After a long, tiring day, all you feel like doing is crash on the settee, flick on the idiot box and vegetate. But what if you could recharge in less than half an hour, and become a new person all over again ready for the relaxed pleasures of an evening spent with family or that special someone? I met a new Italian friend the other day, who has been in the UK for the past 10 years for her work and education, who told me what she does for relaxation. Taking baths!


She runs a bath, maybe with an essential oil thrown in, or even bath salts. Pour 3-4 tablespoons in a hot running bath, and give yourself an incredible soak that will rejuvenate your mind, and refresh your spirit. But which salts to choose? If your day was wired with tensions you cant do better than lavender.


Lavender has its reputation in history like few other herbs, Egyptian, Roman, and Oriental queens alike loved it for its soothing, anti-depressant and stress-relieving properties. They got their satiny skins from a lavender bath as well, because lavender is not only an antiseptic which prevents the build-up of sebum, fluids in the skin that bacteria thrive on, but also keeps the skin supple and promotes new tissue.


Lavender oil aroma becomes part of your skin, and you carry that sensational smell with you wherever you go. Older people can use it as well, because it is good for rheumatism and arthritis pain.
When matched with sea salts, which cleanse your skin and replenish healthy trace minerals, lavender becomes pure magic, especially when the lavender essential oil is of a great quality. Only remember to do the customary skin test when you use it for the first time.


Lolling about in a lavender salt bath not only gives you that pick-me-up you need to forget all those nagging things that happened through the day, but is also terrific therapy for your skin. Your skin would glow with that stunning bloom of new love: be prepared to fend off a host of smiling questions from friends and colleagues!

My friend, of course, is in love. She is going to marry someone she calls a penniless artist, a rocker who tours Europe. But when the wedding preparations give her a hard time, she swears by Lavender bath salts! She also chooses some of her baths from this Italian brand, called Merano Thermal Baths, and you can check them out here!

Bubs, can you imagine spending the whole day lulling and soaking in 38°C volcanic water, full of magnesium to make you even more beautiful and sulphur to kill off anything that shouldn't be on your skin in the middle of the woods? Well that is how I spend most of my summer; wallowing in wet wellness just 10 minutes from my house in the baths at Bagni san filippo, near Montalcino. I used to live near Merano where those salts come from but its really not all that, trust me! I am a garden rocker bumming my way through Italy, living my dream and I have tried a few thermal baths and this (Bagni san filippo) is by far my fave!
Let's have a chat sometime...
J...

Lovely post. I love salt baths as well. Try Epsom salts if you come across them. They relax tense muscles and remove toxins from your body. I love to soak with some flower petals or essential oils after a long, exhausting day.

Bath salts are good for your skin, and since spring would be soon upon us (and with it fashions which would expose inches of skin) I thought maybe be should talk about the things we do wrong for our skin:

Not drinking enough water is the biggest and the most easily avoided crime against your skin. The more water you drink, the more impurities that get flushed out of your system, and the clearer your skin.

Not getting enough sleep is the second culprit. When you sleep, your skin is working to replenish itself, and if you do not get enough sleep all the world's best skin creams will be of no use to you.

Stress is another thing that shows up on your skin faster than you can blink. Relaxing mentally can be the biggest favor you can do for your skin.

Not reapplying moisturizer and sunscreen can be another skin gaffe, because neither provide lasting protection. The air conditioned environment saps moisture from your skin and applying your moisturizer repeatedly can be the only way to keep your skin happy and glowing.

Fad diets can kill your skin too, so always consult a professional dietician to get your prescribed nutritional supplements, so as to leave your skin as healthy as ever.

Smoking can accelerate the normal aging process of your skin, contributing to wrinkles. These skin changes may occur after only 10 years of smoking and are irreversible.

How does smoking lead to wrinkles? Smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin, depleting it of oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Smoking also damages collagen and elastin — fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely.

Smoking doesn't only cause wrinkles on your face. A 2007 study found that smoking is associated with increased wrinkling and skin damage on other parts of the body, including the inner arms.

In addition, repeated exposure to the heat from burning cigarettes and the facial expressions you make when smoking — such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke — may contribute to wrinkles.