Towel turbans and a hint of glam seem to be the two ingredients necessary for the newest insta-worthy trend — bathleisure. I first started noticing this trend about two weeks ago when selfies of friends and influencers started flooding my feed — they all seemed to be wearing varying degrees of makeup and jewelry, and of course, a fluffy-looking towel wrapped around their heads. Some looked fresh from a shower; most looked ready to go to the opera, only with that noticeable bath time accessory covering their hair. Intriguing…
Bathleisure — taken from “bath” and “athleisure” (typically known for its casual, yet chic, aesthetic) — is actually no new thing. Elizabeth Taylor was known for rocking diamonds and a bathrobe in the early 90’s. From my lazy and quick research, the latest round of bathleisure trendsetters seems to have sparked from a December 2017 Vogue Paris cover of Rihanna, posing like Manet’s Olympia, and wearing a full face of what I assume to be Fenty, swimwear, a very fluffy coat, fine jewelry, and a colorful towel wrapped into a perfect turban on her perfect Rihanna head. Out of curiosity (and my love of Instagram and all things glam), I decided to give this bathleisure thing a go.
How to Bathleisure
I got home from work on Tuesday around 5:30pm. Usually I’ll remove my makeup and head to a yoga class around 6:15 — but then I remembered bathleisure is usually shown with a full face of make-up. If I were to rock glamorous bathleisure around the time I would realistically be taking a shower post-yoga, my make-up would be missing from the whole look. So, I decided to take my bathleisure selfie before yoga class with the makeup I was wearing from the day (which I was actually quite proud of).
Even though I was pressed for time, I touched up my look a little bit, threw on the most glamorous jewelry I own (a string of small pearls my mom gave me when I turned 16), and wrapped my head in a turquoise towel I fished out of the laundry basket. My robe is an oatmeal color that didn’t really match my towel, so instead I draped a printed teal Pendleton towel around my shoulders. Unfortunately for me, this towel was mildly damp.
Photos courtesy of Johanna Koons
I didn’t feel glamorous. I felt silly and uncomfortable. Have I ever changed my outfit and makeup for an Instagram photo before? Admittedly, yes. But this time I wasn’t putting on a nice outfit to maybe get a good ‘gram and then leave it on for the day — it was just to be trendy. It didn’t feel sincere, and I probably wouldn’t post the photo to my personal account. After the selfie, I promptly removed the towel from my head, my jewelry and makeup, changed into my gym clothes and proceeded to my yoga class per usual.
Ditching the Bath-essories
Inspired by all this talk of baths and leisure, I took a bath when I returned. I really invested in this bath by using one of my finest bath bombs, applying my favorite clay mask, preparing myself a glass of winebucha (red wine and kombucha — you can thank me for that later) and found a good podcast to listen to. It was a truly delightful bath experience. When my boyfriend came home in the middle of it, he asked me what I was doing. “Bathleisuring!” I said proudly. He promptly left me alone.
I took another selfie after my bath. I looked shiny and makeup-less, but I was happy! Note that my hair is not in a towel turban, because my hair is not wet. I don’t like to wash my hair in the bath. Would I call this selfie “bathleisure”? I don’t know, but it’s certainly the selfie of someone who took a leisurely bath. So, here’s my simple conclusion. Bathleisure? Silly and uncomfortable, but harmless enough (accessorizing can be fun, after all!). Leisurely bath? Absolutely, always and forever.
Johanna is the Social Media Coordinator for Schmidt’s Naturals. You can follow her love of plants and trials in bathleisure on Instagram, @johanna.koons.
