Baths aren't always bottled, or bubbled. (Other Bath & Shower)

Member Name: Celandine

Product:	Other Bath & Shower
Date:	15/08/01 (528 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, lovely, you clean and relax at the same time

Disadvantages: well, it depends, really, if you're into big bubbles, and brand names

Baths are glorious things, you know. They aren't just for the prosaic necessity of cleansing yourself (although it's a handy by-product of having a bath), they're for thinking, reading, wallowing, or just having a bit of time to yourself.

They're great for soothing blues away when you're sad, and they're great for refreshing yourself at the end of a hot, sticky day. They're lovely when you're pregnant, and carrying more weight on your feet that you ever thought possible, and they're super when you've children and need a moment to yourself. If you're tired after work a bath can refresh you, and if it's 2am and you can't sleep, a bath will pass the hours quicker, whilst relaxing you. No-one can disturb you in a bathroom unless you want them to. Let the dinner wait, and go take a nice long bath.

But then, imagine, you go to the shelf where you hoard your lotions and potions, and there's nothing that fits. Or you've sensitive skin, and don't want the drying effect of lots of bubbles (I could go on all about the acid mantle of the skin, and how bubble-baths throw it out of kilter, here, but I won't). Back to the dreaded scenario.

Imagine. You've something you need to think about. You need a bath. You look in your bathroom, and you see two sachets of free shower-gel (shower's are for mornings, thank-you very much), half a bottle of Sainsbury's own-brand peach stuff that moved with you from your last house, and the gel in a fancy bottle you were given at Christmas, many moons ago by Aunty Gerda, that looks like fairy liquid and smells of fabric conditioner (not Aunty Gerda, the bath 'elixir', although there are scary similarities, I have to admit).

Anyway, the point of this whole thing is that you don't need to buy things in posh bottles to have lovely baths. There are loads and loads of herbal baths that you can make yourself really easily, just
as easy as beans on toast is to make in the kitchen. They're nice, they don't damage your skin because they don't froth up, they smell gorgeous, and make you smell gorgeous (apart from the ginger one, that makes you smell a bit weird), and they really, truly, honestly, complement the whole bathing thing.

If you hate baths, and only like showering, then I've included some recipes that can be used in showers, too. But you can't take a book into a shower, and lighting a candle in a shower cubicle just doesn't work as well as lighting one in a bathroom, and feeling all romantic about the world as you lie back in warm water, scented with milk and rose petals.

That's the first recipe. I'm going to start with the basic ones, then throw in a couple of special baths at the end. Because there's having a bath, and there's having a special bath, you know. Oh, and they aren't all of them girly baths, so don't despair, if you're a man, reading this, who doesn't want to do the frou-frou smelly bit.

But the basic things. Milk makes a lovely bath, it does, even if we can't all do a Cleopatra, unless we've a handy ass to milk. Use powdered milk, and throw a couple of handfuls into the bathwater. Then add whatever you feel like to the mixture. Rose petals from your garden? About four drops of lavender essential oil if you've some around? Both, maybe. If you've any knowledge of essential oils you can blend a mixture and add them to the bathwater with or without the milk, but I'm not straying into the essential oil territory here, since some oils you have to be careful about, and I'm not qualified to give you the proper advice. If you're interested, go to a good health food shop, and they should advise you properly. I think I'm pretty safe in recommending camomile, however, if you've a need to relax. You don't have the essential oil? Hang a couple of teabags under
a running tap - with or without powdered milk.

Oatmeal is my next basic thing. Oatmeal, not porridge oats, since all they do is bung up the plug-hole. If you get some fine oatmeal, and then either sew it into little muslin bags, or just grab handfuls of it, is a gorgeously gentle exfoliator. If you do the little bag thing, suspend the bag under the tap, then rub it over your body, the water in the bath will turn milky, too, and it feels all natural, and nice. A homely bath, but quite fun. If you don't do the little bag thing, then just rub nice handfuls of the stuff over you, which will exfoliate beautifully, and make you feel like eating yourself for breakfast.

Oh, and if you do that, and with many of the herbal baths, too, I'd use one of those sieve-like plug things that you buy from hardware shops to put over the plug-hole, otherwise you'll be fishing out gunk for ages. This cleaning thing undermines the principle of a nice relaxing bath, if you know it'll take you two hours and lots of nasty chemicals to sort out the plughole afterwards.

