How To Spa At Home.

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As much as we all love a spa and a pamper, unfortunately, straight after Christmas the purse strings can get a little big tight. As much as every lady loves to look her best, booking in for an expensive spa day can be the last thing on your mind at the beginning of the year. Doing a spa night at home is also a really good way of getting all your friends together. So instead of paying out all of the expense, round up the girls and have a spa day at home. Here are some top tips on how to get that ‘Spa experience’ at home.

The ambiance.

When you go to a spa, if you have a treatment you get taken to a small but relaxing room with candles and soft music. Half of the time, it’s the actual ambiance that relaxes you the most. We’ve all heard stories of someone getting a bit TOO relaxed during their massage, and the pleasant environment probably contributes to these moments. To get your house ‘spa’ ready, the first thing to do is get it clean and tidy, and think about how you want it to smell. As clean as your house can be, if it still smells of that pizza you cooked for dinner, it will probably take away some of the atmosphere. Candles are perfect, because not only do they look nice but they smell great too. Being so well known for their furniture, it’s unsurprising not a lot of people go to Ikea for their candles. The Swedish retailer do and great and reasonable candles that will make your house smell divine. You can either pop down or order online: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/decoration/10760/.

Next you need to sort out the music. There is a great 10cd ‘Tranquilly’ CD set which may seem a bit pricey at around £30, but it really will last you forever. With relaxing pan-pipe versions of classics such as ‘Lady In Red’, it may sound a bit cheesy but once you get lost in the pampering and scent of your nice Ikea candles you really will relax. There are many ‘well known’ songs on the CD’s, which are given a relaxing touch by using pan pies and soothing tones.

The treatments.

So it is probably unlikely that you will be able to perform a Swedish massage on one of your friends, but there are a lot of pampering treatments you can perform at home. A facial is an absolute must for any spa night. Facials come in a wide array of different types depending on what you want to do to your skin. You can get facials for anti ageing, to brighten, to stop acne, and loads of other things. If you are looking for just an all around, generic facial solution, Sanctury Spa, available at Boots do a ‘facial in a box’ which is probably best for people who just want to look a bit brighter. You can grab it online here: http://www.boots.com/en/Sanctuary-Skin-Brightening-Facial-in-a-Box_1109893/.

The process of ‘doing your nails’ is an age old, stereotypical ‘girls night’ pastime, and if you do them right, they can be just as good as when they are done in the salon. The Essie all in one base is widely known in beauty circles as one of the best and most affordable base coats around, and you can either pop into Superdrug or get it online: http://www.superdrug.com/Essie/Essie-Nail-Polish-Base-Coat-All-In-One-Base/p/447152#.VNYvdPmsVpo. Once you have the base coat down, you need to choose a colour. If you are a bit fickle with your nail varnishes, and tend to use them once then move onto a different colour, wasting all that money buying a whole bottle, there is a new concept online which hires nail varnishes 3 at a time for £9.99 a month. https://coloristiq.com/ don’t charge extra for the postage either, so you can have 3 great brands at a time like China Glaze and always stun people with new nail colours.

The equipment.

Buying a sun bed, or even a proper massage table is probably a bit unrealistic if you are holding a spa night at home every now and then. However one great addition to your spa night can be a foot spa. Soaking your feet, especially after a long day is a great way to relax. Our favourite ‘friends of feet’ Scholl do foot spa’s with great additions such as removable pumice stones and a rolling massager. You can give yourself a home pedicure without having to worry about a beautician seeing your feet, which you have let go recently because it’s winter and you don’t need to start thinking about wearing flip flops for at least 4 months. Head over to the Argos website for a reasonably priced Scholl foot spa: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4416793.htm.

One of the most relaxing treatments of a spa is an Indian head massage, however it can be hard to emulate this at home. You can get therapeutic head massagers on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Therapeutic-Head-Massager-Headache-tension/dp/B003QR0YL4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1423323732&sr=8-6&keywords=massagers which can be just as relaxing, and for a fraction of the price. While an Indian head massage can set you back £50, one of these can easily be picked up for £2.

The food and drink.

You may as well go the whole hog if you are having a spa night and copy all of the popular spa’s who take the whole experience and make it healthy. Healthy food and smoothies are a constant fixtures at spa’s so if you are going to spa at home, you may as well copy. Make a quick and simple smoothie by using a cup of almond milk, half a cup of orange juice and the squeeze of a lemon, topped off with some honey. If you are looking for healthy snacks that don’t pack too many calories, try making some bruschetta at your home spa. All it is, is Italian bread with tomato, olive oil, garlic and basil. You can also use tomatoes to make salsa, with peppers, chillies and lemon or seasoning to taste. Instead of dipping the crisps in, use cucumber or carrots sticks to keep your treat healthy and nutritious.