Parent Time

Want to relax your body and mind without leaving the comfort of your own home? Escape from everyday stress with these great home spa ideas that promise to rejuvenate, and renew your natural beauty.

What you’ll need most is time – set aside at least one to two hours to enjoy your at-home treatments.

Set the Mood

Wendy and Sergio Cocchia, owners of Absolute Spa Group (the company which owns Absolute Spa at the Century Plaza Hotel), in Vancouver, BC, know that the key to looking great is feeling great! So, in making your home spa a pleasurable experience, they suggest getting creative and incorporating what you find relaxing into your bathroom:

• Buy a luxurious bathrobe or extra plush towel and save it to use for your home spa treatments.
• Spray your favourite perfume or your significant others’ cologne in the air for an aromatic experience.
• Light a scented candle you love.
• Play a CD that you find relaxing and soothing.

Make Your Own Herbal Bath

Use herbs or essential oils for a scent-sational soak in the tub that will melt away your worries and get you ready for your day of pampering. Rosemary Gladstar, author of Herbs for Natural Beauty (Random House, 1999, $12.75) raves about the calming effects of a lavender, oatmeal and rose herbal bath.

To make: Grab a handful of each of the ingredients (or substitute a few of your favorite dried scents), tie them up in a handkerchief or cheesecloth and hang it from your bath faucet. Now sit back and relax, allowing the water to run through your homemade potpourri of herbs.

Luxurious Locks

Here is a great hair conditioning treatment:

1. Mash 1 avocado (recommended for its hydrating benefits and proteins) and mix with 1-tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of sea salt, and 1 tablespoon of pure aloe (you can take it from an aloe plant or ask your pharmacist or natural food store) until it becomes a paste.

2. Comb through hair with your fingertips.

3. Cover hair with a plastic shower cap or bag, and wrap a towel around it to seal in the treatment.

4. Leave in for 20-30 minutes and enjoy a great book, CD or even better – just savour the peace and quiet!

5. Unwrap you newly conditioned locks. Rinse, shampoo and rinse again for soft, luxurious hair!

The Face Off

Brent Krausher, co-owner of Interlude Spa Retreat in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia stresses the benefit of prepping your skin before any facial treatment. “For any skin regime to be effective and provide visible results, proper skin preparation is essential especially if you’re using products that contain AHA’s (alpha hydroxy) or fruit acids, which penetrate the skin’s deeper layers.”

Owners of Absolute Spa at the Century Plaza Hotel in Vancouver, BC suggest these simple steps to prepare your skin for your chosen at home treatment:

• Steam your face. You can do this by simply standing in the shower for an extra minute or two. This will help to open your pores and improve the effectiveness of your chosen facial treatment.
• Cleanse your face to remove bacteria and use a sensitive skin toner such as Johnson’s pH 5.5 Cleansing Lotion and Toners, to return skin to its natural 5.5 pH balance.

A Mask for all Faces:

Once you’ve prepped your face try one of these great masks depending on your skin type.

Deep Cleansing Masks – Clay or mud based masks are great for oily or combination skin types. These masks purify and deep cleanse, bring impurities to the surface and help to firm up the skin.

To Make a Mud Mask - Combine equal parts of cosmetic clay (available at your local natural food store) and water (or bottled spring water for more minerals), adding a drop of your favourite essential oil before mixing. Mix until it becomes a paste. Apply as needed, leaving on for 10 minutes. Rinse off and pat face dry.

Fruit Masks – These are great for all skin types. Fruit and its extracts are full of AHAs (especially papaya and apple), which when applied help exfoliate the skin and enhance water absorption which softens the skin. Aromatherapy (Bloomsbury Publishing, 1997, $19.95) by Chrissie Wildwood suggests some great, easy-to-make fruit masks to try at home!

To Make A Papaya Facial – Mash up a fresh papaya and sieve into a bowl. Pat onto clean skin, leaving on for 10-15 minutes and then rinse with warm water, followed by cold water to close pores. Great for all skin types.

To Make An Apple Facial – Rub a slice of raw apple onto face after cleansing and leave for 10-15 minutes. Rinse with warm and then cold water. Great for normal to oily skin types.

