image: Nat
By BR Kellie
Is there anything as luxurious as lying in a bath brimming with warm water, fluffy with bubbles, glass of red on one side, lit candle wafting its scent about on the other, Kindle in hand. Bliss. Unless of course you’ve a three year old in the bath with you, in which case it’s a recipe for disaster.
Once upon a time I could’ve entered competitive bathing, if there were such a thing. The hours I clocked up soaking myself verged on embarrassing, but oh, the sweet relaxation and decadent me-time of floating in water whilst ignoring the world. And then I had a child and the time was spent rushing through a shower before she woke up. Then the blessed child discovered baths. More to the point she discovered bubbles.
Game on.
A new competitive bather was born. In fact it’s become a team sport, with the two of us hopping in the bath for as long as humanly possible. (The little miss holds the current record with three hours.) During that time we’ve had much fun experimenting with ways to make bath time even more enjoyable. From bubbles and bombs to crayons and crystals. So what gets the Mini-Pixie Fist Pump of Approval?
Bubbles. The more the merrier. We’ve had Frozen Bubble Bath. Arome Ambiance bubble bath. LUSH bubbles in all sorts of forms and varieties. Earthwise Bubble Bath. Ecostore Bubble Bath. If it’s caught our eye we’ve bought it. Well, apart from some of those ones specially designed for younger children that are meant to smell like bubblegum or something ‘cute’ but kind of smell like dried puke. We skipped those. By ‘we’ I mean ‘I’. The joy of bubbles knows no bounds – piling them up into bubble mountains, making bubble beards, blowing them into each other’s faces. It’s a good time.
Bath Bombs are… well… the bomb. The spectacle of seeing a ball fizz and bubble never gets old, especially when there’s a colour – or many colours involved. Especially when those colours turn the bath a bright blue, or princess pink. The little human’s favourite? Intergalactic by LUSH, followed by their Golden Egg – because it leaves you covered in golden glitter. So pretty. If it comes out next Easter I’m stockpiling. We’ve also tried bath bombs from The Honeybunch Shop, bombs we’ve picked up at craft markets. Basically if it’s round, fizzes and comes into view it’s scooped up for a bath date.
Of course, what would a bathing session be without a little creativity? And even us big kids can have fun with… bath crayons.!!!The only limit is your imagination and your tolerance for water as it grows colder with every masterpiece you create.
She Who Thinks She Rules the Roost doesn’t approve, but I’m a huge fan of adding Epsom salts to the bath after a week of boxing the Best Beauty Box Ever up with the Beauty Pixies in the warehouse. It may not be scented, or look pretty, or have bubbles, but boy does it soothe away the aches – and since the little human won’t jump into a boring looking bath it means Mummy can have a little me time - Kindle, glass of wine, candle, and all.
So do tell? Are you a bathing beauty? What do you like to pop in your bath? Are there any products we need to know about? Chat away!
A bath surrounded by candles, reading a book is my happy place! And Lush bath products are my guilty pleasure! If I'm feeling really flirty and fun I can use one with glitter or sparkles, if I feel christmasy I throw in a Yog Nog, and if I feel cold and sore, throw in a lavender. The fact that you've introduced your daughter to the wonders of the bath is awesome!! Another good Lush product for kids is the playdough-like soap. It comes in several colours with the purpose of being able to be creative while in the bath - have fun you two!!