Bath and Body Self Care Essentials

A spot of bath and body TLC is the perfect way to boost mental wellbeing whilst doing some essential physical self-care.

Getting bathed or showered can feel more like a chore than a source of joy at times. Why not take the opportunity to soak up the time spent in the bathroom with a nice soak in the bath?! Try to make a habit of not just rushing through it like it’s just another job on a mundane to-do list. Let’s face it, what’s better than having a nice, long hot soak in the tub on a crisp Autumnal afternoon or on a cold Winter evening?

Even if you don’t have access to an actual bath, a shower can work wonders as well. Just slow down, turn up the temperature and enjoy! There’s also the foot bath option if you want a mini soak!

Bath and Body Self Care Routine 

I like to really go for it sometimes and have the full bath and body pamper works! This usually involves an hour-long bubble bath from which I almost always emerge feeling completely relaxed and reinvigorated.

My bath and body pamper sessions are fueled by a small collection of bathing essentials and I’ll be showing you all the ones I happen to be using at the moment. They’re all basic toiletries and nothing fancy but sometimes, you don’t need the most extragant products. All you really need to do is just allow yourself to take some well deserved time out to unwind and enjoy looking after yourself.

Despite the simplicity, I’ve enjoyed using each of these bath and body products. They’ve all made me feel good and that’s what matters more than how nice the packaging is or how luxe the brand is!

Contrary to my lofty beauty Blogger ideals, self-care isn’t really my strong point in reality. I always feel proud of myself when I’ve managed to practice what I preach and take the time to care for myself. I know it’s not always an easy thing to do even when you really want to and self-care rarely tops our list of priorities, does it? 

I actually find it easier to use basic bath and body care products sometimes because keeping things simple is often a more manageable approach. Hopefully, that’s a little tip that might help some of you who are struggling to create the perfect pamper session – simply stop trying to make it perfect and just enjoy making the most of what you can create when you have limited time or resources. 

Current Self Care Bath and Body Necessities.

Imperial Leather Field of Dreams Bath Cream 500ml, £ Discontinued – Similar Product: Imperial Leather Calming Bath, 500ml, £1.00, Boots

This is a Star Anise and Lily of the Valley fragranced bath cream. It bubbles up nicely for a lovely, bubbly, bubble bath! The fragrances are a real selling point for Imperial Leather and all of their bath and body products have signature scents created by perfume experts. I really like beautifully fragrant bubble baths and you can see my review of a gorgeously festive scented bubble bath from nspa here.

This bath cream feels a little moisturising and my skin never feels dried out, even after a long, hot soak. 

In view of this product being discontinued, I’ve chose a similar Imperial Leather bath cream to highlight which is Night Blooming Jasmine and Vanilla fragranced. Both of these are suitable for all skin too which is always something I like.

I suggest giving the Imperial Leather bath creams a try if you haven’t done so before because I think they add a touch of decadence yet only cost a pittance to purchase, rather than a small fortune!

Dove Silk Glow Body Wash, 250ml, £2.65, Superdrug

We’ve probably all seen the adverts telling us that Dove is different but what can it actually do for us that other brands can’t? This Dove Silk Glow Body Wash promises to give softer and smoother skin after just one shower. The formula claims to give us glowing, silky smooth skin while the NutrimMoisture™ technology is said to deliver skin natural nutrients that nourish deep into the surface layers of the skin. It’s also a mild and gentle formula that can be used every day.

One of the nicest things about this body wash is it’s thick, creamy and almost glossy texture which lathers up effortlessly on a shower scrunchie to create lots of lovely smooth bubbly goodness. When using a flannel, there are almost no bubbles with this though so I do prefer a shower scrunchie or loofah and I think that less product is required with those methods of application.

Texture wise, the product has a glossy sheen and looks to contain some kind of tiny little light reflecting particles that give it a shimmery effect which is presumably what is supposed to help create the skin glow effect. The colour is also slightly golden and warm toned. I do feel confused about how much of a lasting effect any of this shimmer or golden tonality can really translate onto the skin because it must all get washed away from the skin when we rinse it off! 

