No, I’m not bulimic. I’m purging and using up tangible material things. Lately, this has translated into an ongoing ritual of baths filled with all sorts of lotions and potions collected from shopping sprees, travels and bestowed gifts. I have never before been so exfoliated, hydrated, exhilarated, cleaned, conditioned, primped, and REfoliated! I swear, ’tis true, some of the bubble baths claim to be “exhilarating”. It’s exhilarating ditching this excess from my bathroom shelves! I don’t mind the self-inflicted pampering overly much.
“How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you’re on” Anonymous
A plethora of pampering products!
I am in the midst of a limbo phase of my life and home/s and wherever I end up, I’m thinking it will have less room and less closet, cupboard and cubby space as my current home. This is a good thing, mind you. I have been a comfortable Californian, indulging in the spending that comes with financial abundance.I’m worse than a prolific spender, actually; I am a fanatical “saver”! I keep things, save them, agree to take them when they are pawned off, er, I mean offered to me by well meaning friends.
“Bathe twice a day to be really clean, once a day to be passable clean, once a week to avoid being a public menace.” Anthony Burgess (1917-1994) Inside Mr. Enderby
This shedding of excess has resulted in a 10-year supply of scrubs and muds, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, soaps, bubbles, gels, etc that I find I am now determined to mow through, as it doesn’t seem appropriate to offer half used bottles of bath products to friends or even to charitable organizations. Somehow, it seems that lilac-infused scintillating bath gel just doesn’t cut it when you’re needing a hot meal. I have dutifully dumped this proliferation of accumulated bath products into a basket that I keep just outside the tub, in an ambitious effort to use it up in only one year! For the record, the assortment in the attached photo represents only a fraction of the mother lode I am plowing through!
I happily pour an entire travel bottle of today’s fruity flavor (why do so many companies think citrus, melon and berries are so necessary to healthy glowing skin?) under the rushing stream of hot water to work up a generous froth of bubbles. I think my favorites are the sugar scrubs. Wonderful concoctions of sweet smelling granules mixed with heavenly oils that remain glowing up your skin long after the sugar has gently sloughed off any not-so-soft stuff. My current favorite (that I do replenish when needed) is Lily Mango. Makes me hungry!
“There’s nothing like bubbles to chase away troubles.” Me
Don't get me started on how many candles I have!
OK, I have actually found an ecological and conservation slanted benefit of bath bubbles. DON’T snicker! I’m serious here – for a change 😉 . The thick layer of suds creates an effective insulation against heat loss, thus more easily justifying this indulgence and extending the warm hug much longer so you don’t need to continually tap it off with new hot water. See? I’m a pro at justification.
And, let’s just say I’m focusing more on the kind of abundance for which I have always been grateful and have now been relying on more heavily; those of good friends and family, health, and an openness to whatever lays ahead. Oh yes, and a new abundance of bubbles in my bath!
*The glamorous blingified rubber ducky pictured at top is a gift from my fashionista sister, who made them as give-aways for her store. Lucky me!
All Photos by G.Stark
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Ok, Ok. I'll try a bubble bath now, solely for insulation experimentation. Can you clean out my bathroom while you're at it? My wife has a few extra frothy things getting in the way of my industrial strength hair & beard trimmers.
lol Kid! I love that: Insulation Experimentation – woot! You are so eco-friendly 😉 I found a victim….errmm…I mean a willing recipient for my tan-in-a-can stuff. It's so expensive and I think I kept trying to find ones that didn't look orange and so have an impressive (read: scary!) collection! 🙂 Thank you, as ever, for your readership (doesn't that sound officious? 😉 ) Cheers my friend! G
Interesting! I am a man who lives with 3 women (that's a wife and 2 daughters before you start spreading ugly rumours) and even the dog is a bitch! I have constantly been surrounded by mysterious brews and potions which are a source of wonder to me.
I get by on a bar of soap and some shower gel and whilst I may not smell as sweet as them I have never had any complaints so why do they need all that paraphernalia? And why do they never finish a bottle?
I am frightened to add up the cost over the years but I suspect that I may have been a multi millionaire by now if I had insisted from an early age that they go without cosmetics and other smelly items.
Do you think I am being mean, should I just go with the flow and exfoliate myself (whatever that means!)
Thank you for a thought provoking article.
Tony
LOL at the dog…ahem! Oh come on…you dudes like when we're all primped, primed and smelling sweetly. You won't get away with that here! 😉 But I can understand if you'd rather forgo the rituals of which we partake, and the spending of the funds to acquire the copious amounts I have currently. I have made a dent! I actually mix and brew my own concoctions. Some bath salts don't bubble!! Can you imagine? So of course I add the bubbly stuff and try not to be overcome by the blended aromas created. Thanks, as ever, Tony, for your awesome visits and comments! Cheers, G
LOOOOOL Gina! this is too funny! I have a huge moving box full of soaps from hotels all around the world and from having a boyfriend who loved soaps and bubble baths. I'm trying really hard to use them up as I do not want to move them to my new apartment! LOL Even my liquid hand soap is some shower gel… (noone can tell the difference anyway! LOL)
Ohhh Mirijam I am so tickled to know you are in the same boat…I mean TUB! Isn't your skin radiant? 😉 heehee Thanks so much for popping in and for sharing your own plight of the plethora of potions. xoxoxo G
"May your bath always be filled with bubbles and your heart with joy"- me
Big hugs for my partner in crime 🙂
BIG huggles and bubbles back to you, dear one! You bring joy into my heart. Thank you for stopping in 😉 …wish I had some refreshments for you – heehee. Bliss you xoxoxo G
{ 1 trackback }