A while back I was asked by a reader (the lovely Sue!) whether I could recommend a rose-scented bath milk. I racked my brains, because I couldn’t think of one that I had recently used, but then I remembered the ila-Spa bath oil. This one has a little bit of a special secret, because the very thick and viscous oil turns into a milk when it makes contact with water! Brilliant, because I do find that I pour in far too much bath milk – it’s runny and easy to misjudge – but with a thick oil, you can really control the amount that you use.

The other reason that I didn’t immediately think of the Glowing Radiance Oil is that it doesn’t (to me at least) scream ROSES when you smell it. It has a very unique scent, very heady, very exotic – it’s a world away from the typical “English Garden” rose fragrance. The ila-Spa oil is a blend of Rose, Tuberose and Vetiver with a great whacking amount of top-quality Argan thrown into the mix. (Not thrown, at these prices, I’d say more ‘carefully poured’!) The unusual scent and the way that the oil disperses and coats the skin makes this a truly luxurious product – it is properly, properly spa-esque. The packaging is very heavy and luxe, so it would make a gorgeous gift if you were hunting for something very posh.

Let’s talk price – £47. (Straight in there!) Now let’s talk value-for-money, because I have been doing a little experiment. I have been using precisely 5ml of oil for every bath I have tested this in. (Seven.) The bottle holds 200ml, so we’re looking at a whopping great forty baths per bottle! 5ml does my huge bath just fine, though I suppose if I was rich then I’d chuck in loads more just for the fun of it, whilst my butler set fire to banknotes and flushed them down the toilet. But seriously, in terms of value for money, I think that this works out pretty well for such a high-end product.

ila-Spa is a little bit special. All ingredients are ethically harvested by artisan producers who benefit directly from the relationship with the brand. The final products are handmade in the Cotswolds, using pure processes that maintain the purity of the ingredients. (Which are all of the absolute highest quality.) I really want to go and see the products being made; I’m fascinated by the story behind the brand and everything from ila-Spa that I’ve tried so far has been exquisite. Watch this space…

ila-Spa Bath Oil for Glowing Radiance is £50 from JohnLewis.com