Here we are at the cusp of the Lunar New Year, which begins on Tuesday — ushering in the Year of the Fire Horse. As you’ve probably already seen circulating online, this is a particularly potent combination. In the Chinese zodiac, every sign has a “home” element, and for the Horse that element is Fire — associated with momentum, visibility, appetite, and bold forward motion. A Fire Horse year amplifies all of that: energy stacked on energy, movement on movement. No half measures.
We’re harnessing that energy with some serious expansion. 39BC is galloping into the year with a New York launch event under our belt, new stockists including Earl of East , Scented , and The Standard Hotel , and ongoing work on our forthcoming Japan collection. Add to that a new rhythm of writing here, and it feels like things are very much in motion.
So we’re leaning into it. Forward energy. Creative heat. A sense of momentum that feels truly thrilling. How are you channelling this year’s fire?
As much as we’re enjoying the pace of the year so far, evenings still belong to our non-negotiable nightly bathing ritual. Before bed, we want something that brings us back into the body and out of the noise.
For us, that’s Denarii. Warm on the skin, it envelops you with frankincense, patchouli and – the holy trinity of scents that foster deep calm and relaxation. Patchouli adds depth and earthiness, frankincense brings a steady, resinous calm, and sandalwood softens everything, grounding and centring in a way that feels like an essential antidote to all that action."
Add it to your nighttime routine for a deeply soothing end to the most jam-packed of days.
We’ve been watching the bathing boom turn into a full-blown cultural shift and things are picking up steam (excuse the pun). As always, New York City is ahead of the curve. The girlies aren’t meeting for martinis anymore. They’re meeting for 90-degree heat and a 2-minute plunge.
As we speak Culture of Bathe‑ing sauna festival in NYC is happening — a three-week, open-air sauna festival transforming Domino Park into what’s being pitched as the largest sauna village ever staged in the U.S. with 17 architecturally distinct saunas, guided heat rituals, cold immersion, live art, performances, sound experiences, and more. Sign us up!
We’ve already mentioned Lore Bathing Club, which just opened in Noho and offers a Finnish sauna and a generous cold pool. It’s giving discreet members’ club energy, but make it thermal. Meanwhile, over in Williamsburg, Bathhouse still has a raw, Roman-industrial thing going on — exposed brick, graphic tile, a slightly chaotic social scene in the pools (and they just opened a new location in Manhattan, too). A few blocks away, Akari Williamsburg is a more serene scene, and a love letter to Japanese sentō and onsen culture.
Then there’s Othership Flatiron – where guests are called “journeyers” (of course they are), and the sauna is epic. There’s an amphitheatre tea lounge, central fireplace, group breathwork, and ice baths for 16, if that’s your group chat’s vibe. Chelsea’s Saint Bathhouse is more intimate — walnut millwork, cedar sauna, terrazzo vanities. Each guest enters a fully private bathing suite, making this one ideal for those looking to recharge in private.
If it’s happening in New York, you know it’s coming to a city near you very soon. Watch this space…
A Note from Shar
This week I’ve been in Japan, researching bathing, beauty, Zen Buddhist principles — and, of course, scent. No matcha, no selfies. Just full immersion, giving each experience my utmost attention. I have a feeling this is a place that takes several lifetimes to understand
In Kyoto, I took part in a butoh dance workshop — an art form (see photo above) that emerged in postwar Japan with Tatsumi Hijikata’s 1959 performance Kinjiki, originally known as ankoku butoh, or the “dance of utter darkness.” Born from a rejection of both Western dance and the rigid codification of classical Japanese forms like Noh, it draws on expressionism, theatre, and philosophy while remaining deeply embodied. Learning it was like entering a meditative state — one that challenged me mentally and physically.
I also spent time with a Noh mask maker, observing the painstaking process of carving and painting each piece by hand. A single mask can hold multiple expressions, revealed only through subtle shifts of light and angle. It was an awe-inspiring experience.
One of the best stays on my itinerary was at the exquisite Hanamurasaki in Yamanaka Onsen Town, where bathing is woven into daily life. One afternoon I found myself sitting in an outdoor hot spring as snow fell around me – an experience that I know I’ll remember forever. These places hold a deep respect for bathing as an act of restoration, in keeping with Japan’s general reverence for simple rituals repeated with care and intention.
Alongside this, I’ve been (re)exploring Tokyo, a city that never ceases to amaze. One highlight was staying at Aman Tokyo , firmly added to our mental list of jaw-dropping bathtubs. High up in the Otemachi Tower, the bedrooms feature large stone ofuro-style tubs overlooking the city. Bathing amid its elegant slate interiors — with the soft scent of cypress in the air — was a deeply restorative antidote to many days on the move.
These experiences have been grounding and expansive in equal measure — and they’re already shaping how I’m thinking about what we make next.
Speaking of onsens… head to the Journal for our take on Thermae Romae Novae by Mari Yamazaki — an unlikely but surprisingly perfect source of inspiration for 39BC. On paper, a Netflix anime about an Ancient Roman bathhouse architect time-travelling to modern Japan doesn’t sound like a brand origin story, yet it captures something we return to again and again: the bath as a serious cultural portal.
Through Lucius’ eyes, bathing is discipline, devotion, and civic responsibility. Watched alongside Shar’s time in onsen towns, the lineage feels unmistakable — different centuries, different architectures, but an enduring language of stone, steam, and ritual.
On Our Cultural Radar
If you feel like a night at the cinema this week, look no further than My Father’s Shadow , which is directed and co-written by friend of 39BC, Akinola Davies Jr.
Set over a single day in 1993 Lagos, it follows two young brothers spending rare time with their beloved but often absent father. The film is full of stunning sequences but the beach scenes stayed with us: the boys bathing in the Atlantic with their dad, salt on skin, sunlight on water — cleansing, fleeting, and sacred.
