Saturday Question: How Do You Bathe?

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

 

Over 100 responses I will draw a Secret Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)

Last Weeks Winner: AnnieA

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please

Saturday Question: How Do You Bathe?

Everyone has their own bathing rituals. Some like to shower daily, others take a bath. Maybe you mix it up and sometimes even go to the bath houses? Do you have one shower or bath a day or like Tom Ford do you have many and use it as your place to think and refresh? Are you a soap, shower gel or bath oil person? Do you towel or drip dry?

My Answer:

As you probably already know I’m a bath person, about three or four times a week. One of my great pleasures is lolling around in a bathtub with oodles of bubbles and extremely hot water. Shower Gel and Bubble Bath get used and I love sitting in the midst of mountains of scented bubbles, it’s so glamorous. I do use soap though for the real cleaning, with a Korean exfoliating cloth, the whole body including face and feet gets a swish.

Here is my current bath gel and oil lineup:

My beard isn’t very long so I wash it with shampoo twice a week and dye it about once a week or fortnight, depending. Clipping takes place monthly. It only gets shaved into shape when I go to work. Otherwise I leave it scruffy.

I can easily spend an hour blissfully chilling out in the tub. It’s my relaxation time. Sometimes I read or play Words With Friends in there too.

My Saturday Question to you is:

How Do You Bathe?

143 thoughts on “Saturday Question: How Do You Bathe?”

  1. Hey Portia, baths are one of my most favourite things. I have a quick one every morning and longer ones on the weekend. Then I like to listen to a podcast and put on a face mask. I love Aesop bath products but they are pricey. In the week I use Soaper Duper (who even do a tuberose body wash!)

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  2. Shower. And no more than five minutes. Only soap but usually something fragrant. Right now the son and I are working through our Jo Malone’s. Not saving for rainy days anymore.
    Never take a bath because I would clog up the bathroom. It’s rare that I am home alone.
    And only shower once a day because of my very dry skin.

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    • Hey Brigitte,
      I love that you short shower. We often have water restrictions here in Sydney so we were schooled early in water saving. It’s one of the reasons I love baths. It uses a LOT less water.
      YAY for using what you have. I’m trying so hard to work my way through a bunch of mine too.
      Portia xx

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      • I love baths but feel guilty about them living in a dry place. We were tought short showers are water saving. But sounds like that was wrong?

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        • I turn the water on and off for massive water savings when I shower. Basically turn on to get wet. Turn off . Clean body/ hair. Turn back on to rinse off. Then turn off. Barely use any water.

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            • Ha! Did not know that this is how sailors do it! Mr. Marzipan trained me because we have a small water tank and if you shower too long there is no water for the rest of the Marzipan clan.

              and I forgot to say , congrats on your win this week!!!!

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          • Yep, your Saint Brigitte halo is freshly polished and gleaming 😆 I don’t go quite that far, though I hate water wastage.

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            • It’s about four in the morning and I am laughing so hard now because I consider myself to be a tad bit devilish 😈

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        • How much water you use when showering also depends on what kind of shower head you have equipped. Obviously those huge plate-sized “tropic waterfall” shower heads mounted in the ceiling will use huge amounts of water.

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          • That’s interesting! I have a regular shower head and the water that I use runs for maybe a minute in total. So I think I am on task with water conservation.

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      • Portia- with everything that’s been happening with folks dealing with health issues and death I have come to the understanding that one must enjoy it now rather than saving it for later. So I have been thunking my way through so many lovelies that I used to save.

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  3. How do I bathe? Let me count the ways. Water is nurturing, a hot bath is the best reward at the end of the working day! Gimme bubbles, currently Laura Mercier Ambre Vanilla. Or magnesium flakes if muscles are sore. I found Dr Teals ginger clay salts at my local chemist, excellent.

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  4. I seem to have lost the taste for baths. I used to be able to wallow happily for hours: bubbles, book, face mask, a glass of wine. Now? Nope. Five minutes and I’m wondering if getting out already is just a terrible waste of hot water. Two minute showers: soap, scrub, rinse, and out. Maybe a couple of extra minutes if I’m shaving my legs. And a giant cotton towel to get dry again as fast as I can. But I still love a luxe soap.

