Home Spa Day

Today is home spa day, one of my favorite days!
Make a day of it to pamper yourself and enjoy some quiet time to reflect and recharge!
This is not an exercise in merely having a clean face and trim nails, it is an all-inclusive approach to connect to several aspects of your person, to truly refresh.

Items with purple text have the recipes included below!


Morning:

• Stretch for 5 minutes, 3 cleansing breaths, do 10 push-ups  10 crunches and 20 squats as fast as you can. The leg muscles (quads) are the biggest in the body, they will get the blood pumping and oxygen delivered!
• 3 cleansing breaths, shake out muscles, then clear your mind and meditate/ pray/ center for 10 minutes.
• Softest lips ever with honey-sugar scrub for lips
• Scary green mud mask until super dry, followed by warm mineral water rinse, and then silky facial toner
• Tweeze or shave any facial hair before using the toner (Yes, it is ok to shave! Have your leg or armpit hairs changed color from shaving in the last 10 years? It is much faster and less painful than hot wax or tweezing--and does not cause the inflammation those methods do. I use a tiny "eyebrow" shaver I found at a local pharmacy for keeping the fuzziness at bay.)
• Apply night cream to face, neck, ears, hands
• Apply lip balm
• Remove any nail polish and scrub feet/hands with nail brush. Slather lotion on feet, cover with wool socks 
• Condition scalp and hair with the best conditioner you have (mix some in a spray bottle with water for easy application), braid or pull hair back, leave in conditioner or oil treatment until afternoon.
• Drink water.

Daytime:

• Keep your diet simple: nourishing soups, plenty of green veggies, at least 60 ounces of water, green tea, low carbs, no sugars, zero processed foods, several servings of fresh fruit, nuts/berries and dried fruit are great (6 small meals are better than 2-3 large ones).
• Take 1000mg Vit C, 1000-5000 B12, Zinc, Magnesium supplement
• Sugar or salt scrub hands and feet, rinse and pat dry (ok to do arms and legs too, but I don't recommend a salt scrub within a day of shaving!); use pumice stone on exceptionally rough areas. 
• Allow yourself 30 minutes  to read or nap, a quiet activity of your choice with no other demands on your time/presence
• Place a hand towel that has been soaked in warm mineral rinse on any sore muscles.
• Sinus or head congestion? Prepare an herbal steam to open sinuses.  Instructions for herbal steams. I recommend wintergreen, eucalyptus, rosemary, peppermint, and or clove. For chest congestion apply homemade chest rub
• Set up for mani-pedi time! Nail clippers, filer, cuticle clipper, orange stick, dirt digger outer, nail buff block, buff cream, lotion, Toxin Free Nail Polish, Undercoat and Topcoat , magnesium bath salts for soaking (2TBS to 2 cups warm water, with 1 squirt of hand soap), towel, decorative items if desired (acrylic paint, rhinestones, dotting pens example here ). It is not hard to do! 
• Soak one hand or foot at a time, remove excess cuticle, trim and shape, buff if desired, apply undercoat, polish, topcoat, once dry apply decoration, then repeat top coat. Voila'!

Evening:

• Soak in very warm bath or hot tub for at least 10 minutes, wash hair, exfoliate extremities and torso. Finish with a cool rinse and apply lotion when dry.
• Drink water
• Eat a light meal
• Put on favorite PJs or lounge wear, read for 30 minutes
• Stretch each muscle group
• Quite the mind, meditate / pray / get centered for 10 minutes
• Be thankful for your beautiful self, inside and out!

Recipes:

Honey-Sugar scrub for lips: equal parts honey, sugar and extra virgin olive oil (or jojoba). Start with 1 Tbs of each and see what you think of the consistency. Apply to lips with your finger and gently "scrub" to remove peeling skin/chapped areas.

Mineral Water Rinse and Magnesium Supplement:

1 Cup Magnesium Chloride Flakes (Epsom salt is Magnesium Sulfate--not the same thing!)

1 Cup hot water

Dissolve the Mag flakes in the hot water, stir, allow to cool and pour into a spray bottle for daily magnesium supplementation, or for the facial rinse/soaking towel use the same proportions and dispense from a basin when temperature is optimal.

Magnesium Chloride is the closest form to the magnesium in our cells. When used transdermally there are no side effects on the GI system, and it is safe for daily use. 

Facial Toner:

3 oz witch hazel

1 oz aloe vera gel

2 drops lemongrass essential oil (or oil of your choice)

Lip Balm:

3 Tbs oil: olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, jojoba oil or a combination of oils

1 Tbs melted beeswax

5 drops mint essential oil, if desired

pour into small tin/container if it does not set hard enough for your purposes, remelt and add 1/4 tsp more beeswax

Sugar or Salt Scrub for Hands/Feet:

2 Cups salt or sugar (white or brown)

1 Cup carrier oil (olive, coconut, palm, etc)

10-20 drops of essential oil (lavender, rose, citrus, etc)

Mix, store in container, enjoy! Add 1/2 cup finely ground oatmeal for extra texture and conditioning.

Homemade Chest Rub:

2 tsp grated beeswax melted with 1/4 cup olive, coconut or jojoba oil

25 drops peppermint essential oil

15 drops eucalyptus essential oil

15 drops rosemary essential oil

Combine, pour into small container (do not use plastic, or wait until slightly cooled to pour)

Apply as you would any commercial chest rub.

I hope you enjoy spa day and making your own personal care products as much as I do!

Have a wonderful day, you deserve it!