When I was a child, my mother would take long baths before going out in the evening. I’d hear the rush of hot water, the music playing, and then the scent. It would drift through the house, soft and commanding. I still remember it today. Growing up in the 1990s, our home was filled with Avon products and it was the smell of Skin So Soft Bath Oil that cut through the steam. The bottle had a simple and sturdy design but to me, those three interlocking SSS’ hinted at sensuality and danger, as if this oil might turn you into the Cobra Queen once it touched your skin.

And my mom really did emerge as a queen from the bathroom. After using a volcanic pumice stone on her feet, and scraping a thin knife with oil over her legs (she didn’t know that the Romans did this 2000 years earlier) she then applied various body oils in jasmine and lily, before finishing with the iconic white musk perfume that was the status symbol of the 90s.

I was always transfixed. It was through watching her that I learned to be sensual, to take my time and to walk a certain way. My mom would always dress for her curves and her tall frame and then, with that trail of musk behind her, she would be out the door.

I learned a lot about power and femininity from my mother. But somewhere along the line, I lost some of that knowledge.

As I got older, I was someone who rushed, who juggled, who didn’t make time to oil my body. I was always on the go, surrounded by people, traipsing across the city and simply exhausted. When I was at the height of my stress and on the verge of a panic attack, I would visualise myself floating in water. It helped. But only temporarily.

I started collecting bathing histories and experiences as a way of role playing what it might be like to have lived in another time and in another way. I’ve been to bath houses all over the world and will keep doing so - its my happy place. I guess I was fantasizing about a slower life, but fundamentally I still had to come back to my reality, so I began to incorporate bathing into my daily routine, keeping it simple but always scenting the bath. Today, my nightly bath is non-negotiable.

Bathhouse culture is emerging as a growing social trend, and I get it, it’s another thing to do now that smoking and drinking aren’t respectable adult hobbies anymore. But I believe bathing is less about performance and more about return. For me, it’s not sauna raves, 5am cold showers and Instagrammable ice plunges (even though the latter two do work and I swear by them). Bathing can be a pleasant social activity but really I see it as a solo return to the womb. It’s an aqua hug for those who feel that life is going a little bit too fast. Nothing makes me feel better than getting into water, taking some slow breaths and allowing my tension to release. It is immersion, in every sense of the word.

As a Gemini, productising my hobbies is a blessing and a curse, so after years of being obsessed with the bath, today I am launching my own bathing line. 39BC is a fine fragrance bathing brand that blends ancient bathing with modern cleansing so that you can feel eternal pleasure.

We are launching with four shower oils, inspired by the love affairs of Antony and Cleopatra and I’ve made a small quantity available for pre-order now.

Working on this brand has been one of the most pleasurable experiences of my business life. I get to blend my love of history, beauty and storytelling with my obsession with design, aesthetics and sensory experiences. I’ve felt very at home making 39BC and I hope you feel at home when you try it.