An evening bath is built in a simple order: run the water warm, add one thing that scents it and changes how it feels, take your time, then step out and moisturise. That one thing might be a bath oil, a handful of bath salts, a foaming gel under the running tap or a bath bomb, and each behaves differently in the water. Below is what each one does, how to draw the bath, and the bath bombs, bath gels and sponges we would choose for an evening at home.
Oil, Salts, Foam or a Bath Bomb?
The four differ mostly in texture. A bath oil either disperses, turning the water milky, or floats on the surface; either way it leaves a fine, silky film on the skin as you step out. Bath salts are crystals that dissolve in warm water and carry scent through it, leaving the water clear. A bath foam or foaming bath gel, poured under the running tap, builds bubbles that sit on the surface and scent the room. A bath bomb is a pressed ball that fizzes as it dissolves, releasing fragrance and, often, colour.
Choose by the feel you want: silk from an oil, clear scented water from salts, a layer of bubbles from a foam, movement and colour from a bath bomb. One at a time is plenty. Several scents in one bath tend to blur into each other, and a single fragrance reads more clearly.
How to Draw the Bath
- Run the water warm rather than hot, and test it with your hand before you step in.
- Pour foam or bath gel under the running tap, so the flow whips it into bubbles.
- Add oil, salts or a bath bomb once the bath is drawn. Stir salts until they have dissolved, and let a bath bomb finish fizzing before you get in.
- Give yourself fifteen or twenty minutes. A long soak in very hot water can leave skin feeling dry.
- Step out carefully: oils and some foams make the bath slippery.
- Pat the skin dry and apply a body lotion or oil while it is still slightly damp.
Bath Bombs: Fizz, Colour and Scent
A bath bomb's fizz comes from a simple reaction. Sodium bicarbonate and citric acid, pressed together dry, meet in water and release small bubbles of carbon dioxide, which lift the fragrance from the water as they rise. Drop the bath bomb into warm water, under the running tap if you like more movement, and wait until it has dissolved completely before you step in. Rinse the bath afterwards so no colour or residue is left behind.
IDC Institute's bath bombs are an easy way to find the scent you prefer. The pink-and-white Bath Bombs carry a passion fruit fragrance. The purple-and-white Two-Tone Bath Bomb is scented with lavender, and the blue-and-white one with lotus, tinting the water a soft blue. The purple and the blue each come as a single bath bomb, and both list sodium bicarbonate and citric acid among their ingredients.
Foaming Bath Gels and Concentrates
A bath and shower gel does two jobs: poured under the tap it makes foam for the bath, and on a sponge it washes. A small amount is enough, and the stronger the flow of water, the more bubbles it builds. Choose it for its scent, since in the bath the fragrance fills the whole room.
Clarins' Aroma Bain aux Plantes Tonic is a bath and shower concentrate with essential oils of mint, rosemary and geranium, a fresh, herbal scent. Royale Ambree's Original Bergamot Bath Gel blends bergamot, petit grain, lemon, lavender and rosemary into a creamy lather, in a 750 ml bottle. Alvarez Gomez's Bath and Shower Gel is scented with camomile and cucumber and comes with a pump. Ziaja's Coconut & Orange Vibes Shower and Bath Gel is made with coconut oil, with a bright coconut and orange scent.
- Aroma Bain aux Plantes Tonic Body Wash
- Original Bergamot Bath Gel
- Bath And Shower Gel
- Coconut & Orange Vibes Shower and Bath Gel
Perfumed Bath Gels for a Scented Evening
If fragrance is the point of your bath, a perfumed bath gel from a fragrance house scents the water and the steam, and leaves the skin delicately scented as you step out. It is also a gentle way to enjoy a fragrance you love without applying it directly.
Sisley's Izia Bath and Shower Gel carries the house's Izia fragrance, a floral scent, with a rich foam and a satin finish. Carven's Le Parfum Perfumed Bath and Shower Gel has a creamy foam and a delicate fragrance. Elizabeth Arden's White Tea Bath and Shower Gel, from the house's White Tea collection, contains tea leaf extract and comes in a 400 ml pump bottle. Roger & Gallet's Gingembre Rouge Shower Gel, scented with red ginger, is made for the bath as well as the shower.
- Izia Bath and Shower Gel
- Le Parfum Perfumed Bath and Shower Gel
- White Tea Pure Indulgence Bath And Shower Gel
- Gingembre Rouge Shower Gel
A Sponge for the Bath
A sponge spreads a little gel a long way and gives the wash a texture of its own. Calypso's vegetable sponge is made with cotton and linen, soft and oval. The same house's rectangular Bath Sponge has two sides, one textured for exfoliating and one soft for lather. Beter's yellow sponge is soft polyurethane foam in an oval that sits comfortably in the hand. Rinse a sponge well after the bath and let it dry fully between uses.
A Few Sensible Precautions
- Try a new scent, especially one with essential oils, on a small patch of skin first.
- Keep bath products away from the eyes.
- Rinse the bath after oils, foams or bath bombs, which can leave the surface slippery.
- If your skin is broken, sore or very itchy, ask your pharmacist or doctor before using scented bath products.
For the shower rather than the bath, our guide to shower oil and body oil covers how to use both. For sets built around a single scent, our evening ritual with Rituals' sets is the place to look.
In Short
Choose one thing for the water: oil for a silky feel, salts for clear scented water, foam for bubbles, a bath bomb for fizz and colour. Run the bath warm, add foam under the tap and everything else once the bath is drawn, and moisturise while your skin is still damp. If you change only one thing this evening, keep to a single scent and let it carry the whole bath.