    Hair washing is a whole other performance. That’s about hour or so, once a week, uncomfortably old school bent over the bathtub using the hand-spray thingy. (Long, very dyed hair does not like to be washed very often, and then needs gallons of condish to sit around on it a while…)

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    • I’m with you Crikey about having baths, I still have quite a number of Lush bath bombs in my house but I feel bad using them and getting out 5-10 mins after the bath has stopped running so I’m just having short showers at the moment.

      I’m a co-washer when it comes to my hair mostly, every 3 days or so to moisturize and detangle my unruly locks and I don’t touch my hair again after I have used a towel on it.

      I used to be a one product on the shelf person, using it up before I open the next one but these days my shelf resembles Portia’s and I use whatever product depending on my mood or skin that day.

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  5. A shower every day, since I’ve had a few moblity problems and find it sometimes difficult to get out of the bath. I love a long luxurious soak in the bath with lots of bubbles.

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  6. Shower, once daily usually, but sometimes twice, and only a quick in and out. I can’t understand how people spend ages under a shower. Wash hair daily unless my hair is behaving itself a bit. I’ve gone back to using soap in the last couple of years, though I have shower gels too. My favourite for performance and scent is the Nuxe oil gel. It scents the whole bathroom and bedroom and lingers on skin. Usually one bath a week to shave legs and do a good scrub with a kessa mitt and black soap. It works better if the skin is warm, so the bath is the best way to do that. If my muscles are aching particularly badly I’ll have a magnesium salt bath. I’ve got one with eucalyptus oil, and one with an oil blend. And turn on the bath jets to pummel the skin slightly. A total body slather with oil afterwards to try and keep the croc skin at bay. If I’m wearing a matching lotion as my perfume it goes on then. And I always perfume before getting dressed. Well almost always.

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    • ah yes! You reminded me too that I slather with oil or lotion after the shower and also at night…I too am in the croc skin camp.
      I don’t wash my hair daily though. My hair is very dry so I try to skip two days if I can.

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  7. Usually shower for time sake, every other day with fragrant body wash. I love an occasional bath when I have time with face mask, bubbles, and epsom salts for sore muscles post workout. I’ll play relaxing music and use bath oil or bubbles, currently loving Lush Rose Jam.
    Since you brought up bathing, does anyone have any recommendations for fragrant bath oil beads? Remember those colorful beads whose skins would dissolve in the bath and release fragrant oil?

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    • Gosh, haven’t seen those beads in ages. For bath oil Jo Malone is not cheap, but beautifully scents, and quite long-lasting too.

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        • Jo Malone bath oil on my wishlist! While responding to Old Herbaceous’ post regarding Woman’s Day and women perfumers, I recalled Florence Gunnarson, considered the first female perfumer. She made divine bath oils which I used in the early 2000s, and then couldn’t find. (I read about them during that time in a magazine, Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor were said to scent their swimming pools with the fragrance which I thought was awesome). Anyways, I researched, and it appears they can be ordered. I would be in heaven!

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      • Congratulations on the win AnnieA! I must give Jo Malone bath oil a try, I love Jo Malone diffusers and candles for home, and have a few fragrances. A matching bath oil is a grand idea!
        I’m glad you remember the bath beads. I always thought they were super special as a child for bath time.

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    • Oh you have just awoken a long buried memory of Fenjal bath oil melts. They were a pyramid shape, or similar, and smelled amazing. Don’t think they have been on the market for yonks.

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      • I had to Google Fenjal, didn’t see the bath oil melts, but Amazon has bath oil and shower gels etc. I’m curious about the scent, shows very positive reviews!

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        • The bath oil melts have been discontinued years ago but the bath creme oil is still going strong. It’s a really nice range of products and not expensive. It was always in my house growing up and the smell brings me right back there.

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  8. Showers generally and i keep coming back to good old Nivea shower creams. But I love baths and in the winter I could happily have 3 or 4 a week for at least an hour as hot as I can stand it with lots of reading!

