Who couldn’t use a little relaxation and self care in their life these days? For me, spending an afternoon at a spa would be relaxing until I have to pay my bill and leave. No amount of facials, massages, or mani/pedis could help relieve that stress for me, so I stick with a DIY spa
Because I fear the price tag of a fancy day at a spa, I simply avoid this expense in my life and stick to my basic skincare routines. And I mean b.a.s.i.c. Like bare minimum of what should be acceptable.
On a whim, some friends and I took a random day off and organized a fun, DIY spa day!
Using a mix of things I already had at home plus a few affordable basic items, this was a budget-friendly way to have a relaxing and fun day with friends.
Best of all, it was super easy to put together! All I had to do was mix up a few things with ingredients from my pantry and pull some basic products out of my bathroom closet.
Setting the Mood
Find a nice quiet and relaxing space to call your spa. Make sure it’s free of distractions and noise.
Put on some calming music. Defer to your favorite playlist or check out the Enya or Spa radio stations on Pandora.
I shopped my house for a few simple decorations to add a fun touch. Mason jars and shot glasses are easy to grab and use to hold supplies. Candles and flowers add a nice spa-like touch.
DIY Spa Treatments
Facials
I had never had a facial. Not at home, not at a spa. Never. I perused Pinterest boards with DIY home facial ideas, and here’s the combination I came up with based on what I already had on hand.
- Cleanse. I just went with my standard, everyday cleanser.
- Open your pores by placing a warm washcloth on your face. I ran the washcloths under warm water and put them in my slow cooker on the warm setting so they’d be ready to go when we needed them. Speaking from experience, use tongs to get them out and let them cool off a little before throwing it right on your face.
- Exfoliate. I used this recipe for a coconut oil sugar scrub and we LOVED it. I mixed up a little extra to keep using from time-to-time. So good and refreshing!
- Mask. I bought some sheet masks on the cheap. I just wandered the aisles at Target, where there are a TON of options to choose from. In the future, I’d be a little more choosy and go with a clay or gel mask instead of the sheets. They were a little thick, so they were a little frightening the way they hung off of our faces, and they didn’t stick very well. They did give us plenty of laughs, though!
- Moisturize. We ended with a little bit of moisturizer. Again, I just pulled out my everyday moisturizer.
Pedicures
To set up our at-home pedicure stations, I found and emptied three small plastic tubs. I placed them on towels on the floor around our couch so we could relax and soak. When it was time to use them, we filled them partially with warm water. Here’s what we did.
- Soak. I found a foot soak recipe here and will definitely be using this again! I used lavender Epsom salts and peppermint extract.
- Exfoliate. We re-used the coconut sugar scrub from the facials and used a pumice stone. If you’re not going solo, get one for each person.
- Moisturize. We dried off our feet and used a moisturizer.
- Paint your toes with your favorite polish!
Manicures
Last on our menu of DIY spa treatments were manicures. If you’re planning to polish your nails, I recommend doing this last so you don’t scuff your fresh paint job.
- Soak. A bowl of warm water and some hand soap is really all you need here!
- Exfoliate. We went back for the crowd-pleasing coconut sugar scrub again.
- Polish. We took turns painting each other’s nails, and it was nice to just not have to do it myself for once. I self taught myself how to use gel polish and I have and love this UV nail light.
- Moisturize. We used the same ol’ moisturizer here, plus some Gelish cuticle oil (which smells soooo good)!
Snacks
Part of your relaxation and self care can include some fun things to snack on between spa treatments! You could make this as simple as some mixed fruit. We decided to indulge and made some chocolate fondue with strawberries, pineapple, and teddy grahams for dipping.
We enjoyed some sparkling grape juice as an accompaniment to our snacks. You could also make some refreshing fruit-infused water or mimosas. Or have a bottle of wine; no one’s judging.
Our DIY spa day was fun to plan and even more fun to experience! This would be easy to do for yourself, a fun day with friends, or as a themed party!
What are your go-to DIY spa tricks? Goodness knows I need ‘em… leave them in the comments!
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