D.I.Y Spa Day! - How To Pamper Yourself

If you are anything like me, you get stressed out. I let myself get really worked up about work, university, money etc etc, you name it, I worry about it! To combat this stress, I have looked into going to get massages or facials, because beauty services and going to the spa are such relaxing and relieving things. However, they come with a huge price tag! $130 for a 60 min massage? $80 for a facial?

I've been doing these at home D.I.Y spa days for ages, but only recently have I made them a 'thing', where I set aside time for myself, like an entire evening, I turn off my phone and laptop, play some music and retreat to my bathroom...

You will need:

• Your favourite skincare products: Mine are my Clarisonic and the Neutrogena Tangerine and Lime face wash (smells amazing).
• A moisturising, amazing smelling body wash or bath soak: I've chosen the Radox Nourish Body Wash with Shea Butter and Ginger. My skin will be completely soft and silky after that!
• A luxurious fake tan (if you like): I know not everyone does fake tan but it kind of fits in well with the whole pamper day theme for me! I picked the Dove Summer Glow Gradual Tan Lotion, which is a body moisturiser than develops overnight to a subtle bronzey tan. I love this because it's failproof; I'm not great at fake tanning so this one works really well for me!
• Your desired leave-in hair product: This is for after you've rinsed everything off. It's to keep your hair shiny and smooth long after your pamper session is over. I chose the Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Anti-Frizz Serum (seriously my favourite hair oil EVER).

If you're not fake tanning with a moisturising gradual tanner (I'm not this time as I'm pretty tanned naurally at the moment), choose a body butter or moisturiser to use instead. These are my top favourite ones at the moment -

• Body Shop Body Butter: I love pretty much every scent of their body butters. For Christmas I got this Candied Ginger scented body butter which smells just like Christmas! The Body Shop butters are always so creamy and rich, and will leave your skin feeling and smelling gorgeous.
• Wilko Body Butter: A good cheaper alternative is the Wilko Coconut Body Butter. This is surprisingly good for a cheaper moisturiser. It is non greasy and really makes your skin soft. Plus it smells lush, mmmmmm coconut.
• I'm not entirely sure where the three body butters came from to be honest! They were a Christmas gift too, but I'm halfway through the mango one at the moment and I'm impressed with their silkiness. Not as rich as the other two, but definitely great smelling and softening on the skin.

These next two items are definitely the main event for me! The hair mask and the face mask. I loooove these two items so so much, I look forward to using them and love how my skin and hair feels afterwards. So I narrowed it down to my current top 3 for both.

So, in the hair mask department we have

• Goldwell Rich Repair 60 sec treatment for dry and distressed hair: This is my ALL TIME favourite hair care product. I know it says 60 seconds but I leave this on for hours; it makes my hair incredibly silky and soft, which is amazing because my hair is usually very straw-like due to the bleach. This is a higher end salon product, though I got this one as part of a deal. It's usually quite expensive but I'd argue that it is extremely worth it!
• TRESemme Keratin Smooth Keratin Treatment Masque: This is another one I love a lot, but this one is significantly cheaper than the Goldwell one. Obviously, its effects aren't as good as the higher end product, but it does impress me considering its price. This one does stop my hair from frizzing and leaves it pretty smooth. Great for your D.I.Y spa!
• Herbal Essences Bee Strong Strengthening Intensive Mask: This one is a wonderful smelling product with a waxy feel to it. It is like honey and drips over your hair, making it feel softer and stops it breaking as much once it is dry. This is another cheaper one; when I was in England I got this for 1.96 pounds. Great if you're on a budget!

Then onto the face masks, which I have been collecting for years upon years so I consider them my area of expertise (and I had a lot of products to narrow down!)

• Garnier 3 in 1 wash, scrub and mask: I love this product and always have and always will. It is so great that you can change how you use it to get different benefits. The mask in particular is really effective. It is a mattifying mask which I desperately needed a few months ago when my skin went through a really oily phase. The mask is cool and refreshing on your skin, and it would make a great choice as your spa facial!
• Formula 10.0.06 Deep Down Detox Ultra Cleansing Mud Mask: Another of my favourites, and it is just a drugstore brand and is affordable! This is the only one from the range that doesn't tingle on my face, which I find a let down, but this mask really does clean deeply and leaves my skin refreshed. This one usually causes a breakout after I use it, which is annoying at first but it is only because it has cleaned my skin so well!
• Montagne Jeunesse Deep Cleansing Blemish Mud: These are so brilliant as face masks because they come in these sachets, which are pretty cheap to buy, and there is a whole load in them so I don't feel guilty about slathering them all over my face. The blemish mud is my favourite, I'd have to say, because it smells like the inside of a day spa and tackles my breakouts. Another benefit of these is that if you buy a sachet but don't like the contents, there's a huge variety to choose from instead and you don't have to feel guilty about wasting a whole tube. 

Grab your nail file and your favourite nail polish! Give yourself a mani-pedi while you wait for your hair and face mask to soak in! My current favourite nail polish is Revlon's Blue Lagoon (092), which is a beautiful pale frosty blue. 

So I usually jump in the shower, wash my hair, then jump straight back out. I choose my fluffiest dressing gown then wash my face using my Clarisonic. Then I apply my face mask while my pores are still open, then immediately apply the hair mask.

Then there's nothing else to do but stick Breaking Bad on and wait for a while, or light a lush smelling candle and read for a bit, relaxing and not stressing.
Then after I've rinsed off those products in the shower I'll wash everywhere else using a nourishing body wash, then moisturise and/or fake tan.

Afterwards I'm feeling so zen I can't even think about worrying! I love D.I.Y day spas! A fraction of the price but a freak-load of relaxation. Ahhhhh.