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Disclaimer:
The following are only general suggestions for homemade skin and body treatments. Readers assume responsibility for ensuring their own safety and health.
Use caution when trying any new product to avoid allergic reactions. For example, test a small amount of a new product on a patch of skin on your arm overnight before applying it to your face.
Why home spa treatments?
These are difficult times, and we are all busy. It is easy in this situation to put our own self-care lower on the list or even to remove it from the list altogether. However, by not caring for yourself, you are risking burnout. Treating yourself once in a while is important. Focusing on your own self-care can support you and help you avoid using coping strategies that are less helpful, such as zoning out on Netflix or using food, alcohol, or drugs.
We often read about celebrities heading to the spa as if it is the ultimate luxury. I can’t even imagine what they pay to go there. You can go to the spa, too, for next to nothing! The secret is to treat yourself at home, using items that you likely already have in your pantry. You do not have to spend like a celebrity to take good care of yourself. Read on, Frugalite, to find out how.
Time
The first step to booking your home spa day is booking the time. People are busy these days. It seems hard to justify the time for this level of self-care. If you are a busy parent, then finding that time could be a real difficulty.
However, if you realize that treating yourself to something like this could really help to refill your own cup, you can problem solve the Frugalite way. Does your cousin/relative/friend owe you some childcare time? Is there any window of time available when your children are at activities, school, or other? You deserve it!
During these especially trying times, I find that it is more and more important to remember to refill my own cup. I hope that some of these ideas help you refill yours.
Planning Your Frugalite Home Spa Time
I am providing a whole bunch of ideas for how to treat yourself. These can be used as a flexible menu. You can select a few of these ideas to do at the same time (this might take an hour or two or more), or you could pick one to treat yourself to when the kids are in bed one evening (a nail soak or foot soak could be done in 30 minutes or less, and you could do a face mask at the same time).
If you decide to really dedicate some time to this, you could do a face mask, relaxation treatment, and then a bath or body scrub in the shower. It’s up to you. Maybe you would prefer to try one spa idea a week as a special treat.
Skin Treatments
While I no longer use soap on my face, I do like to take good care of my skin. My philosophy is that I don’t like to put anything on my skin that I wouldn’t eat. Our skin is our largest organ. I like to treat mine well.
To really treat your skin, it helps to tailor your treatment to your skin’s needs. When I was a teenager, I had oily skin. Now that I’m in my fifties, my skin is drier. I am sharing a link here for face masks you can make at home for no less than SIX different skin types. I would even add a seventh: if your skin is a combination, you can combine a couple of these to meet your own needs.
Here is the skin type or need that each face mask supports, along with the simple ingredients required:
- ACNE –egg whites
- HYPERPIGMENTATION –turmeric powder, raw honey
- CLOGGED PORES – oatmeal, baking soda
- OILY SKIN – banana, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil
- DRY SKIN – half a cucumber, aloe vera gel
- WRINKLES – avocados, raw honey, cocoa powder
Most of these masks would take around 5 – 10 minutes to mix up, and then they stay on for 10 – 30 minutes. If you like, you could combine your face mask with the relaxation treatment below.
Relaxation Treatment
I really enjoy music. I have some songs and albums on my playlist that I find truly relaxing. So, the first step for your relaxation treatment is to get some music organized. If your life is noisy and hectic and you just want to enjoy some silence, that is great, too.
I have a zero gravity chair I bought at a thrift shop. It is one of the only pieces of furniture in my eco-cabin. When I want to relax, I just slide into the reclining position: pure heaven! So, the second step for your relaxation treatment is to identify somewhere you can be comfortable and set it up nicely. Do you want a blanket? Close the curtains for privacy? If you have it ready beforehand, it will work best.
If you like, you can combine your relaxation with your face mask selected from above. As well, to really do the “spa” thing, you could include an eye treatment. When I think of a spa, I often picture a woman with a face mask on her face and cucumber slices on her eyes. In fact, these slices can help under eye bags or reduce puffiness. There are numerous potential benefits to having either cold or warm tea bags on your eyes, too.
Bath Treatments
After your facial treatment and relaxation time, you may want to indulge in a special soothing bath. There are some pretty awesome baths that you can make using basic ingredients, raising the need to keep clean to a memorable event.
I think most of us have heard, at some point, that the famously beautiful Egyptian Queen Cleopatra bathed in milk and honey. As I did the research for this article, I found some evidence that the milk in question may have actually been sour donkey’s milk!
With donkey’s milk probably hard to access for most of us, I found a good recipe for a milk and honey bath that uses regular milk.
If you are a vegan or prefer oatmeal, here is an easy-to-make soothing oatmeal bath recipe.
Not a bath person? How about a nice DIY body scrub to enjoy in the shower?
Treat Your Nails (Hands and Toes)
When I have a good long soak in the bath, I find that it is a good pre-soak to prepare my hands and feet for a mani-pedi if they need it. However, if you are planning to just do one home spa treatment a day or week, I have included links to a couple of recipes for a pedicure pre-soak and a manicure pre-soak. Similar to the face masks above, mixing up the ingredients would take 5 – 10 minutes, and then soaking is best for 10 – 20 minutes.
This homemade pedicure soak uses some ingredients that you will likely have on hand (Epsom salts, vinegar, baking soda, lavender essential oil, lemon slices, dried lavender). If you don’t have a couple of these, don’t worry; just work with what you have. The warm water itself will really help prepare your feet for the pedicure.
This homemade nail soak only has common food ingredients (lemon juice, garlic, honey, olive oil). While I wasn’t too sure about including garlic, the author assures us that any scent will be gone by the morning if this soak is done in the evening. I’m all for garlic! I think it’s great for everything. If you try this, let us know how it goes in the comments below!
SPA-It-Yourself: Easy and Low Cost!
Spa-level self-care can be affordable by using healthy food-based ingredients. Could you see yourself trying any of the thrifty tips offered here? Do you have one you can share with us? Please tell us in the comments below.
About Colette
Colette is passionate about sharing her knowledge of thrifty living and self-sufficiency. She has developed her skills in self-reliance living in the suburbs, the city, and more recently, on her own Half-Acre Homestead. Colette lived five years completely off-grid and without running water in an eight by 24 foot tiny home while designing and building her own 18 by 24-foot eco-cabin. She has just launched her website, Half Acre Homestead. Colette invites you to stop by and visit this work in progress! Coming soon in 2022 is her exciting new online program. Interested in Resiliency, Preventative Health, and Self-Sufficient/Off-Grid Housing (to name a few!)? Stay tuned for more details!
