Prepping for the At-Home Spa

A retreat at the spa sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Someone (or maybe several someones!) would be devoted exclusively to making us feel pampered and decadent as our biggest decision of the day would be choosing between the coconut-banana facial and the rosemary-herb slimming wrap.

And if you get to have those sorts of day, you go, Diva!

But for most of us, it just doesn’t happen. The spa is too far away (if we even know where one is!), it’s expensive, who would take care of the children, etc., etc.

Fear not, Divas! Your spa might be as close as your kitchen cabinet! Honestly, with some simple ingredients and the help of someone to take care of the children for a few hours (or better yet, an entire day!), you can have a relaxing, luxurious spa day at home.

Now, it does take a bit of planning – what worthwhile thing in this life doesn’t? Here are my bare-bones suggestions for the “pre-spa” part of this beneficial experience:

1. If you have small children, line up a babysitter. Ideally, this needs to involve the children being somewhere else – there’s nothing like a shut bathroom door to spark the curiosity of a child! If you have roommates, explain what you want to do and get them to agree to either go out for the day/evening, or to stay and serve as your “spa assistant,” if that’s the way you roll.
2. Put clean sheets on the bed.
3. Have plenty of clean towels and clean pajamas/fluffy bathrobe on hand.
4. Scrub the bathroom so that everything is gleaming and inviting.
5. Collect candles – preferably unscented. Be sure you also have matches or a lighter.
6. Select a “spa playlist” – both Pandora and Spotify have stations devoted to “spa music,” and YouTube has them, as well.
7. Make sure you have the basic “kitchen spa” ingredients on hand by examining the treatments and recipes you want to use. There are some added materials for particular recipes, but in general, you can get by with these 12 items:
   • Epsom salts (buy unscented salts in bulk to be economical)
   • Baking soda
   • Honey
   • Eggs
   • Plain yogurt
   • Olive Oil
   • Coconut Oil
   • Oatmeal
   • Brown sugar
   • Lemon juice
   • Fresh berries/cucumber (to create your “spa water”)
   • Healthy snacks, like nuts and dark chocolate

As I said, there’s prep work involved, but now you’re ready to begin. And, by taking the time to prep beforehand, you’ve greatly increased your chances of having a truly relaxing at-home spa day!