Four, very high-powered, professional women (and I) make-up the car pool. The logistics seem fairly simple; the five sophomore girls’ discussions pose considerably more challenge. For the most part, the five carpool moms communicate by cell phone and telepathy, always lamenting we get no “face time” with one another-an expression currently popular among high-powered professional women. When we do jackhammer out an hour or so just for ourselves, we giggle and tell secrets just like our daughters. We currently have grown obsessed with essential bath oil, now our favorite talking point for all things personal and professional.
Languishing , luxuriating in the sublime bliss of a whole day off from work and school, the five car-pool moms gather at “Glossarie,” our favorite bookstore and bistro, casually discussing just about everything that comes to mind-except our sophomore daughters. In the course of the conversation, we confess our guilty pleasures-”Friday Night Lights” on television, real ice cream with full fat and full flavor, and the most seductive nail polish colors for summertime pedicures. Then, Brooke, the attorney among the car-pool moms, declares with proper opening argument authority, “I have a whole collection of not-guilty pleasures, the stuff I think I deserve and I know my well-being requires.” The rest of us nod our whole-hearted assent. Essential bath oil, Brooke continues in her ever-so-certain tone. That’s my numero uno, gotta-have-it, life-is-awful-without-it not-guilty pleasure. I will give up cable before I part with my precious essential bath oils. Our four ponytails bob in unanimous agreement.
Essential bath oil does not count among life’s luxuries. We count our beloved aromatherapy baths as absolute essentials, knowing perfectly well that our families and professions would collapse if we abandoned regular healing soaks. All day long, we multi-task like little machines running seven or eight applications all at once. Our brains clog, our senses dull, we grow emotionally numb, and physically drained. Like thirsty nomads finally finding fresh, cool water after many dry days on the Sahara, we retreat to our steaming bath tubs, for refreshment, restoration, rejuvenation, total and complete renewal. Nourishing our skin and pumping up our spirits, good long soaks in empower us to do it all over again tomorrow…and the next day, and the day after that, and even on the weekends.
With a little research, I found the ingredients and measures I need to make my essential bath oil match my signature fragrance. Every morning, I liberally spray each aromatherapeutic little nook and cranny of me with the fresh, flirty, innocent fragrance that keeps me happy and drives men crazy all day long. A perfect blend of ruby red grapefruit, bergamot, Hawaiian wedding flower, and mimosa with wonderfully woodsy carrier oil, my fragrance boosts my spirits, sustains my motivation, piques my imagination, and helps me find the words I need no matter how difficult and demanding business, traffic, and sophomore girls become. At the end of my day then, long after all the family has retreated to dreamland, I retreat to my sanctuary, carve-out my me-time, and wash away stress, tension, worry, and aggravation, immersing my entire self in my very very favorite essential bath oils. And I never-ever feel even the slightest bit guilty-not for a second.
Cynthia K. Thomas is an aromatherapy enthusiast. For more great tips on Essential Bath Oil please visit http://essentialaromatherapyguide.net
I’m so green, it’s really amazing. (Happy Earth Day)