Naturally, I’m not a very relaxed person. In fact, I’m pretty high-strung — I am a virgo after all — and I’ve always had trouble relaxing. I’ve found multiple ways to destress if things get to be too much during the day: many hobbies, cuddling and walking my dogs, and even drinking tea. But at night, I have a hard time shutting my brain off while lying in bed, especially with the pandemic spreading, economy worsening, and a complete lack of normalcy. Lately, I’ve felt more stressed than I have in a long time, and for obvious reasons, being this stressed is not productive or healthy.
To help me relax at night, I’ve turned to taking long showers, lighting candles, testing out meditation, applying lots of face masks, and even trying to journal, but my bedtime routine was becoming longer and longer each night. This multistep presleep process just isn’t sustainable, especially once I get back to my normal work life, and I knew I had to streamline it somehow. Fortunately, I found a potion that puts me to sleep faster than my masking and meditation attempts ever did. I don’t know what compelled me to grab a sample of this aromatherapy mist at work and bring it home (what now feels like ages ago); I’ve never been particularly into aromatherapy before. Regardless, as soon as I remembered I had it, I dug it out from the depths of my sample-filled tote bag. I decided to try it in lieu of lighting a candle like I usually do before my nighttime shower, since it’s much less precious (and less expensive) than the Boy Smells, Diptyque, and Nest candles I frequently use. Now it’s replaced my shower-time candles altogether.
Following the directions on the bottle, I sprayed the aromatherapy mist into the shower before I stepped in, and a few spritzes filled the entire shower with wonderful smells of orange, lavender, and sandalwood. The label says to spray it two to three times, but now that I’ve used it for almost a month, I’ve found that I prefer spraying it ten or so times because I like the scent to be extra strong. I even refresh it throughout my shower because the smell dissipates throughout the rest of my bathroom the longer I stand in there. If you close your eyes and focus on the smells — which are supposedly naturally relaxing ingredients — it calms you down by taking your mind off of everything else going on. I think of beaches and walks outside and, well, happier times. And I find it just as relaxing as taking a full bath without all the labor it takes to actually create a relaxing bath — concocting the perfect mix of bath salts, warm water, and scents is an art that I sometimes just don’t have the time or patience for. My bathtub is also a tad too small for my five-foot-nine self, so finding a way to sit in it comfortably is just another element I don’t often feel like fussing with.
When I step out of the shower after using this spray, my whole bathroom smells delightful, and it takes much less time to create this atmosphere than burning a candle or taking a bath would. Plus, it immerses your entire body in the scent, unlike a candle. The best part, though, is that the smell sticks around the bathroom long after your shower, so you get a double dose as you do your skin-care routine. Afterward, I float into bed more relaxed than I was after my former routine. Obviously, this aromatherapy mist won’t change the world, but with how much stress everyone is feeling, the small bit of peace and calm this spray gives me is well worth it.
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