Another noticeable feature of this body wash is it has a highly perfumed scent which is quite typical for Dove products as they’re usually highly fragranced. I personally enjoy the strong aroma and find it to be a pleasantly sweet scent but it’s not going to be to everyone’s liking, especially at this potency.

I don’t think this body wash is as drying as some can be but I would recommend applying a body lotion afterwards to replace any moisture lost through the process of showering or bathing.

As usual, this Dove body wash comes in the brand’s signature opaque tapered plastic squeezy bottle with a small flip top lid.

I quite like this product and would consider a repurchase. I usually enjoy Dove body washes in general and although this one is nice, it’s not my favourite of their range. I think the inclusion of shimmer particles probably adds unnecessary chemicals to the formula and I think that seems to have lessened the quality of this product for me. Criticism aside, I am looking forward to using a Dove body wash again soon because I have just finished this one!

nspa Fruit Extracts Coconut Body Milk, 300ml, £ Discontinued – Alternative product: nspa Fruit Extracts Coconut Body Butter, 200ml, £3.00, Asda

The nspa Fruit Extracts range is available to buy exclusively at Asda, bothh in-store and online. I often find myself enjoying products from nspa like the raspberry bath and shower gel that I reviewed here. Unfortunately, It’s not uncommon to find that a few of their products have somehow and quite inexplicably managed to fall into your trolley or basket while doing the weekly food shop. I think that they must just fall off the shelf and land in there by accident…

Anyway, that’s all by the by because I seem to remember purchasing this particular nspa product at a car boot sale! 

This Coconut Body Milk has been discontinued but it was part of the broader nspa Fruit Extracts that is still very much alive and well. Fruit Extracts is a range of inexpensive bath and body care products that all come in various fruity fragrances. 

Much of the nspa Fruit Extracts range reminds me of products I’ve seen from The Body Shop. A nice comparison is that neither The Body Shop or nspa is test any of their products or ingredients on animals. Another similarity is the packaging because some of the nspa products look remarkably similar to ones from The Body Shop, especially the shower gels and body butters. 

Anyway, back on topic. This coconut body milk is absolutely lovely. It has thin, milky consistency and I’m not the biggest fan of the pump spray dispenser but it does apply beautifully once on the skin and absorbs within seconds. It smells gorgeous; a really sweet and unmistakably coconutty fragrance. The fragrance doesn’t linger for long but it’s very nice while it lasts. Despite the watery consistency, it does have a certain creamy richness about it which makes it feel quite indulgent. It’s very hydrating and leaves my skin feeling soft and comfortable. 

I think there’s beauty in the simplicity of the nspa Fruit Extracts range with it’s fruity theme. There’s also something for everyone as if you don’t like coconut, how about strawberry? Or if you don’t like strawberry, how about shea butter? I could carry on but I won’t bore you as I’m sure you get the idea!

Sanex Invisible Dry Stick Deodorant 65ml, £2.00, Sainsburys

This antiperspirant stick deodorant contains 0% alcohol and doesn’t leave white marks. I appreciate stick type deodorants in general as you don’t feel as if you’re inhaling the product like can happen with the spray varieties. Neither are you aren’t stuck waiting around for the product to dry before you can get dressed like can happen with the wetter roll-on varieties.

This product claims to protect, balance and moisturise the skin. Considering underarm skin can be sensitive, especially after shaving or heaven forbid, even waxing, these are actually useful properties to have in a deodorant. It doesn’t sting but I think it can occasionally make my skin feel a little bit itchy after it’s been on for a while.

Sanex is a good name to go for in Deodorant as the brand tends to be selective about the ingredients used and just gentler overall. Another good thing about stick deodorants is that they last a lot longer than the sprays usually do. A downside for some people may be that they’re a relatively less hygienic application method because the product comes into contact with skin daily meaning it may pick up bacteria, especially if reapplied throughout the day and not just used on clean skin straight out of the shower.

I don’t think this is a heavy duty antiperspirant deodorant and I’m not sure many deodorants ever are fully up to the job of keeping underarms completely dry especially for 24 hours like it claims but it does certainly help to maintain freshness and it does have a nice light fragrance too.

