Upgrade your bath time with these self-care bath ideas. Our daily lives are usually so busy and can get stressful, hence we have to schedule a time to prioritize ourselves.
Having a self-care bath is an opportunity to take a well-needed short break and breather which we all deserve.
I’m Sue, a first time stay-at-home mom to a little toddler boy. Parenting can be exhausting. Hence it is important to be kind to oneself and practice some self-care bath routine to unwind and relax after a long day. Here are some self-care bath ideas for you to incorporate into your bath routine (some of which I personally do).
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Is Having a Bath Self-Care?
Yes, having a bath is a self-care act. I try to schedule a self-care bath session at least once or twice a week in the evenings to relieve tension.
What Should I Put in a Self-Care Bath?
Set the mood for your self-care bath using:
- Scented Candles. Choose and light a few scented candles around your bathtub to put yourself in a calm and relaxed mood.
- Music. Play some relaxing music from your phone or get a portable waterproof speaker and turn on some jazz tunes or instrumental sounds to get you in the mood to unwind for the day.
- Plants. Having some miniature green houseplants in your bathroom or around your bathtub improves the air quality and is soothing to the eyes especially if you have been staring at a digital screen for long hours during the day.
- Book or Magazine. Read a few pages or chapters from your favorite book while enjoying a soak in the tub.
- Crystals. If you are into collecting crystals, you can improve the energy during your bath by incorporating clear quartz or rose quartz crystal as part of your bathroom decor.
You can elevate your self-care bath with a combination of items below:
- Snacks. I love to indulge myself with a few dark chocolate pieces paired with a glass of red wine during my weekly bath.
- Hydrate your body with a hot or cold drink. I enjoy having a warm herbal or chamomile tea while soaking in the bathtub. You can opt for your favorite beverage whether it is a fruity kombucha, a bottle of white wine, or a bubbly rosé.
- Bath Tray. A nice wooden or bamboo bath tray is esthetically pleasing and handy to store bath items such as candles and a dry brush.
Turn your self-care bath into a mini Spa time with the following items:
- Hydrating facial mask or mud mask
- Cool cucumber slices to be placed on my eyelids
- Jade roller for face massage
- Dry body brush
- Hair mask or oil to prevent split ends and frizzy hair
- A razor or epilator after a bath makes for an easy and smooth shave
- Pumice Stone to remove dry skin and calluses from my feet
- Body Scrub (I like to DIY my own natural body scrub with some brown sugar or salts and natural oils)
- Loofah or exfoliating glove to scrub away the dead skin cells
- Body moisturizer or luscious body butter
- Body mist
- Shower cap or hair turban for nights when I don’t want to get my hair wet
- Comfortable bathrobe
- Towel
How Do You Make a Good Bath At Home?
You can make a good bath at home by adding the following bath elements into the warm water:
- Essential Oils. Add a few drops of essential oils together with a carrier oil such as coconut or almond oil into the bathwater to turn it into an aromatherapy bath. My favorites are lavender or spearmint essential oils for a relaxing session.
- Bath Bombs, Bath Oil or Body Wash. Pamper your skin with some bath bombs, bath oil or body wash for a touch of luxury to leave your body smelling nice.
- Flower Petals. If you happen to have a bouquet of fresh flowers at home or some flowering plants in your garden, you can pick some of the flower petals and add them to your bath.
- Epsom Salt. An Epsom salt detox bath has many health benefits including relief for sore muscles to destress one’s tired body.
Even if you are too tired and can’t be bothered getting any of the items above, the warm bath water in itself can make for a good bath session at home to recharge yourself.
Self-Care Bath Routine
The self-care bath routine that I follow starts with setting the ambiance by dimming the lights in the bathroom and using the essential bath elements in the section above in the areas surrounding the bathtub. I then fill warm water into the clean bathtub till it reaches half full.
During my bath, I perform a body care routine from head to toe. I sometimes meditate, grab a book to read, or simply close my eyes to relax.
Just before my bath time ends, I shave my legs and rinse off my body with cold water. I end by drying myself with a highly absorbent towel and step into my comfortable clean clothes before calling it a night.
10 Advantages of Having a Self-Care Bath
1. Me Time
Especially after being a mom, this precious few minutes of alone time in the bath feels so good for my mind and body after a long and tiring day caring for my son.
2. Stress Relief
Stepping into a warm bath is an instant stress relief for me. Submerging myself in the bathtub brings me far away from the worries of life and the problems of the day. I guess it’s similar to what my son experienced when he was a fetus in my womb.