Next boring basic is salt (I'll get to the proper, interesting recipes soon, I promise). Bath salts are just that - salt. Try taking a handful of sea salt, adding the peel of a lemon or orange, and maybe one or two drops of citrus essential oil if you have any, and leaving them overnight. Add it to warm bath water in the morning for a sparkly bath. Add other things to salt, too. If you live near an oriental grocer buy some seaweed, and add about an ounce (25g) to the same amount of a couple of teaspoons of salt. If you are really lucky and live by the sea then pick up some kelp, wash it, and add it to the mixture. If you use a teaball, or make it into a sachet, then this is a better way to get the bathwater really potent (although personally I've not tried the kelp bit, since I live far away from the sea, and it always dries out and smells horrid by the time it's reached hom
e).

Herbs. That's the last really basic thing. If you've a garden, or have bought lots of fresh herb from a supermarket, then just pop it in the bathwater. Mint, especially, is refreshing, and turns the whole thing a lovely pale green colour. Lavender is lavenderish, and garlic I wouldn't particularly recommend, although it's meant to be warming. Thyme is lovely, so too Rosemary, and if you combine them all in a mixture you like, then you've made your own bath recipe.

If you're into the bag-making thing, then combine a mixture of herbs with oatmeal, or dried milk, and run them under the tap. Me? I like lavender combined with cinnamon, and maybe a bit of thyme. I smell nice afterwoods, or at least I hope I do. If you've marigolds in the garden then english marigold is a gorgeous addition to a bath. Yes, they are bright yellow, but then so are most of the bath products on the market. Ooh, and try a mixture of lemon juice, mint leaves, and almond oil to dispell the stickiness of a hot summer afternoon.

So, salt, milk, herbs and oatmeal (although not all together) are the basic things. If you really adore bubbles, then you could always add baby bath, or some other unfragranced mild product to the water to make them froth beautifully. Honestly, though, you don't need it. Sometimes bathing is just as nice without lots of bubbles. Bubbles make me sneeze, anyway.

Now to the proper recipe bits. These are all for special baths. Baths when you really need one. When you're tired, or cross, or can't sleep, or just want some time to yourself.

The Cider Bath (otherwise known as the frannyfortune). Take one muffin, preferably large, and a glass of cider, plus a handful of dried apples, the peel of one apple, half a cup of lavender, a big pinch of cinnamon, and a small pinch of cloves. Put all the ingredients except the muffin and the cider, into about half a pint of boiling water for about 20 minu
tes. Take to bath with good book, put in warm water, and throw cider into bath water. Read book, and eat muffin.

There's more. I've a chocolate bath recipe, too. Take about half a pint of milk or cream, with 2tsp almond oil, one tsp oil of chocolate (you can buy this from Lakeland, or good cook shops) and a pinch of cinnamon or mixed spice. If you're feeling really indulgent put a bit of vanilla pod in, too. Just heat all the ingredients in a bain marie for about 5 minutes, stirring, and add to running bath water.

Oh, and here's a more blokey recipe, which is a really sturdy bath. Take about 1tsp powdered ginger, half a cup of lemon juice, a cup of water, and a wedge of lemon. Put the ginger and wedge in a bit of muslin or tea bag, and hang under the running tap.

This one's better, though, although less warming. It takes a while, too, but it is lovely, and not at all girly. Take sage, lavender, thyme, savory and a handful of salt, and add it all to one pint of wine vinegar. Leave for three weeks, strain, and add about a half a cup to the bath at a time. This is soothing on muscles, and it does smell lovely (not at all girly, I promise, and I think men should claim a bit of bathing happiness for themselves as well as girls).

There's more, and more, and more recipes, but, honestly, the nicest thing is to experiment. Just one more proper recipe, because I think it's the nicest I've found. It's relaxing, and soothing, and just plain lovely. Take 1oz rose petals, 1/2 oz dried mint, and a pinch of cloves. Put these in a tea ball, or sew them into a sachet, and hang them under running water.

Oh, and baths are lovely. But they can sometimes be lovelier if you've nothing in the cupboard, and don't know what to put in the water. Rootle around for ages looking at posh pots, if you must, but just go to the kitchen cupboard and see what you can find, in the end. If I wax lyrical any longer
about baths I'll feel silly, but at least you all know that I smell nice, too. Light a candle, take a book. Take a muffin, or biscuit, or kitten, or glass of wine. Take some time for just you, to think and dream, or to relax. Baths are for more than mere cleansing.

These are just some of the things I've tried. They've all got their root in various books, from old herbals (Culpepper) to modern ones, and I've tweaked most of the recipes to suit me (which is what you should do, I think, if you're interested in this sort of thing). But, most of them are based on two out-of-print books. One is "The Book of the Bath" Catherine Kanner: Ballantine Books 1986), and the other is "The New Beauty : An east-west guide to body and soul", by Michelle Dominic Leigh:Newleaf 1996) and eerugh, what a title to the last one. But I've tried them all out, because oh, how I do like baths, and I like herbs, too.

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