How to Maximise the Benefits of Bathtime for all over Body Care
Face packs need not be used only on your face. Try them on other areas of your body such as your shoulders to unclog pores and slough off dead skin. Clean greasy patches on shoulders and back with a soap-filled backbrush or loofah. If your back is badly blemished, use a deep-cleansing pack made from some fuller’s earth mixed with a little water and lemon juice. Leave to dry and rinse off thoroughly with lukewarm water.
Facial Scrubs
Facial scrubs and sponges to exfoliate the face can also be used on neglected areas such as rough knees and elbows. Massage thoroughly, then rinse. Apply a moisturizer or some handcream. (Handcream can be more economical than body lotion and just as effective.) To treat badly neglected elbows, scrub them with a pumice stone or a bristle brush, then bleach them with lemon juice.
Alternatively, try resting your elbows in two squeezed-out halves of a lemon.
Rinse with cool water and smooth the skin afterwards by rubbing in plenty of moisturizer or your favourite oil.
Exfoliation
Exfoliation, however it is executed, dislodges dead skin cells and speeds up the rate of cell renewal, and it is essential as you get older because your metabolism will slow down. Exfoliate by briskly brushing your skin with a loofah or massage mitt, which will get skin glowing. Alternatively, you can use finely ground oatmeal, a good gentle exfoliator, which makes an effective scrub before a shower. Simply rub it all over your skin.
Relaxation
Meditate in a warm, relaxing bath by closing your eyes, breathing in deeply and thinking beautiful thoughts – for example, you might like to imagine that you are relaxing on a favourite beach, listening to the sound of waves gently lapping on the shore and the breeze whispering in the palm trees overhead. Add a few drops of essential oil such as lavender, marjoram or juniper to increase the skin-sooth ing properties of your bath. Lavender has a deeply relaxing effect on body and mind.
Indulgence
The scent of orange is considered a pick-me-up and an antidepressant, so it is an ideal perfume to add to the bath at the end of a long, hard day. Add a drop of essential oil of orange or squeeze a seedless orange into the bathwater to refresh yourself and to aid relaxation. Make sure the water is not too hot, because this will overstimulate the nervous system and inhibit the therapeutic powers of the oils. To make this indulgent soak extra special, put on some soft, soothing music, dim the lights in the bathroom and relax.