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  9. Quick shower, with Yves Rocher shower gels in rotating scents. When we bought our current home I thought I’d be taking baths in the large jetted tub. Then we discovered that filling it drains the hot water heater and then some, so you don’t get a hot bath if you want to use the jets. So we either have to switch to an expensive on-demand hot water system or renovate and install a smaller tub. Neither happening any time soon, unless the current hot water heater dies. (People make a lot of dumb decisions when renovating!!)

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    • Same here…hot water tank dictates the length of showers. When all five of us were living at home it was a challenge!

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      • Discontinued products, that is so annoying! Same thing happens at Body Shop. Blueberry shower gel ca. 1980 was a favourite. They also had fab bath pearls with jojoba oil.

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    • Exactly the same story with our jet bath. Takes so much water to fill to the level. It’s too wasteful to use regularly. My granddaughter has recently discovered the jets and adores spending ages in a bubble heaven when she’s staying with us.

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    • Yes, we made that mistake too getting a big jetted tub, so Inever take baths in San Diego. The condo in Montreal has a regular small bathtub, so that’s where I enjoy my soaks, with liquid bubble bath or bath bombs. Otherwide it’s a quick shower daily with Lush shower gels.

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  10. For me it’s a mix , usually i go daily for showers but maybe like 2 times per week i go also for a nice hot bath and stay there for hours until my skin softens and wrinkles :)) Most of the times i’m listening to podcasts or jazz music on tablet. I’m also using some nice scented candles (santal or lime). And shower gel, i admit i’m a sucker for shower gel, almost every kind of aroma :))) i dont think they are very natural but i enjoy them a lot. Ohh, and yeah, always drip dry 👌🏻 Towel used just to cocoon in it after the bath 🙂

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  11. A daily shower for me. I am in a rental with a small-ish old claw foot tub and trying to submerge fully and relax in it cannot be done, so I don’t try anymore, though I do love a good, long, scented soak. Every day, before the shower, I dry brush my skin. I have fragile dry skin so I use Dove soap for sensitive skin (no scent) and either a Japanese “wash cloth” (a nylon exfoliator cloth-long panel) or Japanese exfoliating gloves. The gloves are fantastic and since I started using them, I never have flaky, dry skin on any part of my person. They are wonderful for gently exfoliating the face. Twice a month I will do an in-shower all over treatment with a salt, coffee or sugar scrub.

    I use my Clarisonic in the shower and brush my teeth there, too though I have an electric toothbrush to use at night/after meals. My hair is fine, dry and very curly so I co-wash every day instead of shampooing. At the end of the cleansing part of the shower, I use coconut oil in liquid form all over, Neutrogena’s sesame oil or occasionally Nivea Nourishing In Shower Body Lotion. I also keep what I call my “treasure box” of carrier oils scented with different eos to apply to wet from the shower skin, more for their scent than for treatment. I love pure linen bath sheets so I wrap up in one, then put on a terry robe or seersucker robe, over it, depending on the season, and wrap my hair in a microfibre towel to get the wet out so it can then air dry. While I am still damp, I apply any other scented oils or body lotions that strike my fancy and give my face, neck and decolletage a good dose of hyaluronic acid serum, followed by moisture cream and “B” oil from The Ordinary.

    I work from home so while I am still wrapped up in my linen towel and a robe, I have a pot of tea, read my e-mail, arrange my curls to air dry, let the linen sheet and robe do their thing and think about what scent(s) I am going to put on when I dress. If the weather is hot and sticky, I add a good dusting of one of my many scented body powders to this routine before I dress. Chanel used to do a pressed body powder that was brilliant. Why did they stop?!

    In the humid East coast summers, I will sometimes take 3 or 4 quick “rinse off only” showers throughout the day and before bed. In the winter, maybe twice a month, I take a very warm, evening “treatment” shower where I use body oil heavily and then out of the shower I use a urea based body lotion all over, Vaseline on my feet, hands, elbows and legs and then get myself into unglamorous, absorbent cotton socks, gloves and pajamas to beat the dry, sore, flaky skin cold weather and indoor heating can cause.

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      • @Cookie Queen-I really do hope you are not being sarcastic with your “wow.”

        I am elderly, have an autoimmune disorder, no health insurance and I live alone. Taking care of my body and my skin so I can continue to work and be mobile is vital to my being able to function independently.