Banana Supreme Facial – Nancy Simpson, Spa Director at Ste. Anne’s Country Inn & Spa in Grafton, ON, recommends an all-natural facial for dry skin that is both nourishing and moisturizing. Mash bananas until paste like, add honey if desired (which will nourish skin) and smooth over skin. Let sit for 10 minutes and rinse with cool water.

For more great at-home facial ideas, check out Asian Secrets of Health, Beauty, and Relaxation by Sophie Benge, photography by Luca Invernizzi Tettoni. (Tuttle Publishing, 2000, $38.95). Here are two simple and effective kitchen cosmetic recipes from the book to whip up in no time.

Egg White Mask (Tightening for a lackluster complexion)

1 egg
Break open the egg and separate the white from the yolk. Beat the white for one minute by hand. Gently apply to the skin and let it harden. Wash off with warm water. The egg white draws toxins from the skin’s surface and tightens the pores as it cleans.

Lemon Refresher (Slightly astringent and tightening for the skin)

1 lemon or lime
1/2 tsp cold water
Mix the lemon or lime juice and the water in a bowl. Gently pat on to your face after any cleansing and refreshing facial. The lemon/lime’s acidity acts as a toner to tighten the skin and close the pores after a facial. It smells great too!

Easy on the Eyes

To relieve puffiness, reduce fine lines and revitalize the sensitive skin around the eyes, Wendy Cocchia of Absolute Spa in Vancouver, BC suggests using cold compresses. Anything cool will work well. Also try:

• Cotton Balls doused with cold water for an inexpensive solution.
• Cucumber slices, which will help to soothe tired and/or puffy eyes.
• Absolute Spa’s Orange and/or Kiwi eye pads. The orange works well to invigorate, while the kiwi helps to relax.
• Ste. Anne’s Country Inn & Spa also recommends using herbal tea bags to soothe tired eyes. Brew your favourite herbal variety in cold water for a couple of minutes, then rinse the tea bags out a little and rest them on eyes for a relaxing and aromatic stress reliever.

Hands and Feet

Make your hands and feet feel fabulous with these suggestions from Absolute Spa in Vancouver, BC.

• Fill a large metal basin with very warm water adding a capful of your favourite cleanser or bubble bath. You can also add 5-6 drops of essential oil (diluted in a couple of teaspoonfuls of vegetable oil, honey, or cider vinegar). Try camomile, which helps ease aches and pains or rosemary which promotes circulation. Then, soak your feet or hands in the basin for 20 minutes. Remove and pat dry.
• File and buff fingernails. For feet, exfoliate by using a pumice stone to slough off any rough skin. Cut toenails (straight across to prevent ingrown toenails) and file with an emery board.
• Ease into cuticle care by applying good old olive oil to soften cuticles. Be gentle when pushing cuticles back – the skin is very tender. And don’t cut your cuticles!
• To moisturize and lock in softness – massage a good, thick moisturizing cream onto feet and/or hands, wrap with saran wrap and put on some socks and/or mitts to seal in the benefits (the warmth created from insulating your hands and feet helps to penetrate the moisture deep into your skin). After about ten minutes, remove the layers and rub in remaining lotion.
• Do a final buff, apply polish (or for natural nail shine – rub petroleum jelly onto nails) and you’re ready to go.

More At-Home Skincare Solutions:

Here are some other at-home beauty tricks to try:

1. Nancy Simpson, Spa Director at Ste. Anne’s Country Inn & Spa in Grafton, ON suggests pineapple to help rejuvenate dull skin or rough patches all over the body (elbows, knees, face). Mash pineapple, then sieve and apply to dull patches of skin. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and rinse while massaging the area to remove dead skin cells.

2. For a great all natural, body/face hydrating mask Simpson recommends Aveda’s Intensive Hydrating Masque. Good for any where on your body or face, this intensive mask combines lavender, and camomile with vitamins A, E, C in a natural aloe based gel.

3. Dabbing lemon juice on a cotton ball will help to dry up blemishes (apply2-3 times a day).

July 2002