The Big Bath Comeback: Why a Bathing Ritual Should be Part of Your Routine
Bathing is on the cusp of a comeback, but it has long been steeped in historic rituals that we can bring into our modern lives. Sharmadean Reid MBE shares how we can all benefit from a bath.
Sharmadean Reid MBE is a Who What Wear UK Editor in Residence, beauty entrepreneur, author and founder of 39BC, a bathing brand deeply rooted in bathing rituals. She is also the founder of The Stack World and New Methods platforms, and received an MBE in 2021 for services to Beauty and Women.
Bathing has always been about cleansing for me; physically, mentally and spiritually. I think as humans live more and more densely in cities, we’re constantly brushing up against other people and their energies and stresses. We’ve never lived in a time where we’re surrounded by so many strangers all the time, and I really feel the need to wash away those energies at the end of the day. I genuinely can’t sleep properly unless I’ve had a bath.
Bathing is so important to me that I will bathe twice a day. In the morning, I have to immerse myself in water as soon as possible. If I’m near the ocean, I’ll wake up and jump straight in. If I’m staying somewhere with a pool, I’ll put my dressing gown on and go straight downstairs for a swim. There’s something about connecting with water immediately that prepares me for the day ahead. In the evening, though, bathing becomes more meditative. It’s how I regulate my nervous system and prepare for sleep, which I take very seriously because it is when the body repairs itself.
I think people underestimate how powerful bathing can be for wellbeing, especially for women. It improves circulation, relieves muscle tension and massively improves sleep quality. I’m obsessed with practices that calm the nervous system, and my three biggest ones are breathwork, forest bathing and actual bathing in water. There’s something about immersion and stillness that completely shifts your state of mind. I also do things like wet body brushing and foot acupressure in the bath, but my rituals are actually very minimal. I’m not someone who puts tonnes of different things into the water. Most of the time, I just sit there quietly with my thoughts.
What fascinates me is that bathing rituals exist across almost every culture in history. Human beings have always been drawn to water for purification and ceremony, and in Jamaica, we have a word for all the water spirits called Mami Wata. In ancient Greece, private baths known as balnea began appearing in homes, and then the Romans transformed bathing culture completely through their heating systems, which allowed bathhouses to stay heated day and night. There are bathing traditions all over the world, from the hammams of the Ottoman Empire and North Africa to Japanese onsen culture, which developed around volcanic hot springs, and would be the place where samurai would go to recover after battle. In Japan, especially, bathing is deeply ritualistic. You’re expected to wash every inch of your body before entering the bath because the bath itself isn’t about hygiene; it’s about immersion.
That distinction is really important to me. A shower is functional and active; a bath is passive. A bath asks you to be still. I always say that showers are for hygiene, but baths are for meditation. And even if someone doesn’t have a bathtub, I think they can still access that feeling through floating, swimming or simply finding ways to experience water more mindfully. To me, bathing is really about full-body immersion in something that transports you into another state of being, whether that’s water, sound or even a forest.
Sharmadean Reid MBE's Bathing Rituals:
Because I bathe so much, I don't want my skin to be dry. So the number one thing about 39BC (a brand I founded) Oil Body Cleanser is that it doesn't dry you out because it's oil-based. So you can come out, and your skin will be soft and perfumed. It's not a bath oil per se, because I find bath oils to be very concentrated perfumes, but it's halfway between an oil and a bubble bath. Right now, I am really loving Sage Water because of its fresh, herbal scent. It's the perfect way to awaken your senses during the warmer months.
I'm not someone who likes to put a million things in my bath. At the most, I'll put in Epsom salts at night when my body needs recovery. I'll always make sure it's a magnesium Epsom salt; otherwise, it's kind of pointless, and you have to put a lot of the salts in your bath for it to work properly. I like Dr Teal's Epsom salts, which contain lavender essential oil, and are ideal for winding down before bedtime.
I tend to do a bit of gua sha and body brushing in the bath. I love a Japanese body brush with sisal bristles. But I don't do dry brushing. I do wet brushing because dry brushing was too intense for my skin. Because if you're bathing a lot, you don't want to overdo it with the exfoliation.
My favourite thing is my foot acupressure tool. I watch a lot of videos about fascia release, and I once went to a spa in Germany, which had this pebbled walkway that you did before you went to the bathhouse. It was kind of painful, but it was meant to wake up parts of your feet and, therefore, your body. I just think foot health is so important, so I use this acupressure tool to press parts on my feet when I'm in the bath.
Whilst I'm bathing, I love to burn incense or a candle to set the scene. Right now, I'm burning so many candles, including ones from August and Piers, Wedgewood and APFR, which is a Japanese brand. But I keep rebuying this Black Fig and Cedar one from Boogie Bougie because it's the best. The fig smell is insane.
I wash my face around four times in the bath, and I wash it with all different products, such as an oil cleanser and a gel cleanser. I do love a facial cleansing oil, and right now I'm using this Beauty of Joseon one. I also like to do a sheet mask during my bathing routine, and I love to use the Reome Hydra-Plasma Veil Sheet Mask (£22), which is very hydrating and moisturising.
