It’s been a long day and you want nothing more than to retreat to your favorite spa and hide yourself away. You can make your bathroom your own private spa, and have a perfect nighttime routine to go with it – here’s how.
Make Your Tub Comfy
The most important element in your nighttime routine is to be comfortable. Ideally you can soak with a bath pillow for bathtub that supports your neck and head. Tubs aren’t soft and rarely provide a place to comfortably place your head.
Attach a high quality bath pillow to your bathtub with strong suction cups so it stays in place and provides the best support. Soaking in a hot bathtub relaxes muscles, improves your mental mood, and can also improve your posture!
Add a fragrant oil or bath bomb and let the smell relax your senses. Epsom salts and old fashioned bubble bath can also help soothe muscles and provide sensory comfort, creating the ultimate nighttime experience.
Be careful not to use too many different scents. The idea isn’t to overwhelm your senses, but to choose what is most soothing to you and use that to reach your ultimate level of comfort.
Take Your Me Time
Your nighttime ritual should include that one beauty step that you don’t have time for every day, but that should be done semi-frequently.
Taking a bath is a perfect way to also incorporate a facial, foot scrub, or manicure/pedicure into the week. You are your own captive audience, especially when soaking in a hot bathtub!
The steam and heat automatically helps open your skin’s pores and moisturize, by adding your favorite mud mask, you will be giving your skin a refreshing pick-me-up.
Getting rid of those pesky rough spots on your feet is easy when soaking too. With the heat loosening up the skin an exfoliating scrub will be very effective in eliminating foot calluses. You can also paint your toenails (or fingernails!).
No Phone
The biggest tip to enjoying your evening ritual is to leave your phone outside of the bathroom. Your routine before bed should not include activities that you do all throughout the day.
Your eyes and brain need to shut down and they cannot do that when you are answering emails or checking social media. To avoid temptations, leave the phone turned off and outside the room. You don’t want to hear texts coming in because you won’t focus on yourself.
Instead of “reading” your phone, bring your favorite magazine, or book (remember those?) into the bathroom with you instead. Play relaxing music or a podcast, you can even journal! WRite down the things you are grateful for, it’s not the time to make out your grocery list for the week.
Treat Yourself to Luxury
If you truly want to experience a relaxing nighttime ritual, you must have luxurious towels and linens.
We have all had the experience of a not-so-great bath towel either as a guest in someone’s home, or at a hotel when traveling. It is a major detail that no one really thinks about until they step out of the tub and realize the towel is less than luxurious – it is either scratching you or its lint is sticking to you. Try to upgrade your towels (including your washcloths and hand towels) to a higher-end material.
Many home experts will argue that Turkish cotton is the best material for all the linens mentioned above that go into your guest bathroom. Similar to Egyptian cotton, the long fibers of Turkish cotton yield stronger and smoother threads than regular cotton. It even grows softer over time and with every wash.
To really give yourself the royal treatment, consider a robe and slippers made out of the same Turkish cotton as the towels. No need to get dressed after a long soak, you can stay warm and cozy wrapped up in a luxurious robe and lounge for the rest of the evening until you’re ready to go to bed.
Have a Snack
Definitely enjoy a light snack and favorite beverage with you into the bathroom as part of your ritual. Enjoying a small snack before bed may help you sleep, (just don’t have a four course meal).
Fruits, nuts, and cheeses work best. You should also have a bottle or cup of water with you while soaking in the tub, and to take with you to bed so you don’t have to get up in the middle of the night for a drink.
Creating a regular routine isn’t just for children. A lot of experts have shown that a better bedtime ritual has dozens of benefits for adults. By integrating these simple suggestions, you can be on your way to creating your own perfect nighttime ritual.
