The idea for BathCalm came about one night when I was lying in my bathtub, listening to music and feeling totally blissed out despite some pretty challenging circumstances. I had a meditation playing, beautiful aromatherapy from essential oils and then… Eureka! I had my own Archimedes moment – the idea for BathCalm was born – but I didn’t run around naked afterwards! It would be a product for everyone to relax, no matter what. I wanted the product to have a guided meditation attached to each blend, and we did it, thanks to my partner’s genius idea of putting a QR code on the box! I’m so proud and happy to introduce BathCalm. It’s a truly beautiful and unique bath and meditation product that fuses scent, soak and sound.
The Work – Getting started on the scent, soak and sound
Getting there has taken a significant amount of work by a dedicated and talented team of people this past year. Long hours aside, it was a joyful process for all of us in our own way. It’s one that I’ll be sharing with you from each of our team’s perspective in upcoming blogs.
When I came up with the BathCalm idea, I was excited to get cracking straight away. I spent hours researching the traditional uses for essential oils. I ordered ones I’d never heard of just to see what they were like too.
Hello Blends!
It wasn’t long before four blends had revealed themselves to me –
- Performance  to refresh and motivate
- Euphoria to uplift and inspire
- Tranquility to relax and unwind
Once I was aware of the ethos behind those blends, I needed to find the oils to match.
I would eagerly await each parcel of oils that I had ordered. At the end of my work day I would arrive home to open up the package of oils. I would excitedly take a deep breath of each one, some with unexpected consequences. Ever taken a deep breath of manuka essential oil? Or Palmerosa? Wow. By themselves those oils are well, not okay to me, to say the least. My son gleefully described palmerosa oil as “cat’s pee”. What he said about manuka oil isn’t worth repeating here.
The Kitchen Scientist Strikes Again
Once I opened the oils, the blending trials began. I took copious notes of my findings. This is before cooking I might add, because nothing confuses the senses like the combination of Bolognese and Buddha Wood! The blending trials took months and months. The majority of blends either didn’t smell of anything special, or were simply downright horrible. I recorded everything, and promising blends made it to the bath for the next round of testing.
Huston, we have a Blend…
My first blend that made the final cut was Performance – a Buddha Wood base note, Juniper Berry mid note and Ravensara top note. Exotic sounding oils, and a lovely refreshing blend to boot. I fell in love with Buddha Wood the first time I smelled it and I knew I had to use it – somewhere, somehow! Rich, earthy, robust… this is the quintessential Aussie oil that was right at home in Performance.
Indigenous Australians have used it both as an antiseptic and as relaxing fragrance and it’s easy to see why. I just couldn’t understand why we hadn’t really heard of it before, much less use it. If you’re a die-hard essential oils fan you’ve possibly heard of it. If you can put your hand up to say you’ve used it as much as Sandalwood or Patchouli, then I’m impressed.
Buddha Wood – The Wood that Could
Buddha Wood, or Eremophila mitchellii, was first formally identified by botanist George Bentham in 1848. It is named however, in honour of the explorer and surveyor Thomas Mitchell. Buddha Wood is also known as false sandalwood, bastard sandalwood or desert rose. No matter what, we want to sing the praises of Buddha Wood here at BathCalm and have big ideas for future products. We love it!
Rounding out Performance are the lovely sweet and woody fragrances of Juniperus communis, commonly known as Juniper Berry (an incredibly versatile plant!) and Ravensara aromatica, commonly known as Ravensara – another oil that I was unfamiliar with. My head nearly blew off the first time I smelled it; it reminded me of eucalyptus, but warmer somehow. When I trialed it for the first time as the top note for Performance, all three oils just popped and I knew I’d found my blend. Love at first smell!
Oh What a Feeling!
Euphoria was the next blend I nailed down. I wanted fresh and uplifting smells and the oils definitely delivered. There’s the beautiful base note of patchouli, vibrant mid geranium and fruity top note bergamot. What I loved about this blend was that the fragrance from these oils stuck around for hours afterwards. They left me with that heavenly ‘just hopped out the bath’ smell and feeling.
When at first you don’t succeed…
My Tranquility  trials followed and again, it was simply a case of trial and error. That said, out of all three blends, Tranquility was definitely the trickiest to bed down. It took more trials than Performance and Euphoria combined. I just could not find a top that did justice to the gorgeous Australian sandalwood base and European honeysuckle mid notes. Just when I thought I’d nailed it, my partner would tell me it smelled like hotel cleaning products! That’s you neroli (I still love you). Or worse, he said my trial smelled like a hospital cleaning product. Sorry black spruce, that’s you ol’ buddy.
Sometimes you just have to take a step back, let go and be prepared to think outside of the box. This is exactly what happened with Tranquility. I tried Petitgrain on a whim – another citrusy top note I would never have normally considered for a gentle blend like Tranquility. But wham, there it was, ready to rock and roll. When I lay back in the bath with that blend of oils the fragrance confirmed it. It’s just gorgeous and perfect to help you chill out, calm down and zone out.
Well worth the effort!
For anyone who loves oils and fragrances as much as I do, you know that while time consuming, the process of finding a great blend is genuinely a joy; and I think this translates into what you find in your BathCalm products. They really have been made with love and they truly are products for everyone to relax, no matter what. With a QR code on the box for you to access while you’re lying back in your bath, BathCalm is a true fusion of scent, soak and sound.
I’ve tried to use different and unusual oils in each blend – not all are your standard run of the mill ones – not that there’s anything wrong with those… (here’s looking at you Australian sandalwood, mmmwah) but there are so many beautiful fragrances we’re unaware of out there, they deserve a shout out and to be featured in more aromatherapy products. I look forward to BathCalm introducing you to more products that feature scent, soak and sound!
Coming up next week, all the good things that come from having a bath!!
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