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        • Nooooooo. Not at all. It’s amazing. I’m sat here Googling exfoliating gloves. I would never be sarcastic with anyone I don’t know personally. My mother used a pressed powder and I’m looking them up too. I had totally forgotten about such stuff. Easy coast where? I spent time on Martha’s Vineyard and in Boston. Guessing you might be more south? I apologise if you thought I was being rude – absolutely not. ❤️

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    • I also have the dry curly hair that air dries. Your bathing routine sounds wonderful, but also time consuming. I do a speeded-up version 😉

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  12. I loved hot baths, when i was younger, but now i can’t tolerate hot water for very long. In my flat we don’t have a tub, but a big waterfall-shower and lots of space in the shower too. Mostly i use some Roche-Posay body wash, because it doesn’t dry out my skin and use the Nivea in-shower lotion afterwards. But i love going to the sauna, which is as relaxing as a hot bath.

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  13. Usually I hop in the shower in the morning during the week and have a bath on the weekend. This winter, though, I have switched mostly to baths in the evening. Have made good inroads on the Bulgari black tea lotion; like many people here, I am hewing to the Use the Good Dishes philosophy. Oh, and thanks for the sample win!

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  14. I love the idea of luxuriating in a scented oil bath, or one filled with loads of bubbles. But I just can’t do it. I get fidgety within five minutes and I’m out. So showers it is. Post-gym. Crabtree & Evelyn soap for the undercarriage and pits. Usually a scrub with a Japanese nylon cloth. The work begins after the shower. All kinds of lotions, potions and oils to combat dry skin. Liking the Nuxe body oil or Neutrogena sesame oil. Layer those with various creams or lotions depending on body parts. Always unscented tho.
    Hair is a whole other story. I have a bazillion shampoos/conditioners/treatments. And don’t get me started on product! Love product ❤️. Waxes, texturizers, pomades and a vast assortment of setting sprays.
    We have an outdoor shower in the summer. OMG! I love showering there. Birds chattering, sun shining and a warm breeze. That’s my idea of luxury. And yes, it’s enclosed 😉. No peeping Toms!

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  15. Shower every morning. Nothing except shampoo, and husband’s shaving gel for my legs – which I shave every day.
    Bath most nights in winter and I chuck in a cup of milk and some olive oil. I either read or watch telly on my iPad whilst relaxing.
    Yep. That’s about it. (Once in a blue moon I have some Rose Jam shower gel, and then I will use it in a bath. ) ❤️

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  16. AnnieA, congrats!

    I love long hot (or cold when it’s summer) showers AND baths but as we removed the tub last summer, I can only enjoy a daily shower, usually with an Yves Rocher gel and some semi-organic Russian body washes (I’m very fond of a scrub that smells like a Russian steam bath, and birch leaves). I try not to waste much water, though, so I do some sort of a navy shower, often pouring some cold water all over me.

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  17. Long hot shower daily, including shampoo and conditioner. Body gets my choice of Clinique Deep Comfort Body Wash or Solstice Scents creamy whipped soap or bar soap du jour. I trot out scented shower cream or shower gel every so often.

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  18. I shower every other day to wash my hair, but take many baths, at least once a day and often more, which I know is not good for the environment and eventually won’t be for my skin, but relax and help me sleep. I also love to read in the bath.

    I loathe bar soap with a pathological and fiery passion, so it’s shampoo and shower gel for me. And for anyone who lives with me!

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    • I disliked bar soap for most of my life until the explosion of handmade artisanal soaps in the last few years. Shop bought soaps left me red-skinned as a child and I flat out refused to use them when I reached an age when I could loudly object to them. Nowadays I seek out beautiful soaps. They’re a personal treat.

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  19. I shower every other day to wash my hair, but take many baths, at least once a day and often more, which I know is not good for the environment and eventually won’t be for my skin, but relax and help me sleep. I also love to read in the bath.

    I loathe bar soap with a pathological and fiery passion, so it’s shampoo and shower gel for me. And for anyone who lives with me!

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  20. Bath for mental and physical relaxation. Shower gels as bubble bath all the way. Youth Dew bath oil twice a year – now d/c. I try to get a Chanel soap once a year. I sometimes use TRNP oils in the bath too. A little goes a very long way.

