| Milk Baths: | | | | |
| | | | In a large bowl, mix all ingredients andadd |
| The history of the milk bath begins with | | | | to warm bath water. To create an ambient |
| Cleopatra, who was renowned in antiquity for | | | | setting, light candles (use rose, patchouli |
| her radiant beauty. This beauty was said to | | | | or sandalwood for best effect) and/or burn |
| have been because of the Queen bathing in | | | | incense of the same scents. |
| milk scented with honey, lavender, or rose | | | | |
| petals. Some sources even suggest that | | | | Bath-Sheba: |
| strawberries and raspberries were used on | | | | |
| occasion to scent her bath. It is said that | | | | Another of the most popular love-stories |
| Cleopatra's boat was so fragrant with rose | | | | based around bathing is the story of King |
| petals that Mark Antony smelled the perfume | | | | David's love-affair with Bath-Sheba. It began |
| before he saw the vessel itself. It is no | | | | when he saw her bathing on her roof; the |
| stretch of the imagination to consider the | | | | sight entranced him and he fell for her |
| fact that Cleopatra probably shared baths | | | | almost instantly, later marrying her. Their |
| with both her lovers- Caesar and Antony. | | | | son was King Solomon. The legend is sometimes |
| Science has reinforced the legend of | | | | embellished, with poets describing the ardour |
| Cleopatra's beauty, showing that bathing in | | | | in detail and suggesting any number of |
| milk relaxes the body and softens the skin, | | | | additives to the water she bathed in- few |
| the early scientist Pythagoras being the | | | | dissimilar to those Cleopatra is said to have |
| first to recognize the positive effects. | | | | utilized. |
| | | | |
| A recipe for bath milk similar to Cleopatra's | | | | BathScents: |
| is as follows: | | | | |
| | | | The ancient Greeks associated beautiful |
| Ingredients: | | | | scents with the divine. One particularly |
| | | | beautiful ritual included an immersion of |
| 1/4 Cup Powdered Milk | | | | doves in scented water. The doves were then |
| | | | released, sprinkling water over the gathering |
| 1/4 Cup Liquid Honey | | | | as a representation of the blessings of the |
| | | | goddess of love, Aphrodite. |
| One teaspoon Jojoba Oil | | | | |
| | | | In Roman times, Nero built special ducts in |
| 4dropsRose Essential Oil | | | | his Golden Palace that would pour forth |
| | | | aromatic water, while also strewing the |
| 5 drops Patchouli Essential Oil | | | | carpets with rose petals (some say he learned |
| | | | this from the liaison between Mark Antony and |
| 5 drops Sandalwood Essential Oil | | | | Cleopatra. |