BEAUTY | VOOM

Beauty Ritual

Busy days, late nights and a calendar that refuses to slow down. Consider this your permission slip for a longer soak: a five-step bath ritual that turns an ordinary evening into a small, fragrant escape.

There is a particular kind of luxury in an evening with nowhere to be. Draw the curtains, silence the phone and give yourself an hour that belongs to no one else. Here is how we do it.

1. Set the scene

Every ritual starts with atmosphere. Light a stick of Tibetan Sandalwood Incense (40 Sticks), prepared by hand using traditional Tibetan methods for a warm, woody sandalwood scent. A small incense holder is included in the box, so there is no hunting for one in the dark. Always keep an eye on anything that is lit.

2. Find your note

Before you step in, take a minute to arrive. The Hand-Hammered Bronze Singing Bowl Set with Pillow (Bowl 5.5 x 2.75 in) is handmade in Nepal and comes with a support pillow embroidered with OM and a wooden puja stick. Strike it gently like a bell, or run the stick around the rim for deep, rich tones. It is a lovely way to signal to body and mind that the day is officially over.

Woman in a white robe playing a bronze singing bowl beside a bath, with Lotus Love bath salts and a bamboo back scrubber

3. Draw the bath

Next, the main event. Lotus Love Beauty Botanical Bath Salts in Glass Bottle, Surya (1 lb 5 oz) blend mineral-rich sea salt and Epsom salt with certified organic botanicals to help soothe sore muscles, leaving a delicate scent on the skin. Surya is a floral sunrise scent with a touch of fruit and tea, which feels just right for a gray afternoon. They are 100% vegan, never tested on animals and made in the USA.

4. Buff, then lather

Reach the places a washcloth cannot. The Urban Spa Essentials Bamboo and Jute Back Scrubber (31 x 3.75 in) pairs soft bamboo washcloth fabric with a textured jute panel that buffs away dead skin cells, with rope handles at both ends for an easy grip. Follow with the Pre de Provence Shea Butter Lavender Hand-Cut Soap (5.2 oz / 150 g), quadruple milled and hand-cut in France with 20% shea butter, the most that fits in a bar of soap, for a creamy lather scented with lavender essential oil. Dry, sensitive skin, consider yourself spoiled.

5. Seal it in

While skin is still warm and slightly damp, smooth on the Pre de Provence Shea Butter Body Butter, Unscented (16.9 fl oz / 500 ml). Made in France with 10% shea butter, plus grape seed oil, sunflower oil, cocoa butter and rosemary extract, it works on face and body and comes in a generous tub that sits happily on the bath shelf for many soaks to come.

Then the hardest step of all: do absolutely nothing. A robe, a book, a cup of something warm. You have earned it.