I use Aveda shampoo and conditioner, I originally tried them because I liked the containers, neutral enough and pretty, but I later moved on to the big bottles they have with a pump.

A bar of soap can sit on a plastic grabber thingie unless you use a tube of body wash. I have no problem seeing those things around a bathtub area unless the colors are jarring or too loud.

Scrubs and other products are put away and taken out as needed, it only takes a few seconds.

I buy any brand of shampoo that comes in red bottles to match my decor, that way I can leave them out all the time. As for my soap, I use a soap dish. All other items that are used like razors, facial stuff, etc. I hide after use. I have candles, a bottle of wine, wine glasses, orchid plant at the end of my tub that stays all the time. It's pretty and on weekends me and the hubby drink the wine while soaking. :-)

If one has a shower and tub combined, there are little plastic coated wire shelves designed to hang from where the shower meets the wall.

I'm a shower gal myself but we do have a big soaking tub in our bathroom. I don't keep anything around it but a few plants, though. I'm allergic to every bubble bath and bath salt I've ever tried, but if I wasn't, I might keep them in a decorative bowl on the tub rim. In our shower, I use the bottles everything comes in. Like you, I'm afraid of glass slipping and breaking in there. I used to use a beautifully painted, decorative glass olive oil bottle to hold my dish soap in our kitchen. It looked great but it was constantly slipping through my hands into the sink, so I KNOW that I'd be dropping any decorative glass bottles in my bathrooms as well. I'll check back, as I'm interested to see if anyone has come up with a good, safe, pretty idea.
Lynn

I guess I should have been more specific..like lynee said, it's a big soaking tub that I was referring to. In the shower, I just use whatever bottles the stuff comes from. Was just looking for something decorative for sitting on the tub base. Lynn I'm glad you said that about the kitchen sink and glass bottle as that was my next idea. What do you use now, as it sounds like you either broke your glass bottle or have replaced it with something else? I just have decided that there's no reason that functional things can't be pretty too! Thanks for all the ideas from everyone so far!

Well, golly for 2-3 years I have had a large silver wire basket with rolled up bathcloths, sponges, and factice parfum and toiletry bottles for show and tell. When they start looking tired or dusty, I wash or change the bath clothes, clean the bottles off. I have a friend who has collected factice bottles for years through auctions and now through E-Bay, and she has sold and given me some, but there are always pretty ones on E-Bay. So far no breakage but they are in a large silver wire basket sort of cuddled in soft bath cloths.

I actually have glass containers around the soaking tub and around our sink areas in the master bath. I prefer the look to the "any old bottle" look. But, in our shower, which is the most often used, I have the "any old bottle" look going on. I think part of it is a practicle issue. For our shower, I have some designer glass bottles that I will throw in there for a photoshoot we're having soon, but they'll come back out in about 3 seconds. Glass and active showering does not work well IMO. But around the tub...if the deck is decent sized, glass works well. I have a mix of items in ours...the huge one is full of laundry soap. One of our washer and dryer closets is right outside the master bath so this is a better way to have soap handy than to have it in a big box in the cupboards. Another holds dryer sheets. One is full of shell shaped soaps, and the other is full of shells :) I have the standard cotton balls and qtips in glass as well near our sinks and a huge one with bar soap.

Our three year old literally dances in the tub and has yet to break any glass. The cats sleep on the tub deck and push the glass out of the way and haven't broken anything. The only glass I've broken was one q-tip container top when I tried to clean it with one hand because I was too lazy to take the trash in the other hand out...DUH But really, they do just fine.

That said...in a family bathroom...totally different thing. In our son's bath we have a hanging bar in the tub (like a towel bar) with metal baskets handing from it to hold the soap and the other parafanilia (not spelled right I'm sure). I leave things in the original containers there and I'm fine with that. Plastic is much better when there are children unsupervised or a smaller tub deck (my son's is just the corners and quite small).

I've just searched restoration hardware and potterybarn and can't find the silly thing to show you in my son's bath. Oh well...sorry :( It's pretty cool and gives you room when you don't have a big deck for stuff.

maybe some how decorate a plastic bottle with fabric that you can pour shampoo in and reuse i dont know just a thought

You could buy a white urn (the kind used for lucky bamboo) or a decorative jar/canister (meant for the kitchen) to stow things i

Honestly, I just tuck things away when people come over.

If I am not mistaken, the OP wants something decorative, not something to hide. She wants to use this as aesthetics, not utility but is aware that glass breaks so easily and is asking advice on how that can be done without fear of breakage. If I am wrong, just slap me back in my corner.

You'd have to keep refilling it often, but what about a decorative hand lotion/soap pump or two for shampoo/conditioner? I'm sure you could find a non-breakable one (or a glass one with decorative metal overlay that was heavy enough it wouldn't move much if you want to pump without picking it up). Maybe set them on a tray on the tub deck within reach of the "head" of the tub? The tray would help keep them from sliding off as you used them, and you could just pick up the tray to clean.

This one is only 7-8 inches tall, but you can get them that are quite large. Since they are factice, they are thicker, like the old liquor bottles of the past which did not shatter with just tapping them against something. In fact, I have several of the liquor bottles that are collectible from the past and I have used them with colored water (very faux factice) in my bathroom but now they are gathered on a large silver tray in my great room.

How about metal bottles? The web site linked below has aluminum bottles with various caps. (The same site sells plastic bottles, too.)

You can also get metal water bottles in many colors. Some are stainless steel, some are aluminum.

If you still want to use glass, put a wide rubber band around the bottle, then cover the rubber band with raffia, ribbon, or a strip of fabric. That should give you enough grip to keep the bottle from slipping out of your hand.

Here is a link that might be useful: aluminum bottles