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  21. I hope bathe here means the same thing as showering. I bathe every day but I must admit guilt to long baths. I just love that warm water hitting the skin feel. Bathing is also where I do most of my daydreaming about future 😀

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  22. For me it is a shower, every morning when I’m not ill and after exercise. I know the long, hot showers are not the best for my dry skin, but I use the gentle almond shower oil from L’ Occitane most days and it helps keep skin irritations at bay. Sometimes sugar scrubs to exfoliate, but I have no set routines for that. My skin surely wouldn’t tolerate shaving of legs every day, so couldn’t do like Val if I wanted to. A long shower with a scented shower oil or shower gel is the perfect way to start the day or to relax.

    In theory I love bubble baths and scented candles, but in real life I just wish I had a larger shower cabinet! We seldom experience water shortage, so I always need to think about not using too much water when abroad.

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  23. I got a brand new handmade soap as part of my birthday pressie from my friend today. Coconut, black pepper and Sandalwood. She knows me soooo well. Had to try it immediately after she left. Into the shower and lather up. Yummy.

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    • But seriously, I do love a soak in hot water in a tub. I often use scented Epsom salts and have been using some simple bath oils this winter as my skin has been very dry. I’m loving one that’s meant as a post bath rub for babies, which has frankincense and myrrh. I add it to the bath water.

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      • Is that the bath oil you mentioned on your blog? I am keeping my eyes open for it. I would use it as a moisturizer because I love that smell.

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        • Yes! It’s called Raw Shea Chamomile & Argan Oil Baby Calm & Comfort Oil Rub, by Shea Moisture (that’s the company). I think I got it at Target, but I’ve also seen it on Amazon.

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          • I found the oil on Amazon and have it on order. This sounds amazing and gentle, perfect for my dry skin in winter. I appreciate the recommendation!

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  25. I shower, although I used to take a Radox bath after doing 100 km rides on the bike. It was the only thing that loosened my quads up, eventually.

    I use shower gel, usually something that I’ve got in a coffret or found snooping around op shops. I’ve tried Habit Rouge, Memoir Man, Endymion, Eau d’Orange Verte, Le Labo Bergamot and also a few different things from Baxter, Aesop, L’Occitaine and so on. Right now I am using Avon Black Suede, which is surprisingly nice. Once that’s done I’ll probably go back to a favourite: Jack Black.

    I towel dry (Drip dry? I’d freeze my butt off).

    Shaving is when I start applying fragrances. Usually AdP shave cream, eShave lime and vetiver oil and Armani Code balm. Sometimes some Floyd Vigoroso or just a regular 50+ sunscreen if I’m planing to go out on a hot day. Then spray with the day’s perfume and get dressed.

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  26. I’m boring. I don’t use many scented products in the shower, it’s more about getting clean so my next perfume goes on a blank slate. I don’t have a bath (very sad!) and my soaps etc are basic shea butter types; the lingering scent is mild and neutral, again so as not to mess with my perfumes. If I had bath products that matched my perfumes that would be cool, but the prices usually alienate me. I can qualify hundreds on a bottle that will last for the foreseeable future, but chunky money for something that’s literally just going to go down the drain is not my style.

    And I still have that Mitzy soap I won here years ago in reserve for a “special day”. 😅

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  27. A hot shower and a hot cup of coffee afterwards are my favorite part of the morning. I shower daily but sorely miss baths too but don’t have a bathtub in my apartment. I’m almost as much of a soap/shower gel geek as a perfume geek! Right now I have Lush Avocado naked shower gel (wouldn’t repurchase), Eau d’Orange Vert shower gel, Diptique l’eau Trois, Rose Jam and l’Occitane Almond Shower oil all at hand with Chanel 19 soap just waiting its turn.

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  28. In honour of this subject, I thought I’d share some lyrics from one of my favourite songs. It’s about a girl nervously getting ready for a date on a Friday night.

    “At 4 p.m. her second shower of the day
    She shuts her eyes and lets the workweek wash away
    Repaints her toes and fingernails
    Sprays on three dollars of perfume
    Brushes her teeth
    And tries on clothes
    Until they clutter up the room”

    – Ponytail Girl, Color Theory

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