Bath Products and Why We Indulge

Bath Products in your Favorite Scents – The Reasons Why We Indulge

Is there anything more relaxing than a long hot bath at the end of an exhausting day? There just might be. What about a bath with lavender scented oils or bubbles in a floral fragrance? The truth is that aroma therapy has become as much a part of bath time as the rubber ducky. It is likely that you were already aware of this obsession with the scented bath, but have you wondered why? Why is it that bath and aroma therapy have become a joint indulgence for so many? There are a few answers to this quandary.

For one, the human psyche is greatly affected by scent and fragrance. Smells link us to memories and can invoke feelings and moods in many cases. Scientific studies show that the smell of peppermint and lemon are both stimulating and can promote alertness. On the other hand, vanilla can create a mood of relaxation as can many floral scents. What does this all have to do with baths? A bath, for most, is not only a time for physical cleansing of the body, but also a time for cleansing of the mind and relaxation of both mind and body. Since we already know that scents can invoke relaxation, it is a natural move to include them in baths.

The second reason we indulge in this aroma therapy and bath combo is that marketers caught on and took us there. The mall, your television, the newspaper, and even the internet are loaded with the image of the relaxing bath and scents. We can’t smell them, but look at the ads with candles burning, oils drizzled into the water, and the deep breath taken by actors and actresses as they sink into a tub of fluffy bubbles. Whether we want it to be or not, we are influenced by these images. Couple that feeling of bath and scent equals relaxation with our stressful professional and personal lives and you have people who feel like aroma therapy is the answer to their stress.

It is not just the marketing, though. New age and alternative types of health care are gaining an increasingly large following in the population. We drink beverages that contain ginseng and go to acupuncturists, and so it stands to reason that we would put an equal amount of emphasis on the power of aroma therapy. The aura created by the scents can help give us that sense of connection with the spirit or soul the way we feel alternative medicine practitioners might. Is that the reason everyone does it? Of course not, but those influences surely cannot be ignored.

The point of it all is this: we combine our favorite scents with bath time because we not only think it will help relax us, but it actually very well might. So how do you choose the scent that will work for your bath? There are some guidelines that aroma therapists swear will work. Once you have your warm bath, you can add chamomile to help with insomnia or tension, clary sage as an anti-depressant, grapefruit for relief of PMS and hormonal issues, or lavender for balancing of the mind, body and spirit to name a few. Guides to the scents and their affects on people are available on the internet or in your local aroma therapy shop. In addition, therapists suggest that you choose the temperature of your bath water just as carefully. Warm baths are most comfortable, but supposedly the extremes of hot and cold are actually more therapeutic.

A bath is something we cherish in our society. Living in a time where 15 minute showers, ringing cell phones, and a breakfast burrito on the run mark most mornings, the bath is a nighttime reward. In order to complete the effect, though, we as a people have begun to add our favorite aromas and fragrances to the experience so that we can properly escape the stress we build up in traffic, at work, and even when we play. No matter what the reason is for our combing fragrance with bath products, it is a trend that shows no signs of slowing down. Is it because it works, because we think it works, or because Madison Avenue tells us so with creative ads? It is unclear, but what is for sure is this: we take out favorite scents to the bath with us and love it.

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