3. Calms the Mind
A soothing bath time calms my mind after a busy day. I am relaxed and I’m happy to just sit in the bath doing absolutely nothing. This short time of mental escape is very important to me for my mental well-being and helps me to be a better mom for my child, wife to my husband, and person overall.
4. Soothe Tired Joints and Muscle Aches and Pains
Soaking in a warm bubble bath does wonder for my tired joints and soothes my muscle aches and pains after an exhausting day of chasing after my baby boy.
5. Preparing Your Body For Sleep and Rest
A bath signals my body to wind down for the day and prepare itself for sleep for the night. I tend to fall asleep quickly after a relaxing bath. I’ve noticed that my sleep quality is better on nights I’ve had a bath.
6. Detox Your Body
Adding Epsom salt to the bath water is a great method to detox the body. Through the reverse osmosis process, traces of heavy metals and toxins are drawn out of my body into the warm water.
I like to give my body a quick rinse with cold water and wipe it thoroughly with a clean bath towel to remove impurities from the detoxification.
7. Skincare and Body Pampering
Bathtime is my time to perform skincare rituals and pamper my body. The heat from the warm bath water easily opens my pores to remove blackheads and dirt. My skincare routine includes a facial, mask for my hair, body scrubbing, and thorough washing.
8. Warms And Lowers Body Temperature
I can’t tell you how soothing it is to take a long warm bath, especially on rainy days when the surrounding temperature is cooler.
9. Strengthen My Body
Regular baths strengthen my immune system as the act of self-cleaning my body removes bacteria and hence also reduces inflammation and the occurrences of me catching the flu on colder nights.
10. Relatively Easy Self-Care Routine
Incorporating a 30 minutes self-care bath ritual into my weekly self-care routine is easily achievable as it is a relatively inexpensive activity that can be done at home after I’ve put my child to bed for the evening.
I need to wash up on a daily basis anyway, hence why not spend a few more minutes performing a needed self-care bath?
Self-Care Bath Tips
- Clean your bathtub regularly before or after your bathing time.
- Warm water temperature. Check that the water temperature is not too hot or cold with your fingers or toes before emerging your whole body into the bathwater. If the water temperature is too hot, it may strip your body of its natural oils and is detrimental, especially for people with sensitive skin.
- Ensure that the water level is just right. Don’t fill the bathtub too full, otherwise, it may cause the water to overflow all over the bathroom floor and you’ll have to clean that up.
- Keep your phone on silent so that you can have some time to relax without any interruptions. If possible, put your phone outside of your bathroom if you are not expecting any urgent calls or messages.
- Be careful with electronics (like your kindle, mobile phone, or speakers) around your bathtub so that they don’t get wet which may cause them to be damaged.
- It is not recommended to take a long bath daily as it may cause your skin surface to dry out. If you do have baths every day, ensure that you moisturize sufficiently after the bath.
- Open your windows slightly so that fresh air can come in to circulate the bathroom.
- Get a bathmat ready near your bathtub floor to dry off your wet feet. It can be unpleasant to step onto cold tiles or flooring after a warm soak.
- Take precautions of burning candles and remember to extinguish them properly after your bath is complete.
- Do not spend too long soaking in the bathtub or it will cause your fingers and toes to look like prunes.
- Prepare a change of clean clothes like a bathrobe or PJs so you can immediately slip into them after drying yourself with a clean towel.
What Is a Self-Care Shower?
A self-care shower is what I usually do on most days, especially when I don’t have that much time to spare to perform a self-care bath ritual. For me, a self-care shower is really easier to achieve especially on a weeknight at home. A self-love shower is a wonderful solution if you don’t have a bathtub at home.
My self-care shower routine includes using my favorite bath products. I love using lavender or almond-scented shower gel for my body.
Prior to that, I use a skin brush to dry brush all around my body to improve blood circulation and relax my tired body. On some days I use a natural body scrub with a loofah or exfoliating cloth to deep clean my body and rid it of dead skin cells. My skin feels so smooth once I am done. Shaving my legs is also easier after exfoliating.
I try to put on a hair mask once or twice a week after shampooing and conditioning my tresses. After stepping out of the shower, I apply a good moisturizer or body butter to my body. Choose a lotion that does not feel like it has a sticky after effect.
A self-care shower trend that is gaining popularity nowadays is tying a Eucalyptus bundle to the showerhead. This gives an amazingly calming aroma as you take a warm shower.
I hope the self-care bath ideas above are beneficial to you to start planning your own version of a self-care bath night. Get ready to relax. Don’t underestimate what the wonders of an invitingly warm and calming bath time at home can do for your mind, body, and soul.