All's Well That Ends With A Bath

I've taken a bath just about every night of my entire life. Seriously, there are few reasons why I would not take a bath. Growing up, I took a bath every night. We were definitely bath people and just took showers to wash our hair. When I went to college, I suffered through two terrible years of no baths. You must be kidding me if you think I took a bath in a DORM room or a sorority house. Several times, I felt desperate, and I walked down to look at the dorm bathtub, but I thought better of it and went back to my shower. I also do not take baths at ANY hotel unless it's VERY nice. Yes, I'm a snob, but I shudder to think about hotel bathtubs. Anyway, I digress... junior year of college - the joy! We moved into a town house that had a bathtub. My roommates teased me mercilessly, but no matter. Every night, I lit my candles, put in my bubble bath, and made a cup of tea.

After college, it was ON. I had a choice of where to live, and at the top of my priority list was a nice kitchen and a BIG bathtub. Brent & I first lived in a townhouse that had a jetted tub. Heaven! Since then,
every place we've lived has had a big, deep tub that Brent pretty much never sets foot in.

A bath is my nightly routine, and I sometimes look forward to it during the day. Even if I get home at midnight (as I did last Monday), I have to take a bath before getting in bed. No matter what has happened during the day, my bath will always be there and always be the same. It's my little corner of the world where everything is OK. My mind is usually going a mile a minute and sometimes I forget to breathe, so in the bath, I force my mind to empty and breathe for a solid 20 minutes or so. I don't save "special" baths for special occasions. Every night is a special bath - bubbles and candles. Life is too short, right?

I've become a bath connoisseur, if you will. Needless to say, Bath and Body Works is right up there with Hobby Lobby and Target as my favorite stores of all time. I've got some recommendations for you below, at every price range. I mostly stick with bubble bath, body wash, and some bath crystals. I am not a fan of those fizzy things or anything that makes you greasy. I mean, the point of the bath is to make you clean! One time I used one so icky I had to take a shower when I got out! But you can bank on the products below.

To start, you've gotta have a good candle. I am currently in love with Slatkin candles from Bath and Body Works. They are on sale often. I love the "Winter" scent from their holiday collection. It's not Christmas-y. It's just spicy and wonderful.

You don't have to spend a fortune on bath stuff - especially if you're going to use it every night! Suave is great. I love the toasted coconut body wash. I am also obsessed with their limited edition seasonal collection. This year they had toasted vanilla sugar and peppermint bliss. They were so limited edition that I couldn't even find a picture of them online! I found peppermint bliss at Wal-Mart for $1, and I may or may not have bought 5 of them.

If you want to splurge a little but still not break the bank, try Bath Junkie. You get to pick your product and pick your scent from like 100 choices. I had them whip up some lemongrass bath crystals for me. They were amazing.
Bath and Body Works pretty much never disappoints. I am in love with the aromatherapy line. The stress relief scents are particularly wonderful.

I particularly love "Energy" - a mix of orange and ginger. To me, this smells like the Four Seasons hotel. If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine I'm there.

I found this face wash at Kroger and now use it every night. It's a nighttime wash that smells like lavender, so you can relax even as you're washing your face!

After your bath, you're going to need some lotion. Forget the expensive stuff. You can find great stuff at CVS. I love this Suave cinnamon lotion. Feels expensive to me!

My new fave is this Johnson's "Melt Away Stress" lotion. Perfect right before bed.

Remember... no matter what your day was like, all's well that ends with a bath!