Bathroom
The Sunday Age
Sunday December 5, 2004
The shelves of Melbourne's top homeware stores are groaning with glamorous bath products, each with its own special pampering role. Forget standard rose-scented soap or body lotion; we're talking luxury foams, butters, salts, colognes and perfumed creams.
The range of soaps is equally beguiling - from hand-rolled ones that look good enough to eat, to giant slabs of French goat's milk soap.The modern bathroom has become a sanctuary to linger in and indulge our bodies, and one of the most stylish rooms in the house.As Hilary Gwillim, Australian distributor of niche fragrance products such as Cote Bastide and Diptyque, says: "The bathroom has taken on a more prominent role as a design feature in the home. People are quite proud to show off their bathroom, and luxury bath products are purchased for both decorative and functional purposes."Another trend is the soaring popularity of bath products for men."The male product market has seen huge growth in the past few years and that is continuing," says Gwillim, whose new Manon Bis fragrance house in Toorak stocks many products for men and fragrances popular with both genders. "It is now much more accepted that men use bath products as well as skin and body care," she says.At The Works, the year-old flagship store of the Bed Bath N' Table group, popular products for men include emulsifying creams and spray toilettes by Italy's Acca Kappa, and shower gels and deodorant soaps by French-based Durance. Men and women both purchase the earthy and citrus fragrances in the L'Occitane range.The Works' sales consultant Rosemary Gillis believes bath products make ideal Christmas gifts because they are luxury items most of us want, but often feel guilty about buying.Bath robes and toiletry bags are popular, while bath "utensils", such as wooden brushes, sea sponges and loofahs, are also worth considering.
© 2004 The Sunday Age