Did I get your attention there? I just had to give a dramatic title to my five days of self-pampering.

Last week, I had a total brain wave and thought, “Why don’t I try out taking a hot bath every night for a week?”

Now taking a hot bath, or at least a shower, before bed is very important in Japanese culture. Besides the fact that the country is dotted with onsens (hot spring baths) on its volcanic soil, I have been told by numerous Japanese female friends they cannot sleep until they have taken a bath. Some women just think a shower would suffice, but for some, drawing a bath nightly is essential to their sense of comfort and well-being.

For me, taking a long hot bath is something I do when I have strained a muscle or when I had an enormously tough day, so this is seriously a twice a year occurrence. Naturally, I wanted to see what the fuss is all about taking a nightly hot bath.

I armed myself with a myriad of bath salts and set to “work”.

My thoughts:

+ I LOVED it, particularly since I’m working out a bit more for the marathons I signed up for.
+ It was a bit troublesome but I actually look forward to it at the end of my day.
+ The cold air in the apartment became warmer and I felt absolutely cozy.
+ It’s a waste of water. I try not to fill my tub to the brim but I still feel uncomfortable using so much water. But I can see that if this is a priority, then it’s not a “waste” per se.
+ I slept better, though this needs to be qualified a bit. I’m a relatively light sleeper and tend to wake up in the middle of the night, but perhaps with such a relaxing ritual before bed, my mind and body truly shut down. I blacked out and slumbered deeply – yay.
+ Despite its numerous benefits, I still think it would be hard for me to do this every day because it’s so time-consuming. I’ll probably try to do this once or twice a week but not more than that.

Let’s power onto the five bath salts I used and I will review them in the order of trying them.

#1: きき湯, or Kikiyu, for smooth skin and eczema

This was really lovely and this brand’s version for fatigue and cold is actually ranked number 6 on Cosme but I couldn’t resist “smooth skin”. The scent is mild, the way I like it, and I can’t put my finger on any particular fragrance except that it smelled clean but not in soapy way. Did my skin feel smooth after? Yes, but I do realize that skin tends to feel smoother after any bath. It was definitely a 9/10 experience.

#2 日本の名湯, nihon no meiyu, or Famous Japanese Onsens

Out of the six different types, I chose 黒川，or black river, because it sounded bad-ass. It’s exactly the way I choose what sake to drink — the meaner the kanji sounds, the more intrigued I get – ha! This one had a fluorescent yellow shade which made me think it is a bit unnatural but I guess some minerals can be funky colors. The scent was quite strong so I didn’t feel it was as natural as I would have liked. But I felt very good after this bath too in terms of well-being (very relaxed and pampered) and skin (smooth). My nail beds also got squeaky clean and I realized that this was a way to get hidden dirt to float away…8/10.

#3 湯たんぽいらず　Slow & Tepid Bath

I bought this purely because of the cute packaging – what a big mistake. It says these bath salts are for medicinal use (薬用), and man, did it smell FUNKY. It was spicy and I’m sure it had cinnamon in it. Among all the brands I tried, I liked this the least. The smell was so strong that I kept coughing but in the name of research I persevered. The bath water looked brown and unfortunately the salts didn’t dissolve like a powder would. I’m not sure if the residue was meant to be floating around in the water but it felt highly unpleasant. I felt dirty after my bath and took another shower after this. Medicinal or no, it was awful. 2/10

#4 Kneipp Minze Badesalz, or mint bath salts

This German brand won rave reviews on Cosme and it’s one of the top-selling bath salts in Japan. It’s not a surprise either because the bath experience felt very superior in terms of dissolving speed, scent, and comfort level. There was some foam on top of the bath that looked like soap suds so this felt very much like a Western-style bath where a bubble bath or soapy bath is for cleansing rather than for wellness/medicinal purposes. The aromatherapy quality of these bath salts felt luxurious and I loved it. Though it is twice as expensive than your average bath salts, I can see why people would pay for it. 9/10

#5 Finland Bath, White Birch Bath Soak

My decision to buy this was purely based on my slight obsession with anything Scandinavian and figured that cold countries would know a thing or two about hot baths. The fragrance was a lovely orange-woody scent that felt like a warm hug. There were no suds so I think this is just an “essence” type bath where your skin is supposed to absorb the minerals. Unfortunately, my skin began to feel itchy after 15 minutes, namely my lower back and legs, so I jumped straight out and took another shower. 4/10

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There you go, my great Japanese bath experiment has come to an end but I still have quite a few bath salt packets so maybe I’ll draw myself another bath – lol!

Do you take baths? Do you think it’s important as a beauty ritual? What’s your fave brand of bath salts?

Psst, four more days till our biggest-ever giveaway closes and there are awesome prizes to be won, namely a Meiji Amino Collagen Tin, a Jill Stuart cosmetics bag, facial masks and more…

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