Home Spa Heaven

Posted: Saturday 8 January 2011 03:16pm

Health and beauty spas are the benchmark in offering relaxation and well-being. But your home is your sanctuary and you can turn it into an absolute haven by creating some pampering spa-like experiences that make you look and feel good. What’s more, they don’t cost the earth!

From facials to skin-smoothing treatments, night repair, bath comforts and fragrant scents to refresh the home, you can reap the therapeutic benefits of creating a home spa.

MINI-MANI

Hands should be manicured weekly at home to keep them looking their best. According to Paula Stone-Adams, Educator for Hawley International, “While your salon manicure should last up to four weeks, weekly home care will help your salon service last longer and keep your nails and hands in good shape.”

A home manicure is the most economical way of having hands looking good. She advises you soak hands in warm water in Hawley Blissful Soak Manispa, RRP $10.40, for three minutes. Dry hands, then use the Hawley Black Beauty emery board, $3.80, to file nails to shape wanted. Rub cuticle conditioner such as Illume Activate, $5.80, or Hawley BeautySnapz Cuticle Conditioner, $5.99 for pack of 24, into cuticles, and use an orange wood stick to push back the cuticles. Dry hands and apply Hawley Manispa Purify Mask, $14.95, to hands for five minutes. Rinse off and dry. Then buff nails and apply polish.

DIY FACIAL

Revive your complexion with a facial that incorporates simple massage techniques to relax facial muscles and boost circulation. Choose a product range that has anti-ageing benefits, but also gives you the sense of serenity you deserve. Try Comfort Zone.

Find a quiet place in your home and give yourself some valuable “me” time. Cleanse face in upward motions with Comfort Zone Everyday Milk Cleanser, RRP $70. With a bowl of warm water, rinse face and use a hand towel to pat dry.

Scrub skin, getting rid of dead skin cells with Comfort Zone Active Pureness Scrub, $80, wipe off with pads and rinse skin.  Remove all traces of cleanser and scrub with Everyday Tonic, $70.

Put face above bowl of hot water and create a tent effect by placing towel over head to ensure the steam from the water goes on face. Gently massage around the eyes and eyelids with light tapping motions. Press your temples. Add your favourite mask – our pick is Comfort Zone Hydramemory Mask, $90. Leave on for 10 minutes, then rinse, tone and moisturise.

PEEL OFF

Skin cells rejuvenate each 28 days. If you don’t peel your skin it will look lacklustre as the dead cells build up. To aim for skin that’s clean and bright, choose a great-smelling exfoliant such as Clinique Exfoliating Scrub, $47, which contains menthol for a cooling sensation. Moisten skin with a little water, and then massage the product in a circular motion into the skin, avoiding the lip and eye area. Rinse thoroughly. Tired, grey skin should be given a wake-up call.

BEHIND THE MASK

If you don’t have time for a facial, the next best thing to plump up skin and give it a shot of healthy colour is a mask. The stretchable cloth masks in sachets are wonderful as they cover all the face, and drench the skin with much-needed moisture in a measured dose, without fuss or mess.

You can place them over the face while having a bath, lying down meditating or even doing your feet or hands. After using the mask on your face, rub it over your neck, décolletage and hands and give them a soak too. Try Olay Regenerist Facial Treatment Mask, $39.99 for five sachets, which Deborah Hutton says is “dewy and like a professional facial at home”, or SKII’s Facial Treatment Mask, $28 a single sachet, or $140 for six sachets, drenched in Pitera to give skin a crystal clear glow.

FEET FIRST

Your feet are on show all summer long at the beach and in sandals. Make sure they are in great condition with a home pedicure and some brightly-coloured nails.

Put feet in a large bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. Get rid of any rough dry skin with a pumice stone, rubbing the soles of the feet to exfoliate. Clean cuticles with a nail brush, then cut toenails straight across, filing with an emery board, and then painting with your favourite varnish.

The hottest colours are bold and opaque metallics in silver, violet, melon, pink and rich red, as seen with divas such as Beyonce, Rihanna and Christina Aguilera. Take a break from the pastels with lacquers from Zoya‘s Reverie collection, $17 a bottle.

SILKY SKIN

Sunburn, hot air, certain types of fabric and swimming in chlorine and salt water can leave skin dry or even alligator-like. To get your body glowing and in silky condition, be sure to body brush every day.

Grab a loofah or an Inspa brush, $20, with a long handle so you can reach your back, use over the body in small circular motions.

Make sure you put the spotlight on areas prone to dryness such as knees, elbows and feet. Without a brush, you need to get a body scrub such as the Skeyndor Body Sensations Orange Body Peeling Cream, $75, with zesty orange, apricot, grape and lychee to refine the skin.

