Coming Clean

One of my great guilty pleasures is enjoying a long, soaky bath. It doesn't matter whether I use bath oil or bubble bath, I just love sitting in the warm water, usually reading a book and relaxing. Even if I took a shower in the morning, my nightly ritual always involves that warm bath.
The first time I came to England, I found a virtual feast of bath products that I'd never seen in the US. My two favorite brands are Radox and Original Source.
Whenever I've traveled to the UK, I always bring back bottles of both. And whenever I meet someone who has either lived in or grown up in the UK, we always talk about our love of Radox and Original Source. It's something you have to experience.
Radox makes a number of products - shower gels, deodorants, scrubs and handwashes - but my favorite Radox is the large bottles of herbal bath. Put a little in the tub and you get lovely, fragrant water with a small amount of bubbles. Want more bubbles? Add more Radox.
Radox comes in a range of wonderful scents. There's Muscle Soak, which lets you "soak away the tension" with clary sage and sea minerals. Time Out has lavender and mimosa. Sleep Easy contains chamomile and jasmine. There are lots of others, too.
Radox was founded in 1908. Its original product was a salts foot bath that RADiated OXygen, hence the name Radox. The company is now owned by none other than Sara Lee. American as strawberry cheesecake, right? But you cannot buy Radox in the US, nor will they ship it to you. So when you're here, you must cram as much as you can into your suitcase so you enjoy that wonderful Radox feeling for weeks after you get home.
Since they just celebrated their 100th birthday, all the bottles say "100 years of herbal knowledge." But I loved their old slogan and thought it was genius - "Radox cares for you." Because, when you're in that wonderful bath, you really did feel like Radox cared for you.


Original Source is our other indulgence, but this one is for the shower. You can buy Original Source a number of ways too - shave gel, bath soak and shampoo - but the original and still the best is shower gel.
We have several favorites - Mint and Tea Tree, Lime, Lemon, Dragonfruit and Capsicum, Almond and Coconut. So far, we have 12 bottles lined up on the shelf to go home. It's Keith's goal to take Original Source showers for one year after he gets home.
The British have such a sense of humor. Here the instruction on the Lime Shower Gel: "Pour out, feel fruity." On Mint and Tea Tree: "Pour out, wake up." On Coconut and Almond: "Pour out. Go nuts."
Like Radox, Original Source is not available in the US.
We have two bathtubs in the flat and both are rather unusual. They're very long porcelain tubs. How long? At 5 feet, I can lie perfectly flat on my back in the tub and there's room left over. It's soaking treat, and I will miss it But I'm taking my Radox and Original Source home with me.
If you're visiting England and you love a good bath, go into any grocery store or drug store and pick up some Radox and Original Source. I check Boots and Superdrug regularly - almost always, one store has them half-price, which means I can get a bottle for about a pound.
You know, some people come to London and bring home fine china and antique silver. I won't have much to declare, but I'll be the one in customs who feels really refreshed and smells really good.