Spa on a Budget: Tips and At-Home Treatments

From blowouts to pedicures, the allure of a little TLC is hard to escape. However, running to a professional for each spa reprieve is not always an option. Luckily there are plenty of DIY solutions that can satisfy practically any spa craving and help maintain financial responsibility.

Guarded with a few tips, tricks and at-home regimens your skin, hair and lips (yes your lips need love too!) can stay healthy and hydrated at a more affordable price tag.

Tips and Tricks

Even though you may not be sporting the hottest swimwear at the moment, don’t forget to protect skin and hair from the sun. Keep any visible skin (don’t forget those ears) lathered with sunscreen and hair covered in a moisturizing, leave-in conditioner to prevent skin damage and split ends.
Winter blues are quickly cured with a nice hot tub dip, but keep skin from drying out by using the best spa chemicals in your bubbly retreat and lather with a rich body cream after.
Keep teeth white and bright by sipping enamel-staining drinks (like coffee, tea and soda) through a straw.

At-Home Treats

Avocado Hair Mask

Put the life back in your dull dry hair with this fortified concoction courtesy of Allure.
Ingredients:

½ avocado
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 ounces water

Directions: Blend all ingredients together. Evenly comb the mask through wet hair. Sit under a hooded dryer (or cover masked hair with a plastic bag and use a blow dryer to apply heat) for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse with cool water and apply a hydrating conditioner and rinse again.

Photo by chadmiller via Flickr

Luscious Lip Scrub

Are your lips not as kissably soft as they once were? Give them a little lift with this tasty sugar scrub from Beautylish.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Vaseline
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons sugar
Flavor of choice (Get creative! Add a dash of caramel, strawberry, maple syrup, mint, or anything your heart desires to give your scrub a tasty boost.)

Directions: Combine ingredients in a small, resealable container. Apply a small amount to lips and massage for 1 to 3 minutes. Rinse and apply your favorite lip balm.

Photo by maduhsaurus via flickr

Salty Citrus Body Scrub

Slough away dry skin with this refreshing salt scrub from The Beauty Department. This citrus skin booster will transform you and give you a bright and shiny transformation from head (well shoulder) to toe.
Ingredients:

5 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lemon

Directions: Combine sea salt and olive in a small mixing bowl. Once sea salt is completely coated in olive oil, cut lemon in half and squeeze juice over salt and oil mixture. Mix and mash ingredients to your preferred consistency. Apply liberally to rough skin and rinse thoroughly.

Photo by 1lenore via flickr

Peppermint Foot Cream

Cure rough, dry and cracking feet with this minty fresh foot cream from Robyn’s View. If the heavenly scent alone doesn't get you immediately hooked, the creamy results surely will.
Ingredients:

1 tablespoon firmly packed cocoa butter
¼ cup firmly packed shea butter
2 tablespoons firmly packed coconut oil
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 teaspoon vitamin E oil
¼ teaspoon tea tree essential oil
¼ teaspoon peppermint essential oil
1-2 teaspoons peppermint extract (optional)

Directions: Melt butters, coconut oil and avocado oil in a double boiler. Mix well before removing from heat. Let cool (in refrigerator or freezer for faster results) until cream begins to set. Once cream has cooled, add remaining ingredients. Hand whip mixture and generously apply to skin.

Photo by Zanspa1 via Flickr

Kristen Watson is writing a cookbook with sustainable and environmentally friendly ingredients and recipes.

Comments

Aspirin for acne-prone skin

Aspirin has been around for a long time and its health benefits are wide and varied. Aspirin , or acetylsalicylic acid is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains , as an antipyretic to reduce fever , and as an anti-inflammatory medication. Aspirin's greatest benefit is reducing cardiovascular events including heart attacks and strokes. According to the American Heart Assoc. virtually all women are at risk of heart disease and doctors should more strongly consider prescribing a daily aspirin for their female patients. There is growing evidence to suggest regular aspirin use may reduce cancer and dementia as well. Investigators from the Women's Health Study have reported important new findings demonstrating that aspirin reduces the risk of a first stroke in women. When given to someone immediately after a heart attack, aspirin decreases death by 25%.

Kapalabhati Pranayam for wrinkle-free, radiant complexion

Did you know that Kapalabhati Pranayam / kriya can also be used to enhance your beauty and ward off skin aging? Done the right way, Kapalabhati Pranayam can be used as a beauty aid - it can give you a wrinkle-free, luminous forehead and radiant complexion. Kapalabhati For Beauty ‘Kapalabhati’ Pranayam breathing exercise is an excellent way of maintaining good health and fighting diseases. ‘Kapala’ means ‘skull’ (and ‘forehead’ also) and ‘bhati’ means ‘shining’. By doing kapalabhati, the ‘nadis’(nerves) of the brain get good exercise. This is achieved by exercising the diaphragm. There will be a glow on the forehead. After the age of 25, the tell-tale signs of ageing start making their appearance in the form of fine lines on the forehead. A regular practice of Kapalabhati for 10-15 minutes everyday will give you a tight forehead sans wrinkles for many years to come. Avoid Botox, try Kapalabhati Why resort to Botox and other expensive chemical or surgica...

Lemon as a beauty aid

The diminutive lemon is a very versatile beauty-aid and this cheap and golden-coloured fruit has excellent properties for enhancing your looks. Simple lemon-based preparations, you can mix in your own kitchen, will surely bring a dramatic transformation in your beauty regimen.

Aloevera, the wonder herb

Of all the herbs available in the kitchen garden, aloe is perhaps the richest in healing properties and has been rightly named the “first-aid” plant. It has moisturizing and emollient properties and is used in cosmetic creams, sun-lotions, shaving creams and face packs. It can easily be cultivated as a house-plant in a sunny warm spot with good drainage. Cosmetologists mix aloe with several other herbs and draft fancy names for it. Then these “herbal” avatars are sold at exorbitant prices. Growing a plant and using fresh gel is much more effective than bottled gel, simply because it is alive and therefore is more potent. It is the only plant whose extract is applied directly from plant to face in its natural and purest form.

I Tried a Headache Balm and Ended Up with Rashes

I do have this habit of slathering pain balms whenever I have a headache. But never did I get a skin reaction or rashes from it. It so happened that I had an extremely severe headache a few months ago. The pain was so unbearable that I gingerly reached out for a pain balm kept on my bedside table and kept on slathering it repeatedly all over the temples of my forehead. Next morning, after I woke up, I found that the skin on my forehead was peeling off and worse there were red rashes! This was the first time in my life that I was getting rashes from applying a pain balm on my forehead ! I have never had any pain balm allergy or as such! Side-effects due to application of a pain balm was something I've never come across all these years! I usually use pain balms of reputed companies – my usual favourites are Tiger balm, Amrutanjan, Zandu balm and Sloan’s balm. This time I had used Tiger balm. But why did it give me rashes now, when I had used it...