Moisturise with Skeyndor Caresse Body Serum, $89, to keep legs feeling soft and silky. Finish with a spray of body mist such as The Body Shop Neroli Jasmine Body Mist, $23.95, keeping legs and body hydrated and fragrant through out the day.

HAIR LUXURY

Dry or greasy tresses can do with some home therapy. Just as you look after your skin, it’s great to treat hair to a weekly mask. Simply wash hair with your regular shampoo, then lavish locks with a regenerating treatment.

One of the best for dry hair is Macadamia Natural Oil, $39.95, containing macadamia oil and Argan oil which promotes silkiness and elasticity. It’s instantly absorbed into the hair.  Apply to hair and wrap in a towel, then blow-dry.

Those with oily hair shouldn’t shy away from treatments either. Says Yasmin Sadikot, of OmVeda, “From an Ayurvedic perspective, oily hair is generally caused through excess heat in the body.”  The OmVeda Hair Tonic, $32.40, is suitable for both the hair and scalp. Made with triphala, mint and musk mallow, it is cooling and nourishing for the scalp which is often compromised when hair is oily. It’s fab for controlling hair loss and dandruff. Used daily it can help to prevent split ends. “Apply after shampooing, leave it on the scalp, reducing the effects of scalp heat,” says yasmin. The tonic leaves hair non-greasy so doesn’t have to be washed out.

BATHS WITH BENEFITS

Soaking in a bath tub can be a great way to ease tired, aching muscles, but also to relax and chill out. Don’t make the bath boiling hot as this can make the pulse rate charge, and it can also dry out skin. Instead aim for a temperature of 35 degrees. For total relaxation choose a scented bath.

Aromatherapy oils are great and can be used for relaxation or invigoration. According to Byron Bay guru Judy Chapman, author of Aromatherapy (Harper Collins), bergamot, jasmine, ginger, rose, peppermint and ylang ylang increase positive energy, while lavender, geranium, chamomile and sandalwood are calming. Lemon can also pep you up, while spices can be relaxing. Try Decleor Energising Bath concentrate, $120, with hazelnut, lavender and angelica to eliminate fatigue and regenerate.

Crystal salt soaks help ease muscle pain, help boost the metabolism and feel therapeutic to the body. Try Burt’s Bees Therapeutic Bath Crystals, $24.95, to keep skin soft and supple. Seaweed is known for its healing properties which balance the body and also purify. Try Thalgo Micronised Marine Algae Sachets, $95 for 10, to help remineralise and fight fatigue. Cleopatra loved milk baths as the  lactic acid within is known for softening the skin. MooGoo Skincare Milk Wash, $17.50, contains milk proteins to prevent skin drying out and is healing for problem skin.

SCENTED SANCTUARY

Your house instantly is given a new atmosphere by changing its aroma with candles, diffusers and scented rocks. Within an instant of lighting a candle, or placing out some beautifully fragranced diffuser sticks or perfumed stones, your house will look not only look more spa-like, but the chosen fragrances can promote different moods such as  energy, sexiness, indulgence and peacefulness.

A new take on old fashioned pot pourri, scented rocks look like a designer piece and create a wonderful ambience. Says Helen Armstrong, Company Managing Director of Apsley & Apsley who creates these perfumed stones, “Atmosphere Scented Rocks [$29.95] are most effective in small areas. We recommend piling the rocks into a beautiful glass piece to experience them as both a decorative and scented piece.” In eight nature-inspired fragrances try Black Cassis Plum or Lemonwood Ginger.

The Abode Aroma diffusers, $44.95, come in 21 perfumes. Try Gardenia Bud or Ginger Pear. Candles look great around the bath at night, or in your bedroom. Lift the spirits with the organic soy wax candles from Inspa, $24, infused with essential oils in four heavenly aromas.

NIGHT RECOVERY

During the night, the body’s repair processes run at peak performance because they don’t have to deal with daily environmental aggressors such as UV rays, pollution, smoking, alcohol and stress. When you apply a rich, nurturing cream, you can be sure that your cells will soak up its nourishment, repairing any damage.

Says Tony Vargas, Elizabeth Arden’s Vice President of research and development: “Night is when the skin does its basic maintenance and repairs, finetuning its signals to rebuild protein reserves fortifying the moisture barrier.”

Try a rich night cream such as Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Plump Perfect Ultra All Night Repair Cream for Face and Throat, $140. Your hair deserves a night treatment too. Pantene’s Miracle Leave On Creme Serum, $9.99, can be run through dry hair, without leaving it wet or greasy. The next morning hair should look smoothed, moisturised and well protected, without need for washing out.

by Kate Mahon

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