We have terribly hard water in our house so my family has horrible problems with dry, cracked and rashy skin. I am always on the look out for products that soften the water and not irritate sensitive skin. Treasures Of The Sea Luxury Bathing Kit from Kama Sutra is one product that will be on our bathroom shelf from this point on!

This is a luxury bathing kit and it lives up to it's name, it truly is a treasure. It arrives wrapped in a simple plastic bag, very minimalistic and recyclable packaging. The bath salts themselves are stored in a beautiful clear plastic container with a pretty label decorated with mermaids and other undersea pictures. There is nothing indelicate about this product label and it can safely sit on your bathroom shelf for all to see. The lid screws on and is composed of black plastic with another lovely label on top. You get 24.6 ounces of product and the package is also 100% recyclable. The salts are ground down finely and melt quickly though you might find yourself swirling the water around a bit to dissolve those last few stubborn grains.

The salts, themselves, are a deep and rich blue speckled with white water and skin softening pellets. To dispense the product there is a lovely natural seashell. You only need about half a 'scoop' to totally transform a bath into a luxury occasion! We have found that half a scoop turns the water a lovely deep blue and perfumes the whole bathroom. Our bathroom is slightly oversized but the tub is regular sized. This bath preparation doesn't leave a ring around the tub and washes cleanly away without leaving slick residue like some cheaper commercial bath salts can. It turns the water silky against the skin and I really do feel pampered when I use this product. We have found that adding a bit of bath oil to the bath along with the salts can aid in the skin softening and the salts keep the oil from settling on the side of the tub creating that nasty ring around the tub problem. The water, then, washes cleanly down the drain so you aren't trying to lever yourself out of an oil slick on porceline.

The ingredients are fairly straight forward: sodium sulfate, sodium sesquicarbonate, sodium thiosulfate, sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate, magnesium sulfate, sodium laurl sulfoacetate, hydrated silica, sodium c14-16 olefin sulfonate, fragrance, triticum vulgare (wheat) germ oil, algae, blue 1, geraniol, butylphenyl methylpropional, linalool, and benzyl benzoate. Mostly it is different types of salt, coloring, oil and fragrances. There are some frothing agents added to give a foamy look to the bath but unlike bubble bath the foam disspates fairly quickly. The product can begin to ball up due to the natural humidity of the bathroom but it doesn't dry out and become hard. The little balls of product will melt just as easily as the non-balled up portions in warm water.

The scent is heady, heavy and relaxing. It has a spicy but warm smell and is very unisex. Sigel uses this preparation almost exclusively and has never felt it to be "girly" or overpowering. The scent is hard to describe, though. It smells like good quality soap and a light smell of fresh ocean breezes, it's not briny and fishy like the ocean water, exactly but it manages to mimic the lovely smells of being at the sea side. It's the sort of smell you want your bathroom to stink of!

While none of the ingredients raise obvious allergy flags ladies should be aware that soaking in a bath for long hours or too many times a week can raise the risk of bacterial overgrowth in the vagina. It is only a problem for ladies who are prone to imbalances in this area. I find that once a week for an hour or so doesn't cause any problems for me but your mileage may vary.

Well finally we have managed to use up all of this amazing bath salt. I realized I never got back with you all about how it held up. I am under orders to buy another two jars of the salt just in case it should be discontinued. Yes, it is that good!