Home spa recipes - pamper yourself while staying on a budget

Home spa recipes give you a unique chance to kick back and relax, all the while saving enormous amounts of money.

Put aside a day for yourself, or for creating a girls' night in where you can experiment with various recipes.

In order to organize a home spa party, you will need some accessories.

If you are a fan of aromatherapy, light a few scented candles. They are relaxing and will set the mood perfectly. Also, buy good quality towels. Go with the 100% cotton ones, your body will appreciate the softness. You could start off with a full body massage. Not only it is relaxing, it can have healing benefits too. A good full body massage improves your circulation, reduces depression, reduces cramps and relaxes muscles.

Not all massages are the same, so you will need so get a quick overview of the appropriate massage therapy technique so you can experience the benefits to the fullest.

Do you need a relaxing or stimulating massage? Do you like warm, sensual vanilla or you prefer citrus fragrance? Depending on what you like, you can choose from different massage oils used in massage therapy.

Why not learn full body massage by watching massage videos? You can make it a fun day with your girlfriends, or with your partner. It will be a memorable experience for all involved.
Hands are overused and easily dehydrated. You need to pay attention not only to regular nail care, you also have to care for the skin of your hands. How do you do that?

The most simple home spa recipe is

Olive oil hand soak

All you need is 1/2 cup of warmed olive oil (not hot, be careful!) and a dish where you can place both your hands. Dip them in warm olive oil and let them soak in all the wonderful fats olive oil has to give. This will help moisturize and revive your hands, and help the nails, too.

Or, try Potato hand masque

Peel and cook 2 larger potatoes. Mash them and add a bit of butter (or olive oil) and a capsule of Vitamin E. Apply on the hands and let it dry. Rinse off with lukewarm water. Foot soaks are also an important detail in a home spa party. Depending on who you talk to, you will hear two different things concerning the order in which foot care should be performed. Some say you do the foot scrub first and then soak, some say the reverse. I always do the foot soak simply because the skin is softened and the dead skin layer is easier to remove.

Check out this great site for more on essentials of aromatherapy

My all time favorite is a peppermint foot soak recipe. It is very refreshing after a long day.Here is how you can prepare it:

Ingredients

• Water enough to cover your feet and reach your ankles
• 3 drops of peppermint essential oil
• 1 drop of eucalyptus essential oil and 1 drop of lemon essential oil (these two are optional but aid the invigorating sensation of this foot soak

Preparation

• Boil water and let it cool down a bit.
• Add the oils and soak feet as long as you like

You don't have to compromise with foot soaks. There are plenty of foot soak recipes to choose from.

Once you are done with a foot soak, move on to the foot scrub. The basic one is

Salt foot scrub that takes minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of sea salt or Epsom salt
• 1/2 cup of cold water
• 2 drops of lavender essential oil

Preparation

• Start off by gradually adding water to salt and lavender oil
• As you are adding it, you want to make sure the mix starts looking like a paste. It has to be not too liquid and not too solid, it should be like soft though otherwise it will run between your fingers
• Rub your feet and soles in circular motion
• Rinse off with warm water

This and other foot scrub recipes are custom made as not all of us enjoy the same fragrances and effects these scrubs have.

Facial scrubs or facial exfoliants recipes are used before applying facial masks. The reason behind this is that by exfoliating the dead skin cells and opening the pores, you allow all the good ingredients from facial masks to penetrate deeper and act with more power.

The honey based facial scrub is a perfect way to cleanse your face. Not only does it open clogged pores, honey has a high antibacterial power that will leave your face smooth and bacteria free. Ingredients:

1 teaspoon of honey
2 teaspoons of finely ground almonds (not salted ones, just regular)
1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice

Gently rub the face, don't press too hard, you'll scratch yourself :)

Continue by using a facial mask. Since we all have different skin types, the best way to go is to actually find out which facial mask is appropriate for which skin type.

Body scrub recipes should be used after taking a shower so that the skin cells can slough off faster.

The most popular one certainly is Brown sugar body scrub

Ingredients

2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground oats
2 tablespoons aloe vera gel
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon almond oil (in case you don't have almond oil, use olive oil, it is a great substitute).

Preparation

• Before you start preparing this scrub, grind the oatmeal using a coffee grinder or food processor. It has to be of sandy consistency, flaky and light otherwise it will scratch the skin.
• Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until it resembles a paste
• It should be applied on moist skin, the best time is after you took a shower. It will help the skin cells slough off faster.
• Use circular motion and massage gently using your fingertips.
• Rinse off with warm water.

What do these ingredients do?

Oatmeal is hypoallergenic. In case you have sensitive skin, using the oatmeal is highly recommended because it is soothing and there is no risk that it will irritate the skin. Oatmeal is beneficial to oily skin as it is extremely absorptive and picks up on excess oil. It helps dry and itchy skin and is widely used in cosmetics.

Wonderful organic body butters are a great way to add extra softness to skin. To finish off the homa spa party, indulge yourself with bubble bath recipe that can be relaxing or invigorating.

Here is a Pure Sunshine Bubble bath recipe whose citrusy properties are energy boosting and soothing at the same time.

Ingredients

• 6 drops of orange oil
• 4 drops of grapefruit oil
• 3 drops of lemon oil
• 1 quart of distilled water
• 1 bar of Castile soap. (4 oz. Bar)
• 4 ounces liquid glycerin

Directions: mix the water, soap and glycerin together and stir. Now add your essential oils to the mixture.

Using the list of most commonly used essential oils, you could also try making your own bath salt recipe instead of spending a fortune at the store for them.

Enjoy your home spa recipes, make your home spa party a fun event that you will want to repeat often.

Feel free to let me know if you liked any of these home spa ideas, or have one you would like to share.

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