How to Create a (planet friendly) ‘At Home’ Winter Spa

We all love the look of those #selfcaresunday pics on Instagram, with luxurious baths and treatments at home to make the recipient feel amazing. 

Sadly, a lot of those treatments, whilst enjoyable are not always ethical – sheet masks for example are the disposable face wipes of the facial world and as far as we’re concerned the only true beauty is clean beauty. 

As the mercury drops though and winter beds in, our skin suffers (and so does our mood), meaning we can all benefit from a good old at home pampering. So, with kindness both for your body, soul, and our planet in mind, we’ve come up with our own, equally languorous but less impactful Spa at Home routine.

First things first, let’s set the mood…

Get your bathroom tidy, grab the fluffiest organic towels you can (try our Hammam Towels), and turn off the overhead lights.  If you have clean, soy-based candles use those, if not just try and get the light down as much as you can.

The reason for this is two-fold: one, it’s better for the environment and two, by turning off your exposure to light, you kick start your own body’s production of Melatonin, the chemical that aids sleep and relaxation.

Make Sure You’re Prepped…

Nobody feels indulged when they’re running around sopping wet in a soggy towel looking for ‘that thing they need’, so, line up your self-care spa essentials first.

Begin your Ritual…

Get your bath running and drop in some essential oils (our orange and bergamot work amazingly) and run some bath salts under the tap and swish.  Bath salts contain magnesium, known to relax tired muscles, aid digestion and improve wellbeing. If you’d like to create your own extra special bath salt blend with flower petals and lavender oil, check out our DIY Bath Salts Kit.

Scrub Up…

Before entering the tub, scrub yourself from top-to-toe to slough off dead skin.  Work in the direction of your heart from top to bottom and bottom to top, in small circular motions.  You can either use a natural ramie shower puff, body brush, natural reusable loofah or a salt or sugar scrub in a nurturing oil like almond or olive to aid moisturisation. Coffee grounds are a fantastic alternative too (although messy).

Mask on…

The steam from your bath will help face masks and deep hair treatments work much better.  Our favourite is the Matcha Enzyme Face Mask from Urbapothecary, £25 which is soothing, nourishing and earthkind in equal measure.

Soak in…

Settle into the tub slowly and let your mind drift.  We like to close our eyes at this point and try to do a little mindful breath work.  Whale noises are optional.

Delight the senses

20 minutes is adequate for a soak (or two hours if you need more time).  Once you’re out BEFORE drying pat in a body oil (the almond oil we mentioned before is perfect).  Smooth a beautiful aromatic rose face balm onto your face and massage over with a jade roller to increase blood flow and a soothing sense of warmth.

Now pop on your pjs, grab some water (or wine, but water is what the professionals advise...) and kick back for the rest of the evening.