The art of the ancient bath
Referencing Cleopatra, Roman ambition and time-honoured bathing rituals, Sharmadean Reid’s 39BC reframes cleansing as a richly imagined act of self-care.
Photograph: Neil Godwin at Future Studios for The Good Life Fixed
‘The scent of skin after effort, of strength giving way to intimacy. Notes of frankincense, patchouli and sandalwood linger like heat on the body, evoking the aura of a man returning from battle, ambition still in his blood.’ Sharmadean Reid, a successful serial entrepreneur, is describing the scent of Denarii, one of four oil body cleansers with which she recently launched 39BC.
With her business, Reid references traditions of bathing. Many are centuries old; cue North African hammams and Japanese onsens. It’s a proposition anchored in historical research: when developing the brand, Reid read widely, and her debut offering is inspired by Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
As well as Denarii, there is Sage Water, which Reid developed ‘thinking of the Priests of Isis in retreat from Rome’ and which lists notes of salt, aldehydes and moss; Silk Veil is a tribute to Cleopatra and smells of neroli, musk and tuberose. The aromas of violet leaf, coconut, fig and cyclamen feature in Fig Milk. ‘It smells of ripeness and of something on the verge of becoming,’ Reid muses. ‘It’s inspired by Cleopatra’s handmaiden but carries the same tenderness and tension as a French coming-of-age film, when yearning and discovery blur into one. A study of pleasure before experience, of desire before understanding.’ Rich in narrative, 39BC is a luxurious addition to everyday rituals.
