When I stepped into the bathtub last week for my first nightly bath, I found myself a little at ends. What to do with myself? For most of my life, a bathtub has strictly been about relaxation. Soaking in hot water on a cold winter's night, filling the tub with bubbles, setting the stage with candles and soft music. Now, I suddenly have to make the bathtub a functional place. I've got work to do in there! Washing, exfoliating --- where to begin?
The next day, I found myself reaching into the past for some vintage advice on bathing. Here are two descriptions of the ideal bath from 1940s beauty experts. They're strikingly similar.
...The next clue to relaxation is a tepid bath with a dash of your favorite bath oil, salts, or bubbling bath added. Swab your face with cold cream and into the tub with you. Rest your head back, close your eyes, apply eye pads of cotton dipped in alcohol and witch hazel, and rest for at least 10 minutes - before you even think of scrubbing…
Now remove the eyepads, take your bath-brush and work up a grand lather with pure, mild soap. Let the water out of the tub and refill again with clean, cool water for your refreshing rinse.
“Be Lovely If He Comes On Furlough" by Antoinette Donnelly
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 31, 1944
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 31, 1944
A bath should be a nerve tonic and a beautifying treatment as well as a matter of cleanliness. A morning bath is to invigorate and awaken, while a bedtime bath is to induce sleep…
BEDTIME BATH - Hot, of course, and add bath salts - pine essence will help draw out that achy feeling. (2) Pat Three-Purpose Cream into your face to let it do its good work while the steam opens the pores. (3) Into the water. Lie back, with eyes closed. (4) Wash leisurely - avoid hurried movements. Have a lazy soak afterwards, with eyes closed and cotton-wool soaked in witch hazel resting on them. (5) Dry with gentle massage movements. (6) Cleanse face, rinse with cold water, then re-apply cream if you wish it to remain on overnight.
Isn't it interesting how they both mention treating the face with cold cream during the bath? Both writers also recommend spending a little time just soaking with cotton pads treated with witch hazel on the eyes. (And what's the witch hazel thing about anyway?) The idea of applying cold cream at the beginning of the bath and rinsing it off afterward is actually right in keeping, too, with the brief description of bathing in the 1946 grooming routine I've been adopting:
Coat yourself thoroughly with a susdy lather, and don't spare the elbow grease. Rinse well, doing face separately with water from the faucet.
So it's cold cream twice a day now for me... once in the a.m. (which is helpful in feeling wide awake - without a shower) and once in the p.m. during my bath. I am cutting myself a little bit of slack at this point when it comes to shampooing and conditioning my hair and shaving my legs and underarms. After I've finished washing up, I drain the tub and take a brief cool-ish shower in order to give myself a little time to do the kinds of things not attended to on a daily basis in the '40s routine. I may very well get to a place someday when I'm happily washing my hair once a week, but that's certainly not going to happen overnight!
And I'm not sure whether I'll do the nightly baths on Friday and Saturday nights. With those super sweaty morning walks on Saturdays and Sundays, it's really tough not to be able to jump in the shower when I get home. Could I do both? Sure, but that seems a little wasteful on the water/soap/shampoo/conditioner front.
One thing I am loving is the sensation of being squeaky clean when I crawl into bed. (I'm also grateful to have lost enough weight to fit a bit more comfortably in my bathtub!) And you know how you can kind of get into a rut when it comes to the things you hit in the shower --- well, I've probably given my legs and feet a better scrubbing in the last few days than they've had in a long time! My skin feels softer and better exfoliated than it usually does.
Just a few more chores and it'll be time to draw this evening's bath. Sweet dreams!
BEDTIME BATH - Hot, of course, and add bath salts - pine essence will help draw out that achy feeling. (2) Pat Three-Purpose Cream into your face to let it do its good work while the steam opens the pores. (3) Into the water. Lie back, with eyes closed. (4) Wash leisurely - avoid hurried movements. Have a lazy soak afterwards, with eyes closed and cotton-wool soaked in witch hazel resting on them. (5) Dry with gentle massage movements. (6) Cleanse face, rinse with cold water, then re-apply cream if you wish it to remain on overnight.
“Make the Most of Your Bath!” by Barbara Lynn
The Coaticook Observer And Stanstead, June 14, 1940
The Coaticook Observer And Stanstead, June 14, 1940
Isn't it interesting how they both mention treating the face with cold cream during the bath? Both writers also recommend spending a little time just soaking with cotton pads treated with witch hazel on the eyes. (And what's the witch hazel thing about anyway?) The idea of applying cold cream at the beginning of the bath and rinsing it off afterward is actually right in keeping, too, with the brief description of bathing in the 1946 grooming routine I've been adopting:
Coat yourself thoroughly with a susdy lather, and don't spare the elbow grease. Rinse well, doing face separately with water from the faucet.
