— WELLNESS
— SKINCARE
— DIY
Weekly Beauty Advice: How To Have A Spa Day At Home
Below you’ll find some essential DIY spa day tips for a relaxing spa day at home. Follow these simple tips to pamper your body and mind — from your hair to the tips of your toes.
Set The Ambience: Lighting, Essential Oils, And Music
If you’re making an effort to have the best home spa experience, then you’ll want to set the mood.
One of the best things about going to any spa (aside from the treatments) is the ambience they create. You’re suddenly transported to another place with relaxing music and soothing lighting.
The good news is, you can easily set the mood for your own day spa in your bathroom. Here’s how:
- Clear The Clutter: Make sure your bathroom feels clean and clear of clutter. If you don’t have time to put things away, just throw them into a basket and put them out of sight during your spa experience.
- Light Candles: Turn off all electrical lighting. Use candles to cast a soft, comforting light. Place as many candles as you can around your bathroom.
- Turn To Essential Oils: Bring some of your favorite relaxing fragrances to the room to help settle your mind. Some of the best stress-relieving essential oils are jasmine, lemon balm, frankincense, rose, chamomile, valerian, and lavender.
- Create A Playlist: Create your own playlist of relaxing tunes ahead of time. If you’re short on time, you can easily turn to YouTube or Spotify for premade relaxation playlists. Music is great for soothing anxiety from a stressful day.
- Add A Little Steam: Turn on your hot shower tap, and run it fora few minutes to create steam in the room.
- Lock The Door: This is your time. Lock the bathroom door (if possible) and fully claim your “me time.”
Reward Yourself With a New Self-Care Routine: Easy Ways To Have A Spa Day At Home
Now that the ambience is set, it’s time to get started. Your new self-care routine includes 6 key steps.
1. Body Scrub
To get started, you’ll want to slough away the dead skin cells that have built up on your skin’s surface. Dead skin cells may leave your skin looking dry and rough. They tend to clump around fine lines and wrinkles, emphasizing them more.
While standing in your bath or shower, massage body scrub over your entire body. Start with your feet, and slowly move up the body.Don’t forget your hands. Just be sure to be gentle when massaging the scrub over sensitive areas. Rinse your body under the shower, then throw on a comfy robe.
You can make your own body scrub ahead of time for your spa day at home. Here are two quick and easy body scrub recipes, plusone for your lips.
DIY Honey and Brown Sugar Scrub
Brown sugar has the perfect amount of grit to flake away dead skin cells, while honey replenishes the skin. Honey is a renowned natural emollient and humectant, meaning it softens the skin and helps to retain moisture.1
Mix an equal amount of honey with brown sugar. Apply to damp skin, and massage gently in a circular motion. Rinse well.
DIY Coffee and Coconut Scrub
Ground coffee is an amazing exfoliant. And if you love coffee, you’ll no doubt have plenty on hand. Brown sugar adds some extra scrubbing power, and coconut oil supplies the moisture. The smell of this scrub is invigorating and rich.
Mix one cup of coffee grounds with one cup of brown sugar and ½ cup of coconut oil. Apply to damp skin, and massage gently in a circular motion. Rinse.
DIY Baking Soda Lip Scrub
Baking soda makes for a gentle scrub that’s perfect for lips. All you need is some baking soda and water.
Mix baking soda with enough water to form a paste. Then, using your finger, pick up some of the paste and gently massage it into your lips in a circular motion. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. Finish with a slick of lip balm.
2. Hair
After giving your skin so much love, don’t forget about your hair.
You have two choices here – you can either use your own nourishing conditioner, or one of the DIY spa day options below. Either way:
- Work the conditioning treatment through your hair from roots to tips.
- Wrap your hair in a shower cap or some plastic wrap.
- Leave on for the remainder of your spa, then wash and rinse as usual.
DIY Coconut Oil Hair Mask
Coconut oil is full of antioxidants and essential fatty acids. It may also be able to reduce protein loss in the hair.2
Warm ¼ cup of coconut oil so that it’s in a liquid state, then apply to wet or dry hair.
