Here's Exactly What You'll Need for Your Next At-Home Beauty Treatments
Over the past few weeks, I have been under an absurd amount of stress. I constantly feel like I’m going, going, going—and it’s been wearing me down quickly. I knew that what I needed most was a day to completely relax myself: a self-care day.
As busy and stressed as you may be, it’s so important to make sure you make time for yourself. When I had my self-care day, I got anxious as first because I have so much going on and even thinking about putting everything on hold just to relax myself seemed counterproductive. But I had to remind myself that allowing myself to take a break and breathe for a little—and do things that made me feel good—is something that needs to be a priority too.
During a self-care day, it’s all about you. So sleep in a little if you want, resist checking emails until at least the early evening, and put your phone on silent.
Self-care can come in many forms, and what works best for each person is ultimately up to them. Maybe getting a massage works best, or maybe going a hot yoga session and getting a pedicure afterwards. It’s completely up to you.
For my self-care day, I decided to do at-home spa treatments and pair it with a cardio-heavy workout. I am a strong believer in finding the perfect beauty and skincare products, and investing in them when necessary. During my self-care day, I decided to use all of my recent favorite body care products and relaxation necessities.
To set the mood for a relaxation day—or just any day really—I love to light a candle. I have tons of favorites, but one that I always turn to is Magic in the Air from Bath and Body Works. It’s a seasonal candle, so usually I stock up and am gifted them by family members because they know how obsessed I am with this scent. It smells like almonds, vanilla, and a distant garden all at once. It’s so freaking amazing.
Anyway, make sure during your relaxation time you’re creating an environment and aroma for your at-home spa treatments. Light some candles, use a few bath bombs, put on some yoga studio-inspired music, and get to relaxing.
Pre-shower, I sometimes like to use a dry body brush. I’ve only ever used the Mio Skincare Body Brush and that’s because I really love it. For those of you who might not know—because I certainly didn’t when I first saw it—a body brush is a brush with bristles and massage nodules that you lightly brush your skin with to help move skin cells and dirt. The brush is also said to stimulate circulation, improve your skin’s appearance, and get rid of dead layers.
I’m not a professional, so I don’t know if all of that exactly happens, but I will say that if I do remember to brush my skin for the recommended 3 times a week, for 3 minutes, I do notice that my skin is softer and smoother. I think getting one is definitely worth investing in. You can get a body brush at most spas, boutique stores, and even Amazon. Mine was about $20 and I’ve had it for two years.
Note: What I really love about Mio Skincare is that they have this assurance called “No Nasties” which means that they try to make their products the cleanest and most effective as they can. If you look at their ingredients on their products, you’ll see what I mean. They don’t use mineral oil, parabens, etc. If you want to read more about it, you can click here.
At the moment, my favorite body scrub is You Are Amazing Smooth It Out Coconut Water Exfoliating Body Scrub & Wash. It’s paraben-free and isn’t tested on animals. What I like best about this scrub is that it’s very gentle. Sometimes I use it on a loofa for an everyday cleaning, but if I want to enhance the scrub and slough off some serious dry skin, I’ll use it with my exfoliating gloves. I use the Bathery’s Charcoal Infused ones at the moment.
This scrub also has an amazing coconut smell—so you kind of feel like your at a beach resort, but in the comfort of your own home!
My grandma got me this next favorite product of mine. It’s a lavender and mint foot cream by Bare Foot. It is super moisturizing and has tea tree oil in it to help soothe your feet. It’s also not tested on animals—yay!
On the directions, it says to massage the cream on “clean, dry feet and legs, focusing on rough areas,” after a shower. The extra step I take with this is putting a hefty amount on, and then putting thick, fluffy socks on. Typically, when I do this, I do it right before I go to bed; that way, in the morning, I wake up, take the socks off, and have baby-soft feet. I do this treatment about once or twice a month.
I love doing facials and masks at home. They make me feel relaxed, rejuvenated, and fresh. I have literally dozens of face masks in my bathroom, but two of my favorites at the moment are I Dew Care’s Disco Kitten and Kiehl’s Turmeric & Cranberry Seed Energizing Radiance Masque.
I Dew Care’s Disco Kitten is a peel-off illuminating diamond mask. My sister got it for me for Christmas and I love it. It’s a peel-off mask that you apply with a synthetic brush—you could use your fingers, but trust me, it’s a million times easier with a brush—and leave on for about a half hour. After you put it on, your face will literally look like a pearl; it’s fabulous. So if you get a delivery from UPS, you won’t be totally embarrassed answering the door, because at least you’ll look glam. When you peel it off, you’ll be left with really soft, fresh skin.
My other favorite mask at the moment is the Turmeric and Cranberry Seed one by Kiehl’s. I like this one a lot because it’s a dual product. You can either use it as a scrub, or a mask. It smells amazing and reminds me of summer—so when it’s quite cloudy and grey outside, this one is like sunshine in a jar. This one dries really quickly, so you only need to leave it on for 5 to 10 minutes. After you wash it off, your skin will feel like it’s glowing. It sounds weird, but you’ll understand if you try it.
After I peel or wash off both of these masks, I like to splash a bit of cold water on my face just to close the pores and wakeup my skin a bit.
After any face mask, I always make sure to moisturize my skin. Some face masks can dry out your skin, so making sure to put the moisture back in is so critical for me. Why bother washing your face and doing a mask if you’re not going to finish taking care of your skin completely, you know? Make me a promise, and put a moisturizer on.
I can up my moisturizers often depending on what my skin needs and how the weather is affecting it. I’ve been using the Lumene Day Moisturizer SPF 15 for the past month. It contains vitamin B5, C, and E and is so soft on the skin. I love it because it’s really nourishing, but doesn’t feel thick or sticky. It also smells like oranges and citrus dreams, and we all know I’m about that kind of vibe. I highly recommend picking this up. It’s so amazing, especially for the price too.
Continuing on with lotions, I always make sure that when I do an exfoliating treatment to my body, I follow it up with a nice cream or lotion. Honestly, sometimes I forget to moisturize my skin after a shower on a daily basis, but when I exfoliate, I definitely make it a priority to put a layer of lotion on afterwards.
I switch up my body lotions frequency depending on what kind of mood I’m in, how my skin feels, and what scent I’m into at the moment. Lately, I’ve been reaching for the Coconut Milk Luminous Perfecting Cream from Victoria’s Secret. It leaves my skin looking glowy and sexy, and I end up smelling like what I think a luxury resort in Turks and Caicos would smell like.
Note: I don’t know how, but whenever I use this lotion, my skin feels soft the entire day. If someone knows why that is and wants to explain it to me, please let me know.
That just about wraps it up for this post. I hope you all learned a little bit about different products to try and brands to discover. Using a new or favorite product is always exciting and special, so feel free to splurge a bit on yourself! Remember to find time to have a self-care day and wind down a little bit. Taking care of yourself should always be your main priority and you should never feel guilty about it. It’s much more difficult to help others if you’re not taken care of too.
