When to commence the home spa days during lockdown number two? There really is no time like the present. Once a highlight in our calendars, spa days now feel like a lost fragment of our once-pampered pasts, but they can – and will – be recreated. Simply indulge in your favourite treatments in the comfort of your own home – whale music optional.
Set the scene
There’s nothing more anxiety-inducing than harsh lighting. Scrap the electric lights for the flicker of a a few astutely placed candles. For scents that will ease you into relaxation mode, look to Boy Smells – the Broken Rosary candle is a dream – and for the visuals alone, Fairholme’s new collaboration with Kitri should be top of your list. In four different colours, the tapered candles look as good in daylight as they do in the dark. Yes, you will look like a total cliché. And, yes, it will be worth it.
Boy Smells Broken Rosary candle.
Fairholme x Kitri candles.
Time for the tub
It’s not a spa day if it’s not spent in close proximity to water. While you might not have a hot tub or swimming pool, chances are you have a bath or at least a shower. Those in possession of a bath tub will love the new Kloris CBD Bath Bombs. Like their colourful counterparts from our teenage years, they fizz on contact with water, but instead of petals they release 25mg of CBD oil – your quick route to chill time. Combine with some luxurious bath salts, like Costa Brazil’s Sal de Banho salts, which contain a blend of magnesium and potassium-rich Epsom, Brazilian white clay and camu camu, to help loosen tense muscles, and brighten and detoxify skin.
Kloris CBD Bath Block.
Costa Brazil bath salts.
Frank Body Fizzy Body Scrub.
For the shower, look to invigorating body scrubs and aromatherapy oils (like Aromatherapy Associates’ unbeatable Shower Oils) to create a ritualistic experience. The Frank Fizzy Body Scrub is a joy to behold. It’s a pink, sugar-based body scrub with all the good stuff – think exfoliating citric acid and hydrating grapeseed oil – and also creates a popping candy effect on your (now ultra-smooth) skin.
Prepare your hair
Those in need of some immediate stress-relief should try their hand at scalp massage, using a product like Fable & Mane’s Holiroots Hair Oil to assist. Move your hands and fingers in circular motions around your head, getting in behind the ears and ensuring the base of the neck is well-tended to. Leave it in for as long as you have, then wash your hair with a scalp-soothing shampoo, like Oribe’s Serene Scalp Shampoo, which utilises salicylic acid and extracts of watermelon, lychee and edelweiss flower to take down irritation and fend off flakes. Next up, a deep hydration treatment, like Shu Uemura’s Essence Absolue Nourishing Illuminating Treatment, which can be applied to wet hair and left to absorb – it’ll leave strands moisturised, shiny and ultra-healthy. Once you’ve applied it, leave it for 15 to 20 minutes to absorb, and then wash out.
Fable & Mane Holiroots Hair Oil.
Oribe Serene Scalp Balancing Shampoo.
Shu Uemura Essence Absolue.
Spa-worthy skin
You wouldn’t leave a spa without the glowing, post-facial skin you went in for. Luckily, there are a number of different formulas and tools that can offer that same luminosity at home. The key is to start with facial massage to oxygenate the skin, detox, and loosen taut muscles. Work a cleansing balm, like Augustinus Bader’s sumptuous Cleansing Balm, into skin to add slip, then get to work using the new FaceGym Multi-Sculpt Gua Sha tool in light, outward strokes, loosening any tension with the scrape side.
Augustinus Bader The Cleansing Balm.
Sarah Chapman Skinesis Meso-Melt Infusion System.
Medik8 H.E.O Mask.
Then, it’s time for some home micro-needling, which is a darn sight more relaxing than the kind you get in the facialist’s chair. Roll Sarah Chapman’s new Skinesis Meso-Melt Infusion System facial roller over skin, and follow with the Pep Stem Cell Serum that comes with it. Designed to be used once a week over three weeks, it helps plump, hydrate and firm the skin. And to finish? All skin types will love Medik8’s new H.E.O. face mask, thanks to its all-bases-covered approach to moisturising. The two-step mask contains humectants, emollients and occlusives, which are all you need for long-lasting hydration. It’s designed to be worn overnight (and not taken off), so consider it your final spa-day step. And voila, one seriously indulgent pamper session, done.
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