Leave on for twenty minutes before rinsing with shampoo and following with regular conditioner.
DIY Avocado and Mayonnaise Hair Mask
Quite simply, eggs are great for your hair because they’re loaded with protein, vitamins, and fats. Mayonnaise also has oil for extra moisturizing. Meanwhile, avocado is bursting with beneficial monounsaturated fats.3-5
Mash half an avocado and mix with two tablespoons of mayonnaise (or even just an egg yolk and a tablespoon of olive oil). Apply to damp hair, making sure to cover the ends. Leave on for twenty minutes, then rinse and wash hair as usual.
3. Feet and Hands
Your feet and hands can take a daily beating, and they’re easily forgotten. Even the most minimal cleanup on either can make a big difference to your state of mind — even if you’re not leaving home.
You’ve already exfoliated your hands and feet, but here’s a mini routine to get them looking neat and clean.
- Set up a warm water foot soak with a gentle cleanser in a small basin. Take a seat, and pop your feet in. This will help to soften your cuticles.
- Then, soak your hands in a small bowl for a few minutes.
- Dry your fingernails with a towel, and massage a cuticle oil into the nails. Gently push back the cuticles with a cuticle stick. When you’re done, move onto your feet.
- Trim and file your nails so they’re neat and even.
- Apply a restoring hand and foot treatment cream.
- Finally, apply a layer or two of clear nail polish.
4. Face
You might already have a daily skincare routine. But for your home spa experience, you’ll be focusing on a few nourishing masks instead.
- Clean your face with a rejuvenating cleanser to remove any remaining dirt or debris.
- Apply a nutrient-dense mud mask that utilizes natural clays like Bentonite, French Green, Kaolin, or Fuller’s Earth. Or, turn to or an antioxidant-rich, anti-aging sheet mask.
- Next, it’s time for the eyes. Here, you can choose between a pair of eye masks or gently pat on an under eye recovery cream that may help brighten, firm, and hydrate this delicate area. Always pat gently using your ring finger.
- Finally, don’t forget to soften your pout. There really is a mask for everything, and that includes a lip mask. These come as either a balm, a gel, or a mini sheet mask, and they work to smooth and soften your lips.
- Don’t You’re not going to remove these masks immediately. You’ll wear them as you complete Step Number 5.
5. Soak
Without a doubt, the truly relaxing part of your spa has arrived: the bath. Whether you prefer to soak in spa water doused with soothing epsom salts, your favorite lavender bubble bath, a fragrant bath bomb, or one of the DIY recipes below, is truly up to you.
Fill up your tub, set the right tunes, climb in, close your eyes, and RELAX.
DIY “Cleopatra” Milk and Honey Bath
This soothing spa bath is fit for a queen. Honey is deeply moisturizing, while milk contains fats and proteins that may help to further hydrate skin.6
Combine ¼ cup of raw honey with 2 cups of whole milk powder, and gently warm the mix until both dissolve. Then, pour this mix into your bath.
DIY Green Tea Bath
Green tea is an amazing antioxidant for the skin.7 Simply place 3-6 green tea bags (or around ½ cup of loose leaf green tea) in a small cheesecloth bag, and submerge it in your warm bathtub.
6. Moisturize
Once you’re done soaking, towel dry your skin and gently cleanse and rinse your face of any clay. Or, if you chose a sheet mask, massage the remaining serum into the skin.
Your final step involves moisturizing your skin from head to toe.
For the body: Apply a hydrating, anti-aging body balm that’s designed to repair and strengthen your skin barrier. Or, in a pinch, smooth some shea butter all over your skin.
For the face: Smooth on a firming serum, a brightening under eye cream, and a good anti-aging sculpting cream. If it’s close to bedtime, you could also slather on a rich night cream.
Your home spa day is complete.
Sources
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24305429/
2. http://www.beauty-review.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Effect-of-mineral-oil-sunflower-oil-and-coconut-oil-on-prevention-of-hair-damage.pdf 3. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/111/2
4. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/648859/2
5. https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1843/2
6. https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/problems/treating/milk-baths2.htm
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3390139/
