Body & beauty

Jo Fairley: My Bathtub Favourites

The Beauty Bible guru on her bathtub favourites for a long hot soak when it’s cold outside

Can a bath or a shower change your energy levels? I’d say 100 percent yes. If I fall out of bed feeling like my get-up-and-go got up and went, the first thing I do (after brewing a pot of Rare Tea Company Speedy Breakfast tea) is to turn on the taps – and awaken my senses via aromatherapy-infused hot water.

Never is this more needed than right around now, when it’s easy to settle into a late winter ‘slump’. It feels like we’ve been battling the elements for months, the days are still way too short – and spring’s not nearly close enough for anyone’s liking. So, when spirits or energy are flagging, I can’t recommend too highly these uplifting bath treats, to reignite body, mind – and midwinter soul.

Bramley Uplifting Bath, Body & Shower Oil

£20, bramleyproducts.co.uk

I’ve really been enjoying the bath and body treats from this new West Country-based natural beauty. Unlike many oils, which are either for bath or body, this does triple-duty for bath, shower and body – well, quadrupleduty, actually, because the wonderfully uplifting blend of lemongrass, coriander and spearmint oils can also be used as a rich massage blend.

Aromatherapy Associates Morning Revive Bath & Shower Oil

£48, aromatherapyassociates.com

Aromatherapy Associates’ oils seem, somehow, to be turbo-charged – and this is better than a double espresso in the morning for putting a spring in a sluggish step: a sensory jolt of invigorating juniper, rosemary and grapefruit. As with all the oils, while seemingly expensive, it really does take just a capful to fill the whole house with their fabulous aromatherapeutic scents. (There’s a Revive Evening option, too – brilliant before a big night out, with its heavenly scent of patchouli, ylang ylang and sandalwood.)

Lucy Annabella Revive Organic Bath Milk

£43, lucyannabella.com

From a talented Northern Irish aromatherapist (and in packaging that you’ll want to show off on the bathroom shelf) comes this vibrant blend of organically-certified bergamot, lemon, cypress and lavender which leaves skin silky, thanks to its blend of argan, soya and coconut oils.

Weleda Pine Reviving Bath Milk

£13.50, weleda.co.uk

An absolute steal, this – the scent of a walk through a pine forest, in a bottle, with its fatigue-beating fusion of Siberian fir and silver fir. (Also excellent for ‘clearing your passages’, if afflicted by a winter cold.)

Roques ONeil Therapie Protect Bath & Body Oil

£44, roquesoneil.com

Another incredibly talented aromatherapist, another brilliant bath treat – but in this case, Michelle Roques ONeil’s fortifying blend of eucalyptus, frankincense, peppermint, ginger and more is also brilliant when immune resistance is low (as it often is around now). Soothing – and uplifting – all in one.