Bath salt and oils
There are few things as indulgent as taking a long, soaking bath. And when you add essential oils, with their relaxing scents and medicinal benefits, your bath becomes a therapeutic experience as well.
By using essential oils and other botanicals in your bath, you can transform a humdrum soak into a truly relaxing respite from stress, aggravation, and your daily worries. As heated water carries the calming or reviving scents through the air, you will feel the outer world recede, allowing you to focus on you.
Bath salt and oils
CUSTOM SCENTS
By carefully choosing which essential oil or oils you add to your bath, you can alter the end result. You may need to ease tension one day, be energized the next. Experiment not only with mixing the oils, but with determining how many drops you need to add to achieve the perfect ambiance.
Calming Oils: Tone things down with bee balm, lavender, vanilla, ginger, and nutmeg.
Healthiest Oils: For a straight-up therapeutic bath, try any of the following oils: clove, eucalyptus, frankincense, lavender, chamomile, lemon, oregano, peppermint, rosemary, and sage.
Child-safe Bath Additives: Because young children often get bathwater in their mouths, it’s best not to use essential oils in their bath. Opt instead for zesty lemon juice, soothing baking soda, or pH-restoring apple cider vinegar.
Refreshing and Uplifting Oils: Regain energy and renew insight with eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, fennel, bergamot orange, lemon balm, clary sage, and juniper.
Herbal Notes: For a truly earthy, herbal scent that’s made for outdoorsy types, try mixing 10 drops of lavender essential oil, 5 drops of frankincense oil, and 3 drops of cedarwood oil with 1/2 cup of carrier oil.
Citrus Soak: Perk up your skin and your senses by combining the scents of several oils in the citrus family: grapefruit, orange, mandarin, lemon, and bergamot orange.
Sensual Scents: Prepare for a romantic night on the town—or an evening in—with the oils of coriander, patchouli, vanilla, or aniseed.
Luxurious Moments: Pretend you are an Arabian Nights princess or a film noir femme fatale as you surround yourself with the rich scents of jasmine, tuberose, ylang-ylang, neroli, or clary sage oil.
Masculine Essence: There’s no reason women should get all the benefits from moisturizing bath oils. After all, men are more often asked to perform outdoor work that exposes their skin to the elements in all four seasons. For a manly yet restorative soak, try sandalwood, eucalyptus, bay, cypress, patchouli, ginger, black pepper, vanilla, vetiver, and any of the citrus oils. Or mix up a custom blend to your own taste.
REFRESHING DRINKS:
While you are relaxing in a warm tub, it makes a nice contrast to hydrate your insides by sipping a cool drink. Try adding sliced cucumbers or a few lemon or lime wedges and ice to spring water. Or turn a strong cup of brewed herbal tea into iced tea before you prepare the bath. Serve drinks in an insulated cup to keep them chilled.