DIY Spa Treatments

Ok, if you're like me and your budget leans more toward the home spa rather than a day spa, have no fear! Here are some easy do-it-yourself spa tips that you can indulge in when the rugrats go to sleep. I originally wrote this piece for a travel magazine.

Want that beautiful glow like you just walked out of the spa? Try an olive oil and mayonnaise mask for your face. “It’s going to hydrate your skin and your face is going to feel beautiful,” says Pamela Davis-Nwachie, owner of the Skin Essence Clinics. Wash your face with a gentle cleanser. Rinse with warm water. “Follow it up with an ice cube. It’s a shocker for the skin and will allow everything else that you put on your skin to penetrate. Use mayonnaise on the skin, unsalted or regular will do. Glob it on your face and neck, use a lot of it.”

For a person that is very dehydrated, leave it on for 3-5 minutes. For normal skin, leave it on for 1 – 2 minutes. This is not the treatment for you if you have acne. Rinse off with cold water and follow it up with olive oil, extra virgin. “Warm it a little bit, not hot, lukewarm,” suggests Nwachie. Aggressively apply it with your fingertips over the face and neck. Allow to sit for five minutes and then rinse it off with warm water. Make sure no traces of the oil are on the skin and follow it up with another ice cube.

If you want to exfoliate dead skin, add coarse salt or sea salt to the olive oil and use as a scrub on your body. Afterwards, moisturize with olive oil and mayonnaise mixed together. For your cuticles, soak your fingers in olive oil daily for 3-5 minutes. “It softens the cuticle and allows the nails to grow quicker,” says Nwachie.

For those tired tootsies, soak them in warm water, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and six drops of camphor or peppermint oil and watch the tension disappear. Finally, for that all over glow, mix milk powder and olive oil into a warm bath. “When you get out you will feel 10 years younger!” says Nwachie.

Go on and pamper yourself, you know you deserve it. If you have any tips and relaxing tricks, do share! Tired minds want to know.