The ultimate bath edit: the best products to help you unwind in luxury when bathing

There's no need for us to offer a hard sell as to why a long, treaty bath is just what your mind and body needs
Best bath products to unwind 2021Best bath products to unwind 2021
Best bath products to unwind 2021

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Escaping for a long, hot soak – candles lit, glass of wine poured, podcast or music playing in the background, can provide temporary succour from the realities of daily life, whatever that is. And a luxurious bath, for us, calls for some excellent products.

You may love fat, foamy, child-like bubbles for cheer, or a finely scented oil that provides aroma-therapeutic balm. Maybe a colloidal oatmilk bath to soften skin appeals, or gleeful fistfuls of bath salts liberally applied to the tub in order to ease tense muscles.

Whatever your preference – whatever your day needs – we've curated the finest bath products available, to help you take a little time out from winter to utterly relax. 

This smells spectacular – the soft almond scent is redolent of a newly-born baby's head, with that milky sweetness, and sitting in it for an hour has a similarly calming effect to holding a sleeping infant. 

Pour a liberal dose in for a milk bath Cleopatra would be delighted by – if you've sensitive skin, or are simply scaly from too much winter, it will soften and cosset your limbs lovingly.

This oil-to-milk concoction, presented in a stunning glass, has an addictive herbal scent, lending it a medicinal feel when submerging. 

It does a lovely job of clearing sinuses (we use it when full of a rotten cold, and it helps us sleep), but also conditions skin. Best yet, though, it doesn't leave a film of oil on the skin as you step out, so you don't feel like you have to shower to get clean post bath. A sumptuous delight. 

We would love to talk about the Laura Mercier Honey Bath range, as they represent the ne plus ultra of bathing, but they are not currently sold in the UK (you can try your luck on eBay). 

We can, however, sing joyously of the Humble Beauty Honeysuckle Bath Honey, which, for a fifth of the price, offers an experience blissfully redolent of the Laura Mercier product range. It smells divine – like baklava – and the gentle foam lather it produces will moisturise and soften your skin gorgeously.

If a bizarre situation ever arose where our life depended on naming the ultimate bath product, the reply would be simple. The Elemis Aching Muscle Super Soak is utterly restorative. 

Being HIIT-workout, weight-lifting, marathon runners with a nervous disposition, our poor muscles have been through multiple forms of abuse over the years. 

This concoction is comprised of seriously effective oils (so much so pregnant women can't use it – be advised) – clove, alpine lavender, birch, juniper, wild thyme, blue chamomile. It makes for a potent scent, well and truly clearing your sinuses, and works like the bathing equivalent of Deep Heat for tortured muscles. A godsend.  

If you like big, blousy bubbles and an unapologetically pronounced scent, may we advise Philosophy's Senorita Margarita Bubble Bath. Foam that will billow out gleefully and a (slightly synthetic) lime and salt scent – this is cheer itself. 

A bit different, this one. Scrub across your body ahead of stepping into the bath to slough away flaky, dry skin. When you step into the bath this sea salt, coffee and grapefruit scented salt will melt to tingle and stimulate, waking up sluggish circulation. You’ll emerge refreshed. 

When we’re feeling particularly sluggish and having issues sleeping, we pull out the big guns. We pour the entire packet of these Sea Magik Salted Magnesium Spa Flakes into a bath ahead of bed, and find it does wonders for helping settle our bodies to sleep afterwards. Not something we’d use every night, but in times of serious sleep deprivation, it’s a good help.

Feeling glum? The Cowshed Replenish Bath and Shower Gel will provide a dose of much need citrus vim. The gel bubbles up pleasingly (dense enough to fashion yourself a foam bikini/beard as is your want) while the red mandarin, bitter orange and grapefruit fragrance is deliciously peppy. 

Got the bubbles poured, the door locked, a bottle of wine open? Now make sure you can entertain yourself without getting the wrong things wet with this gorgeous bath caddy. With a slot to hold an iPad upright and safe, you can watch telly as you sip and soak, or you can flick through a magazine or book without worrying it is going to take a dunk in the suds.