OK, so granted, this seems like an easy one: Anyone can draw up a bath. The trick, however, is finding a bathroom door that locks, and a responsible person to keep your kids, your cats, your dogs, and your hubby at bay while you soak!

There are a few things you will need for The Perfect Bath:

• A bathtub
• A CD player and one of those “nature-meets-the-Classics” CDs
• A few slices of thinly cut cucumber, optional (to leave on your closed eyes for 15 minutes; or to munch on!)
• A facial mask, your choice
• 2 cups of Epsom Salt in a large bowl
• Essential Lavender oil
• Assorted candles (and matches, of course)
• Two of the softest, cleanest, largest bath towels you can find
• A large glass of water with ice and a few slices of lemon

First, light the candles, and set up your CD player far away from tub. (No electrocuting yourself, please!) Add 4 to 6 drops of Lavender oil to the Epsom Salt, and mix gently. Voila, you have just created your own, all-natural bath salt. Fill the tub with water, and scatter the salt around the tub to let it dissolve.

Your bath water should be 98.6 to 101 degrees. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a thermometer upstairs just so I can measure the temperature of my bathwater. My editor and I agree that the best kind of bathwater is the kind that turns your skin bright pink. (If, like us, you like to scald, then make sure to put on plenty of moisturizer after the bath.)

Set up your glass of fruity water and the cucumber slices as close to the bath as possible. As you get undressed, do not look in the mirror and mentally calculate all of your flaws! This is supposed to be relaxing, not depressing.

Once you have completely emptied the water heater of all the hot H20, climb slowly into the tub. As you sink into the water, breathe in and out slowly and deeply, as if you were in yoga class. Make a conscious effort to let all of your worries, fears, and stress melt into the steaming water. Don’t be afraid to exhale a few ohms if you like!

One suggestion: Either wrap your hair up, or mentally make a deal with yourself that you will let it get wet. I have ruined many a good bath fighting with my hair, knotting it uncomfortably and then pinning it loosely against the side of the tub with the weight of my head. Instead, pretend you are a little girl again, and try going all the way under, leaving just your nose peeking out of the water. The feeling of the hot water enveloping your head is magical!

No matter what you do, leave your cell phone, PDA, pager, and the house phone outside the bathroom door. No Facebooking, calling, or texting from the tub. No exceptions.

Lastly, do not let Gibbs the cat, or any other pets, into the bathroom with you, no matter how cute they are. In my experience, cats walk delicately around the tub and try to paw at and sip the bathwater, before falling in — and their Herculean efforts to get back out often make you look like you’ve been in a knife fight. Not relaxing at all.

Enjoy your perfect bath! TCW