Did I have to google how it was spelled? Absolutely Yes.
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