I recently spent a Friday night giving myself a full-service spa experience. It was exactly what I needed to unwind after a long week, and since I had spent the previous hour cleaning out my bathroom and organizing my products, I knew I had everything necessary for a perfect self-care spa night.
Spoiler alert: It was everything. So I started thinking, “How could I make this even better?” and put together this list of nine beauty tips you can do at home, bringing massages, facials and
DIY lash extensions to a home near you (AKA your home; you won’t have to leave your house).
- Steam Shower
First, kick off your experience with a hot shower. Put on some lo-fi beats before placing an aromatherapy steamer on the shower floor. Then, breathe in the fragrance of your favorite scents as you scrub the day away. Steam has been proven to help with congestion and circulation and improve the health of your skin. In addition, it helps to open your pores and cleanse the skin, so your skin is radiant and your sniffer relieved.
- Hair Treatment
While enjoying the steam shower benefits, take the time to give your hair some love. After you complete your typical shampoo and conditioner process, apply your favorite deep conditioning hair mask from the mid-hairline down to the tips. Just like your skin needs a deep clean, so does your hair.
Before embarking on my self-care journey, I knew I had a hair mask on hand. But if you don’t and you’re committed to this experience tonight, don’t worry! You can make your own hair mask at home with common pantry ingredients. My favorite is olive oil!
- Self Massage
After your hair is rinsed and you’ve soaked up all the steam you can, it’s time to dry off and give yourself a massage. Taking the time to moisturize your skin with your favorite lotion detoxifies and stimulates the body’s largest organ. If you practice yoga or other movement-based modalities, you know that lovingly touching yourself stimulates the channels within the body that allow energy to flow through. Giving self-massages enables that energy to flow more freely.
- Facial Part One
With your energy flowing smoothly through you, it’s time to turn your attention to your beautiful face. Remove any make-up and get a washcloth. I like to start with an excellent deep scrub, shedding all the dead skin cells and washing them away. If I’m experiencing an acne flare-up, I use a toner before applying a face mask, either your favorite brand or a DIY version.
- Eyebrow Sculpting.
Has it been a minute since you’ve gotten your eyebrows shaped? It had been when I gave myself a spa night. Thankfully, my hair stylist doubles as an expert brow waxer, and I can pluck around her work. So, if this is also the case with your eyebrows, then I highly recommend taking the time to clean them up!
- Facial Part Two
After your eyebrows are sculpted, pick up where you left off, giving yourself a facial. Take this opportunity to massage your face, pushing the oil deeper into your skin and moving the energy through your body. Allow the oil to soak through your skin before applying moisturizer as the finishing touch.
- Eyelash Enhancing
Okay, this is by far my favorite tip. We can all agree that people born with long lashes won the genetic lottery. There’s something about long fluttering eyelashes that make us all swoon, so if you’re like me and weren’t blessed with butterfly wings coming out of our eyelids, then you, too, will rejoice at DIY lash extensions.
They applied surprisingly quickly since the kit I purchased included everything (applicator, bonding agent, sealant), and the results were pretty dramatic. I don’t think I’ll need to get my lashes professionally down now. The process was too easy, and the results were too fantastic that to pay more than $150!
- Pedicure
Two words: foot bath; if you don’t own one, spend the $20 and invest in a bubbling bath of goodness for your feet. If you can walk, you’re on those things day-in and day-out; they deserve some love for carrying us where we need to go! And if you’re handi-capable, your feet are still a part of you and need special care. I like to put lavender-scented Epsom salt in mine to let the healing properties of the fragrance seep into my soles. Then, if you’re so inclined, paint your toenails after you have a nice soak!
- Manicure
And last but certainly not least, finish your experience with a manicure. Start trimming your nails to your preferred length before filing off any rough edges. Then, apply a fresh coat of your favorite polish or gel. I went for a more natural look, painting my nails a soft, blush color.
I promise you won’t regret setting aside some time to give yourself a whole spa experience at home. Feel free to tweak or add new steps to your ritual; these nine tips are just a foundation to build upon. So enjoy your “you” time!
