Herbs in the bath: what a beer or wine soak does to your skin

Why herbs are the heart of a spa bath

Say the words beer bath or wine bath and most people picture the drink first. The real working ingredient, though, is the plants and their extracts. At Lázně Pramen in Dejvice we do not reach for perfumed concentrates or synthetic additives. We add a fresh blend of raw ingredients to the tub right in front of you - a blend with deep roots in both Czech and wider European spa tradition. For the beer bath that means Saaz hops, a malt base, brewer's yeast and a genuine craft beer, Petrovické zlato. The wine bath brings red wine, grape seed extract, vine leaf, honey, a mix of herbs and French lavender blossom.

The botanical side of the bath works on two levels. The first is sensory: water held at 35-38 °C opens the pores and coaxes a soft aroma from the herbs, setting the mood of the private room. The second is physiological. Plants like hops and lavender have long belonged to herbal medicine, and their extracts are studied for polyphenols, flavonoids and bitter compounds. We are not here to promise miracles, but saturating the skin with plant matter in gentle warmth makes sense - and it is something you simply cannot recreate in your own tub at home.

The whole treatment runs for 90 minutes and follows a fixed shape: roughly 20 minutes in the tub with an automatic whirlpool, then 50 minutes of rest on a heated bed of wheat straw. That second step is the crucial one. Warmth from the bed keeps the skin heated so the plant compounds carry on working long after you leave the water. We suggest you avoid washing with soap for about two hours afterwards - your skin stays softer and saturated for a good day or two. That is the real difference from an ordinary bath, where you rinse the effect away in seconds. In the sections that follow we take each herb in turn.

Hops and malt: the backbone of the beer bath

Saaz hops are an ingredient Czechs are rightly proud of. In our beer bath we add them straight into the tub alongside malt and brewer's yeast. Hop cones hold bitter acids, essential oils and flavonoids - the very compounds that give beer its signature taste and aroma. In herbal medicine hops have long been linked to calm and release, which is why they turn up in so many soothing tea blends and tinctures.

Malt and brewer's yeast bring B-group vitamins and natural sugars to the water. Yeast has been prized for generations as a source of the B complex, and it appears in cosmetics for the way it supports the skin's condition. The combination of warm water, hop oils and a malt base wraps the skin in something gentle - nothing like the drying pull of a hot shower with an ordinary gel. Many guests describe their skin as noticeably smoother after a beer bath.

Worth stressing: you are not soaking in the kind of beer you drink by the litre. What goes into the tub is a concentrated herbal and malt blend. The real Petrovické zlato, meanwhile, flows from a tap in the room, meant for sipping rather than bathing. A beer bath for one or two people sharing a single tub starts from 148 EUR per booking - and the price is the same whether you come alone or as a pair. We normally set it up in Rubínový pramen, our most intimate room, with a larch tub, a whirlpool, an electric fireplace and a heated straw bed.

If you want the experience for a larger group, only Zlatý pramen can run two beer tubs at once - the two-tub option for up to four guests starts from 190 EUR per booking. Hops and malt stay the main botanical ingredient no matter how many of you turn up.

Lavender, honey and vine leaf in the wine bath

Where the beer bath leans on the bitterness of hops, the wine bath is richer and more floral in its botany. Into the tub go red wine, grape seed extract, vine leaf, honey, a blend of herbs and French lavender blossom. Each brings its own character to the water.

French lavender blossom is, by tradition, the best-loved aromatic herb in the spa world. Lavender oil is among the most thoroughly researched of all plant extracts, and it is regularly tied to calm and the easing of tension. In warm water the blossoms release a soft, sweetly herbal scent that turns the wine bath into a deeply relaxing soak. Vine leaf and grape seed extract add polyphenols - a family of plant antioxidants used widely in cosmetics for their association with protecting the skin. Honey, meanwhile, acts as a natural softening agent that humanity has been applying to skin for thousands of years.

The shape of the treatment mirrors the beer bath: 20 minutes in the tub with the whirlpool, then 50 minutes of rest on the heated straw bed. Here too we suggest holding off on soap for around two hours after your soak, so the plant extracts can keep working. A wine bath for one or two people in a single tub starts from 201 EUR per booking, and a bottle of wine in the room is included. We normally set it up in Rubínový pramen.

For a wine bath as a group, once again only Zlatý pramen can run two wine tubs side by side - the option for two to four guests starts from 268 EUR per booking. The blend of lavender, honey and grape polyphenols makes the wine bath one of the most sensuous treatments we offer.

Heat, herbs and what happens to your skin

The botanical side of the bath does not work alone - it needs heat. Water at 35-38 °C sits close enough to body temperature that you can stay in it for a full twenty minutes without overheating, yet it is warm enough to bring the surface blood vessels alive and open the pores. In exactly this state the skin is best placed to take up the plant compounds dissolved in the water.

A warm bath also has well-documented effects on relaxation. Warming the body in the evening and letting it cool gently afterwards echoes the natural drop in body temperature the system reads as a cue to sleep. A body of research looks at how warm baths ease muscle tension and lift the subjective sense of calm. The whirlpool in our tubs adds a soft mechanical massage on top of that - the moving water loosens tension across the back and shoulders.

The plant compounds in the water - polyphenols from grape seed, oils from hops and lavender, sugars and vitamins from malt and honey - settle onto the surface of the skin and partly work their way in. That is precisely why we put such weight on our rule: leave soap alone for about two hours after the treatment. There is a shower in every room, but soap would wash away the plant film before it has had a chance to act. Guests who stick to the rule describe softer skin a day or two after their visit.

