Wellness

Fiona Golfar on the Importance of Recalibration Through Serious Soaking

The journalist, podcaster, retailer and world’s greatest host on what makes the tub her happy place.

By Carmen Hall

3 March 2021
F

iona Golfar is on the phone from her bath in Shepherd’s Bush, London. Her home is filled with carefully sourced items, the best of the best, from shelves of delicate glassware to vintage textiles and original artwork. Golfar is known for her work as a journalist, and her taste is defined by constant collecting, an impulse now turned to curating, in small quantities, for her retail store, The Little Shop at Fowey Hall, Cornwall. Her home, where the family tortoise roams the kitchen freely, is one of London’s most inviting. Shelves of books, water jugs, trinkets and pretty packets of soap surround her bathtub, which is part relaxing haven, part social space where she receives the occasional chatty visit from her husband, her two adult kids or a dog or two while she’s taking a soak.

Everything compels me to get into a bath…

Happy, sad, tired… it’s my best place to be. A bath is one of the most important rituals of my day. It recalibrates me.

My bath is…

In a room that has books lining the window shelves, and a comfy armchair in it so my family can come in and chat. There are loads of bottles of oils, and above the bath are old wooden pigeonhole shelves. I collect small things – mini bottles, soaps in beautiful wrappers, tiny figures of people – and keep them in them.

While in the bath, I…

Listen to podcasts, phone friends, read books, catch up with my husband and kids who come in for chats, use aromatherapy.

The most unexpected thing I’ve done in the bath is…

Given birth.

I tend not to use bubbles…

But I do use lots of products. Ren Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil is the closest I get to bubbles.

I’m not an in-the-bath drinker.

And I wouldn’t eat in there either.

The worst thing that can happen in a bath is…

Running out of hot water.

I stay in the tub for…

About 30 minutes.

To wee or not to wee ...

Nearly always.

For a moisturiser, I use…

Pick Me Up Oil by Dee Stanford.

To dry myself off, I choose…

A scratchy robe, every time. From Peter Jones. The rougher the better – silky is not nice on damp skin. I get straight into a towelling robe and then lie on my bed to dry off.

My earliest bath memory is…

Putting a whole bottle of pine essence into the bath and thinking I would get into trouble.

My favourite bathing brand is…

Always and forever, Dee Stanford oils.

The best bath in the world is…

My parents had a fantastic bath. It was practically on a stage in their bathroom. It was enormous and we would all get in it and spend hours in there.

My dream bath…

Comes straight from F Scott Fitzgerald’s short story The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. Our hero wakes up to find himself lying in a bed which rolls him into a waiting bath: the dream.

Lead image courtesy of: Fiona Golfar

The Short Stack

A bath is meditation in liquid form, so submerge yourself in scented oils and let the positive vibes flow.

By Carmen Hall

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