By Kitty Von Tastique

PUBLISHED IN VINTAGE LIFE MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2016

Let's face it, Cleopatra is the go-to bath time legend when it comes to bathing rituals. Although baths and bathing have come in and out of favour during the last 5000 years, visions of the perfect 'me' time, spent relaxing in a luxurious bath are still very much firmly in favour, thanks largely to visions of Cleopatra floating in her milkshake.

These days it's a very civilised affair. Indeed this era we are living in is perhaps the equivalent of a luxury 'bathtopia', with bath time literally being lifted to the status of 'art' by experts like Lush Cosmetics, who seem to have elevated the bath (and indeed shower) time experience to a truly phenomenal level. I have long been a Lush fan because of their strong ethical, sustainable and kind approach to product creation, not to mention gorgeous smelling product range.

Some people love shoes and handbags but I prefer to obsess over the scented sanctuary of bathing. Although it's perfectly fine to throw a bath ballistic in the tub and bombs away, I thought I'd lay out some perfect pairings of this season's offerings for your bath time delectation. So lie back, relax, and think of Cleopatra with my bespoke bath time ritual recipes!

Santa Baby

Delicious divas don't wait for Santa to spoil them. They treat themselves to the perfect pre-party ritual.

Listen to: Eartha Kitt 'Santa Baby', Dean Martin 'Baby It's Cold Outside', Ella Fitzgerald 'What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?'

Scent the room with: Lemongrass & Sweet Orange

Bathe with: Shoot For The Stars bath bomb! It's the perfect present from you to you. 'Almost' Tiffany blue with shimmering stars, rewarding you with the sparkle you deserve, sweety! It puts on quite a show as it dissolves, starting as midnight blue before those fair trade cocoa butter stars dissolve to give you some much needed moisture. It has a sugary sweet and uplifting citrusy scent with Brazilian orange and bergamot, so it's perfect to keep you going during the party season. Plus it basically looks like a bath full of mermaid tears of joy, it is 'that' magical! You'll come out moisturised and glamourised!

The Icing On The Cake: Why not enjoy one of Lush's fresh face masks while you relax? I recommend Ayesha. It gives your skin a great pick-me-up before a big night out.

More of a shower person: Try the new Bubbly shower gel. It also has the perfect combo of citrus and cognac oils to get you party ready.

Going Out: Make sure you get your pout perfectly kissable using Santa Baby edible cherry lip scrub and Santa Baby cherry red lip tint, both made with real cherries!

The Sugar Plum Fairy

Can't wait for Christmas and love hanging your pink stockings with care? This recipe is for all of you sweet hearts out there!

Listen to: The Nutcracker Suite 'Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy' (of course!), Cinderella 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' & 'Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo'.

Scent the room with: Vanilla

Bathe with: Every good fairy should have her very own wand and Lush have obliged by creating the Magic Wand re-usable bubble bar complete with jingle bell, oh, and did I mention it's bubblegum pink?! Although the wand itself makes bubbles, I'd also suggest adding a Candy Mountain bubble bar or some Snow Fairy FUN to the bath as well. The FUN is mouldable so you can make your own liccle snow fairy then turn her into bubbles! Lots of bubbles!

Moisturise using: The Snow Fairy body conditioner. It's is a glittery pot of vanillary goodness. Body conditioner is designed to be rubbed onto your wet skin and then gently rinsed before you pop out of the bath or shower. It sounds totally weird but it actually works. Think of it as a hair conditioner equivalent for your body.

The Icing On The Cake: Finish with Fairy Dust. Apply a fine dusting of this candy scented powder to give your skin that fairy sparkle! Lush also suggest adding a fine dusting to your bed sheets as well. That's bound to get us into trouble with the fairy police for misuse of power but it's probably worth it!

More of a shower person: Try using the Snow Fairy shower gel and Salt and Peppermint Bark body scrub.

Going Out: Give your lips a scrub and tint with the new Sugar Plum Fairy sugar lip scrub (yes, you can lick it off and eat it!) and Sugar Plum Fairy lip tint.

White Christmas

For the true vintage lover, this recipe combines the best of the old and the new to give you a blissful bath time experience that feels like a big, fluffy hug!

Listen to: Bing Crosby & Martha Mears 'White Christmas', Dean Martin 'Let It Snow', Frank Sinatra 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', Nat King Cole 'The Christmas Song'.

Scent the room with: Lavender

Bathe with: The Luxury Lush Pud bath bomb. It looks like a lovely little Christmas puddin' plus it delivers tonka for some sweet vanilla-like reassurance, lavender for relaxation and foam for fun.

The Icing On The Cake: Why not throw in a Snow Angel bath melt to add sparkle and moisture to your bath?

Moisturise using: The wonderful new Sleepy body lotion takes you straight to the lad of Z's with lavender water and lavender infusion to guide the way.

More of a shower person: Try The Comforter shower gel. It's 'berry' sweet!

Going Out: No way! We need to be home when Santa arrives! Throw on a pinch of Mr Sandman dusting powder and float off to the land of nod. Sweet dreams!

(All products listed are vegan apart from Ayesha face mask & Santa Baby lip scrub, which are both vegetarian. The writer does not work for Lush, nor was she paid in currency or kind).

Photos supplied by Lush PR