Bath & Body: 33 posts

One thing that never tempts me at the fragrance counter is the expensive selection of scented creams and the other matching body products offered in perfume sets. The trained sales associates will usually pitch them as “making the perfume last better” or “being a great value,” but I remain skeptical. A good fragrance should linger well on its own, and my hard-earned money can go further by being spent on something more useful (like another bottle of perfume!) Body lotions and shower gels can easily be sacrificed, especially if my budget needs to be kept in check.

That being said, I still love the ritual of applying scented lotion to my skin. In the evening, I massage away the fatigue accumulated during the day, enjoying the sensation of fragrant cream melting under my fingers.  It’s such a simple pleasure that it feels wrong not to indulge oneself.  The good news is that perfumed lotions are easy to make, and as long as you don’t require fancy packaging, you can enjoy your perfume in a variety of ways.

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My March topic for the Financial Times Magazine is about pampering. In Sultry Fragrances for a Scented Bath, I share some of my favorite scents. This winter, I’ve been indulging in baths perfumed with Estée Lauder Youth Dew and Roger & Gallet Cologne. When I don’t have time for a proper relaxing bath, I spritz a bit of cologne into the shower to enjoy a fresh burst of citrus. It gives me a stronger jolt than a cup of coffee!

I treat myself to perfumed baths whenever I feel tired or simply in need of some pampering. It’s an indispensable indulgence and one of the most satisfying scented pleasures. To feel as if I’m floating on rose petals, I turn to Red Roses Bath Oil by Jo Malone (£52 for 200ml). It leaves skin soft and redolent of lemony tea roses. L’Artisan Parfumeur’s La Chasse aux Papillons Dry Body Oil (£40 for 100ml) is perfumed with the sweetness of tuberose and linden blossom, and while it can be used instead of moisturising cream, in the bath it feels especially luscious. Please read the rest by clicking here.

What do you use whenever you crave some pampering?

Photography via FT.

My first scented purchase—made when I was ten—was not perfume.  Rather, it was soap, in the shape and smell of a peach. The soap cost a dime and I was loathe to use it, since this luxurious object purchased at a church bazaar would be impossible to replace. I recall the weight of the soap in my hand and the globular shape that split in half to reveal a pit.  I adored the smooth texture of the soap and the delightful scent as I put the soap to my nose to smell the sweet, fruity aroma.

The enjoyment of fragrant soap has not changed for me.  Finding a new soap that has rich, creamy lather and sublime fragrance is always a treat.  Often, the fragrance from soap is the only one I want to wear for the day, and this is especially true when I’m suffering from olfactory fatigue.  That’s when I reach for a lightly scented soap, perhaps one with a marine or fruity fragrance. I’ve always been thrilled when a favorite fragrance has a complementary soap (or shower gel) and there are occasions where the soap is the only form of a fragrance that works for me.

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One evening as I was preparing my cologne bath after a long day I accidentally poured a decant of The Different Company Sel de Vétiver instead of 4711 into the water. The explosion of scent–green woods, licorice and grapefruit–was so exhilarating and relaxing that I immediately felt refreshed. Since then, vetiver scented baths have become my favorite way to wind down.

Vetiver is a tropical grass that has intensely aromatic roots. In India, where vetiver roots are woven into screens, it is known as “oil of tranquillity” for its relaxing, calming properties. A bath is one of the best anti-stress rituals, but when it’s accompanied by a  scent, the effect is even stronger. Using Sel de Vétiver for a bath is not cost efficient, so I’ve experimented with vetiver essential oil and discovered that it produces a much more potent result. Vetiver has such incredible complexity that it can be diluted in an unscented carrier oil or alcohol and used as perfume. It’s the smell of a late fall garden and a winter beach rolled into one–driftwood, crushed hazelnut shells and damp leaves.

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The first thing that I found interesting about Brussels was not its Manneken Pis mascot (chalk it up to the uniquely Bruxellois sense of fun) and not even the common sight of beer drinking at 8am (chalk it up to the grey weather). It was the dense concentration of beauty and hair salons. Every street, whether elegant or run down, has several of them, ranging from omnipresent franchises like Olivier Dachkin to tiny hole in the wall places that look like someone’s living room. Judging by the perfectly coiffed and perfumed grandmothers, age has no bearing on the desire to be beautiful.

The women in my family take their beauty rituals seriously, but spas and luxury salon treatments rarely tempt them. Ask my mom or my grandmother about their tips for silky hair or luminous skin, and you will get a lecture, along with handwritten recipes. My great grandmother left behind several thick notebooks filled with beauty and health advice. Nothing can inspire me to take better care of myself than leafing through the yellowing pages that smell of vanilla and sawdust and wondering if as a young woman, my great grandmother really made hair masks of egg yolks and cognac and rubbed her hands with cucumber juice, as she advises in her delicate, loopy handwriting. The recipe I follow most often is a simple almond oil treatment. The note next to it says, “will make your skin as lustrous as mother of pearl,” and it was all the incentive I needed to go to the store and buy a bottle.

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