"A warm bath before bed helps the body trigger the natural drop in core temperature that the brain reads as a signal to rest. It is not about hot water, but about a pleasant warming and the calm that follows." - Dr Petra Nováková, physician specialising in physical medicine

We are not chasing medical promises, only an honest experience. The union of heat, herbs and the quiet of a private room makes our treatments something a bathtub at home will never match.

The cedar phyto-barrel: herbs in steam

There is one more way to bring herbs into contact with the skin - through hot steam. In our V.I.P. room Smaragdový pramen you will find a cedar phyto-barrel, a small cabin of Siberian cedar you step into with your body while your head stays outside. Steam from herbal infusions flows into the barrel and the cedar wood itself releases its own oils. It is a wholly different sensation from sinking into a tub: the herbs reach the skin evenly, all over the body, through the warm steam.

The phyto-barrel always comes first in a V.I.P. treatment. In the V.I.P. Beer SPA, 15 minutes in the cedar barrel is followed by a relaxing massage or a scrub, then the beer bath, and finally rest on the straw bed - all accompanied by unlimited light and dark Petrovické zlato craft beer with snacks. The whole treatment runs 2.5 to 3 hours, is designed for one or two people, and starts from 293 EUR per booking.

The V.I.P. Wine SPA takes the same form, but in place of the beer bath comes a wine soak with lavender, honey and grape polyphenols, plus a bottle of wine and a plate of fruit and cheese. This version starts from 326 EUR per booking. The most exclusive is the Delux Wine SPA - cedar barrel, wine scrub, wine wrap, a full-body massage with grape seed oil and rest with a glass of wine. It is the only package that comes with a robe, and it also starts from 326 EUR per booking.

One important note: the cedar phyto-barrel is not a Finnish sauna, and your head always stays clear of the hot steam. Every V.I.P. package takes place solely in Smaragdový pramen and is strictly for one or two guests - never a group.

The salt cave and massages as a companion to the herbal bath

A herbal bath stands on its own, yet many guests like to pair it with a second treatment. That is where Safírový pramen comes in - a salt cave holding ten tonnes of salt in three varieties: rock salt, Dead Sea salt and Himalayan. There is no tub here. The cave sets a mood of calm and serves as the backdrop for massages and other wellness treatments.

The most popular is a relaxing massage, which we offer for 30 minutes from 33 EUR or 60 minutes from 50 EUR. It is worked with natural oils, and the therapist tailors both technique and pressure to what you need - from gentle attention on the back and neck to full-body release. Anyone after deeper work on the muscles will appreciate the sports massage, 60 minutes from 75 EUR. For active people it helps loosen the muscles, lift fatigue and stiffness and speed up recovery.

In the salt cave we also offer apparatus lymphatic drainage, 45 minutes from 23 EUR. This is pressotherapy, which supports the lymphatic system and the movement of fluid. Note that we offer this treatment only on its own - it cannot be combined with a bath in the same visit. We also prepare mud and peat wraps in Safírový pramen, priced individually.

The classic scenario is a massage as prelude or postscript to the bath: first loosen the muscles in the salt cave, then sink into a warm herbal soak. Or the other way round - a massage as the final indulgence after a beer or wine bath. Both treatments can be booked together. The salt cave works as a natural companion to our herbal baths and widens the ways to spend an evening in Dejvice.

Which bath and which room to choose

When you are weighing up beer against wine, the difference comes down mostly to the botany and the mood. The beer bath is more bitter, with a strong scent of hops and malt, and reads as earthier - a proper Czech classic. The wine bath is more floral and more sensuous thanks to lavender, honey and grape polyphenols, which is why so many couples pick it for a romantic evening. Both share the same 90-minute structure and the same rule of no soap for two hours afterwards.

The room depends on how many of you are coming and the kind of evening you want. For one or two guests, Rubínový pramen is ideal - our most intimate room, with a single larch tub, a whirlpool, an electric fireplace and a heated straw bed. A beer bath here starts from 148 EUR and a wine bath from 201 EUR per booking.

• Two guests, romance - Rubínový pramen, one tub
• A group of up to four - Zlatý pramen, two tubs, the only room where two run at once
• Two kinds of bath side by side (beer in one tub, wine in the other) - Combo in Zlatý pramen from 238 EUR per booking
• A V.I.P. experience for one or two - Smaragdový pramen with the cedar phyto-barrel

If you want to bring three different tastes together in a single visit, the Combo in Zlatý pramen offers beer in one tub and wine in the other at the same time - so each guest can pick their own herbal soak. Every price is quoted for the whole room booking rather than per person, so you know exactly what you will pay regardless of how many guests fit within the tub's capacity.

How to book a herbal evening in Dejvice

Booking a herbal bath is quick and done online. On our website you will find a booking widget where you choose a date, the number of guests and the type of treatment. Lázně Pramen sits at Dejvická 255/18, Prague 6, just a two-minute walk from Hradčanská metro station. We are open Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 22:00 and at weekends from 10:00 to 23:00, so you can drop in for a soak after work or on a Saturday night.

If you are unsure which treatment to pick, or you are planning a visit for a larger group, get in touch through our contact page and we will be glad to help. A reminder on capacity: the bathing rooms hold up to eight guests at once - four in Zlatý pramen, two in Rubínový and two in Smaragdový. For larger groups we can stagger the start times, say 17:00 and 19:00.

A herbal bath also makes a fine gift. We offer digital gift vouchers valid for twelve months, which let the recipient choose their own treatment. It is an elegant answer when you cannot tell whether someone would go for hops or lavender - they decide for themselves.

Before you come, please look over the list of contraindications in our terms and conditions, which sets out the groups for whom we do not recommend our baths and massages. After that only one thing remains: choose between the beer and the wine, reserve your slot through our booking form and let the herbs, the heat and the quiet of a private room do their work. We look forward to seeing you in Dejvice.