Current Hair Care Basics 

Herbal Essences Moisture Balance Shampoo 400ml, £ Discontinued Similar product: Herbal Essences Daily Detox Shampoo, 400ml, £3.99, Superdrug 

I like using slightly more natural shampoos from time to time such as these ones I reviewed here and here, as they tend to be kinder on hair. This Herbal Essences Moisture Balance Shampoo is a moisturising shampoo with 0% silicone for normal/dry hair. One of the main draws of this shampoo is It’s silicone free formulation. It contains Camomile, Aloe Vera and Passion Flower Extracts. The fragrance is light yet invigorating. The Passionfruit and Aloe Vera are a delight for the senses, just as the adverts would have us believe!

This shampoo comes in the distinctive old style transparent bottle with a flip top lid. 

The formula is hugely cleansing; it gets my hair and, more importantly, my oily roots and scalp feeling squeaky clean after just one round of shampoo. That means no need for a second wash, ever! And that saves me a lot of time and effort, which I appreciate. 

This doesn’t seem to dry out my hair or make it go all frizzy either. It doesn’t seem to add much in the way of moisture or smoothness as far as I can tell, but at least it doesn’t strip it all away either.

Definitely an enjoyable basic shampoo without silicone. I’d say it’s strength is in its cleansing properties as It’s a clarifying formula. This shampoo will be difficult to find now after being discontinued but worth a try if you do see it anywhere. When I want to repurchase something similar, I think I may try the Daily Detox shampoo from Herbal Essences that also has 0% silicones.

L’Oreal Elvive Clay Oily Roots Conditioner, 250ml, £2.99, Feelunique

This hair conditioner from L’Oreal Elvive is part of their Extraordinary Clay hair care range. It contains three different kinds of refined clay which is said to leave hair perfectly balanced for 72 hours. The real selling point of this for me is the balancing aspect: it purifies the roots while hydrating the ends. Sounds good for those of us with oily roots and dry ends.

The packaging is L’Oreal’s signature style squeezy conditioner bottle with a flip top lid. The minty green turquoise colour is an eye-catching choice of shade for the range.

This has a medium consistency that spreads easily throughout the hair. I like the thickish formula because it doesn’t just slide straight off of my hair like some brands of conditioner do. This has a lovely fresh and light fragrance that reminds me of sea salt and the beach.

I have very long hair and use a lot of product every time I wash my hair, which actually isn’t all that often. It probably takes around 50 ml of this conditioner to satisfactorily cover the entire length of my hair (it’s currently past my booty in length FYI). I always massage this in and concentrate mainly on the lengths and ends. Then I spread any spare product up towards my roots and scalp. I like to clip my hair up and leave this on to work for around ten minutes but you can simply massage it in and rinse straight away.

This rinses clean from the hair easily with warm water and my hair feels soft, supple and smooth afterwards.

This conditioner is also silicone free and goes well alongside the silicone free herbal essences shampoo. Oftentimes, silicone free hair care may not leave hair looking as smooth and shiny as usual because silicone acts as a smoother and filler on your hair shaft and cuticles. Silicone can give the illusion of healthier hair but it’s sometimes said to be a cause of hair damage in the long run. 

I do like this product but due to having an oily scalp, I’m not usually one for putting a lot of conditioner on my scalp area and that’s partly what this product is made for! I’m not sure I’m using this product to its full potential yet as I can’t get my head around applying conditioner to my scalp as that’s a habit I broke years ago. 

This conditioner is worth a try if you feel like your hair is stripped of moisture on the lengths and your scalp is prone to oil buildup. 

This product comes as part of an interesting range that includes a shampoo as well as a pre-shampoo treatment hair mask. I’m sure I would get better results with the whole range but I only have this conditioner and the hair mask, which I haven’t tried yet.

So that’s it for my bath and body self care essentials and hair care basics!

If you liked this post, and want to see more posts like it, you can take a look at my previous posts about what bath and body care products are in my shower? Or What hair care products are in my shower? 

Miss Beauty Saver xoxox

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