This $3 drugstore buy will turn your shower into a zen lavender forest

If I told you that I’d found a quarter-sized pampering product that has totally transformed my shower routine, would you believe me? I swear, it’s not a white lie: On a trip to the drugstore to CVS to buy toilet paper and dark chocolate (super chic, I know), I stumbled across $4 “Lavender Scented Effervescent Vapor Tablets.” The small white discs—which look a lot like TUMS—have since infused the 15 minutes I spend conditioning and exfoliating with the oh-so-calming smell of Provence.

Since one package contains exactly three tablets, each blissful shower will set you back a little more than $1 a pop. You simply place one tablet on the floor of the shower directly beneath the stream. Then, like an Alka-seltzer tablet fizzing in a drink, the tiny shower-boosters slowly melt at your feet, releasing a heady lavender scent that permeates through the bathroom. All-in-all, it takes about five minutes for the water to crumble every last bit of the tablet, but the aroma sticks around long afterward. (TBH, I sometimes count detonating one of these babies as “cleaning” the bathroom since they smell so fresh.)

Like an Alka-seltzer tablet fizzing in a drink, the tiny shower-boosters slowly melt at your feet, releasing a heady lavender scent that permeates through the bathroom.

Since lavender notoriously takes on the ZZZ’s-inducing powers of Mr. Sandman, I prefer to schedule this ritual right before I’m about to dive beneath my covers. And just to make the whole shower experience feel as luxurious as a bath, I tend to turn out all the lights in the bathroom to encourage my body to start producing melatonin, light a candle or two (ya know, for ambience… and also so I don’t cut myself shaving), and turn on Spotify’s “Calm Vibes” playlist.

What can I say? The whole experience is a hygge mood.

While you’re still at the drugstore, consider picking up this derm’s favorite body wash and stocking up on aluminum-free deodorant.