So it's cold cream twice a day now for me... once in the a.m. (which is helpful in feeling wide awake - without a shower) and once in the p.m. during my bath. I am cutting myself a little bit of slack at this point when it comes to shampooing and conditioning my hair and shaving my legs and underarms. After I've finished washing up, I drain the tub and take a brief cool-ish shower in order to give myself a little time to do the kinds of things not attended to on a daily basis in the '40s routine. I may very well get to a place someday when I'm happily washing my hair once a week, but that's certainly not going to happen overnight!
And I'm not sure whether I'll do the nightly baths on Friday and Saturday nights. With those super sweaty morning walks on Saturdays and Sundays, it's really tough not to be able to jump in the shower when I get home. Could I do both? Sure, but that seems a little wasteful on the water/soap/shampoo/conditioner front.
One thing I am loving is the sensation of being squeaky clean when I crawl into bed. (I'm also grateful to have lost enough weight to fit a bit more comfortably in my bathtub!) And you know how you can kind of get into a rut when it comes to the things you hit in the shower --- well, I've probably given my legs and feet a better scrubbing in the last few days than they've had in a long time! My skin feels softer and better exfoliated than it usually does.
Just a few more chores and it'll be time to draw this evening's bath. Sweet dreams!
9 comments:
I never knew a post about bathing could be so interesting! LOL! Excellent post as usual.
Thanks doll,
The Glamorous Housewife
Witch hazel is an astringent and reduces swelling. It is the active ingredient in hemorrhoid pads where it's job is to sooth the aggravated tissue. It's used as a soak on cotton pads to reduce puffiness around the eyes.
Perhaps your next challenge could be to use soap and vinegar for hairwashing/conditioning as everyone did in the 1940's. We have had to switch to that at our house due to allergies, and our hair is gorgeous, and you really only do have to wash once a week like our grannies used to! I think modern shampoos must strip the natural oils from the hair, so you produce more oil to make up for it, then have to shampoo more often...another modern 'product' trap. Happy bathing!
Your post makes me want to invest in some really nice bath salts or bubble bath!
Reading all makes me want to go get a bottle of witch hazel too. =)
lpm
If you're still looking for cold cream that's not tested on animals, Lush has one called Ultra Bland. I just bought some today so haven't tried it outside the store, but it seems promising.
It doesn't smell as highly of rosewater like Ponds, which is a shame. I may try mixing some rosewater in it to see if I can get that same scent.
Note of caution with baths and all the wonderful smelly stuff one adds. If anyone is prone to yeast infections, one might want to stick to taking showers.
Hair washing - I can go three to four days now between washings. You do have to work up to it.
Jo - would you mind sharing which soap you use on your hair. Shampoo makes my head itch. Thanks
Vinegar does make a wonderful hair rinse.
When you are hot and sweating, just jump in the shower for a short cool rinse.
Laugh at me - I'll never make a good 1940's person. I've worked too hard to get away from living that way.
Glad you enjoyed it, TGH!
aurelia, thank you for the info on witch hazel. Those '40s beauty experts were truly trying to make the bathtub an efficient place.
Jo, maybe at some point... For now, I'm content with my modern hair cleansers. There must have been some folks trying shampoo in the '40s as you start seeing ads in the magazines for things like Drene during this era.
lpm, I'd like to try some bath salts myself --- though I wonder if they'd make the bathtub even harder to clean up afterward!
Teru, THANK YOU for the recommendation! Please let me know how it works out for you. I'm still only 1/3 of the way through my jar of Pond's, but I will need to replace it at some point.
Packrat, good word of caution there on the bathing thing. I haven't added anything to my own baths yet. Just me, a bar of Ivory, and a washcloth. Oh, I like the idea about the short, cool shower after my workouts. Be nice at least to rinse off that sweat!
Hi Packrat, you can use any soap that is oil based, olive oil, or coconut oil is good, with all natural ingredients - try the healthfood store. We lather up and rinse then use a tablespoonful of apple cider vinegar in 500ml warm water in a squeeze bottle to rinse. You can choose to rinse out the vinegar or not, as desired.
Jo, do you find the rinse leaves any kind of odor? If so, is there anything you do afterward to neutralize it?
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