Trust me: these indulgent body washes make a 5-minute shower feel as luxurious as a long bath
Showers are such an underrated ritual - and these spa-in-a-bottle buys are truly transformative
We all know baths are great. You can't knock the soul-soothing effect of a locked bathroom door and mandatory stillness with optional books, podcasts, scrubs and masks.
Still, there's loving the idea of a bath, and then there's managing to have one. I've entered many weekends mentally committed to fitting in a soak with my best bubble bath and an all-James Blake playlist. Then suddenly - pouf! - it's 8pm Sunday, the dog needs out, the dishwasher's ejecting unwashed bowls again and my ambitions fizzle away like Epsom salts.
I don't know if you over-promise and under-deliver on yourself this way, or if you're even a 'bath person', but I will say with confidence our collective perception seems to be bathing = luxury, showering = necessity. So, instead of instructing you to find a 25th hour in the day for 'self-care', I'll suggest approaching what you do manage to squeeze in with a fresh perspective.
I'll admit shower products have historically been a problem - luridly-dyed fruity gels and intensely fragranced foams lobbed into gift sets with our best perfume. In contrast, for bathing we got skin-softening oils, mineral-charged salts, and thoughtfully blended aromatics.
But the market has caught up with the modern mood - which is time-poor, a smidge frazzled, but up for little luxuries in the bits of our day that are all our own - even if it's not the 'perfect' ritual. These are the low-commitment, indulgent shower products I've been getting a lot from:
This has the most delicious, grown-up invigorating fragrance - herby-sweet fennel meets tart grapefruit. This also taps into the skincare for body trend by including two exfoliating acids in a silky texture, which is a far more civilised (and less messy) approach than your average grainy scrub. Wildsmith also has a spa, The Bothy in the knockout country hotel Heckfield Place - if you can't spring for a night there, five minutes in the morning with this is a solid alternative.
I've been using this pretty much every day through August and intend to keep going into Autumn. It smells gloriously nutty and just the right side of sweet, nourishes skin with a generous, oil-rich lather and leaves my parched elbows and knees positively silky. No need for body cream, which is great as I also can't seem to find time to do that most days. It's no coincidence that this is the second spa brand here - these guys don't just develop products; they create vibes.
I have a friend who claims she's in the 'silent majority' because she showers before bed rather than in the morning (I'm unconvinced). She also bemoans the lack of snooze-inducing shower gels amongst the dominant energising aromas. To that, I say, here you go, Sophie! A really delicious-smelling lavender and vetiver wash with magnesium and skin-hydrating plant oils. The bottle looks great, and I'd defy anyone to lather this up and not feel their shoulders drop by an inch or two.
It hasn't escaped me that all of my picks this week are on the pricey side - or at least the pricier side of what we expect to pay for this type of product. I would say this is down to priorities.
I often think we spend too much on the wrong things (eg face creams, when even the best face moisturisers can only do so much and some of the best are very simple, budget buys). Then we choose to go bottom-of-the-budget on things like body wash, which I honestly feel is a smarter spend in the long-term.
Whether any luxury product is an option is between you and your banking app, of course. But if it is, buying one of these shower treats and using a tiny bit of it every day is like giving yourself a gift - one that keeps on giving for months, delivering a daily pleasure bump that you carry through into your day (or night).
