Bath Salts: Because Winter is Coming! Part 1 Intro

So this series of posts will be dedicated to my bathtub.  

There really are few pleasures as enjoyable as taking a nice long soak.  I really think that this isn't focused on too much in the U.S.

Baths are for the most part either considered indulgent or reserved for children.  Now, I love me a good bubble bath once in a while but in these posts I'll be focusing more on soaking in the tub.

That leads us to bath salts.  This can be as simple as adding a cup of epsom salts to your bath or you can start mixing different scents of salts based on your mood.  If you're feeling really indulgent you can by bath bombs or cubes from Lush or Fresh.  I have personally tried both and while they were fun, they were way too expensive.

******** Begin rant ********

I remember one day a Frenchman came into a Lush store and proclaimed that it would be cheaper for him to bath in champagne.

Now then, I'm not hating on Lush, in fact I love anything that smells like Jungle or Rose Jam, but the pricing has gotten so expensive that it's really not a sustainable way for me to keep clean.  Seriously, if you were to take an ideal bath that included a bath bomb, bubble bar and bath melt you would be averaging about $20 a bath, $10 if you only used half of each item.  I know, I know, the price is based on the cost of the ingredients used and you get what you pay for and all that.  But honestly, I can't bring myself to pay such exorbitant prices on something that just ends up down the drain.  

******** End rant ********

So I went out and bought of a bunch of different bath salts.  The brands I'm trying currently are all Japanese and are geared towards making your bath feel like a hot spring while specifically stating that it does not make your bath a hot spring.  I find that disclaimer hilarious, but I suppose it's there for a reason.  Also, these baths are meant really for relaxation and not for actual bathing.  So probably best to go into the tub fairly clean.

Around the Bay Area you can find Japanese bath salts in your local Japanese supermarket or Japanese lifestyle shop.  I bought bath salts from Mitsuwa, Ichiban Kan and Daiso.

The selection is pretty vast in the supermarkets so try to do your research online first since most all of the packaging is in Japanese.  Ichiban Kan has a fair selection of the most popular brands.  Daiso has bath salts that are exclusively made for them.  If you can find them in store they are usually cheaper than getting them online.

I'll be reviewing as I go along.  If there are any brands you want me to try out I'll be happy to look for them.

Live Happy!