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Home Spa
Our busy lives rarely
give us time to breathe, let alone take a day at
a spa. One solution? Create your own personal
pampering center, in the comfort of your own
home. |
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Dress the Part
Sleepyheads is a spa girl’s dream come true. Full of
all the accessories you’ll need, including adorable
pajamas, robes, slippers, and tote bags, you can be
sure you’re at least dressed like you’re at a spa,
even if you never step out of your own bathroom. Try
the Nick & Nora Spa Girl Gown ($54) and the matching
Spa Girl Overnighter cosmetic bag ($12.95), or wrap
yourself in a monogrammed towel with the Initial Spa
Wrap ($28.95). Visit Sleepyheads.com to start
shopping — and while you’re there, check out
Sleepyheads “pajamas with a purpose.” A generous
portion of each sale — who can resist those precious
pink, ruffled PJs? — goes to the Susan G. Komen
Foundation to support breast cancer research and
awareness. |
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Immerse Yourself
Slip into something more comfortable with Garden
Botanika’s Immersion Socks and Gloves ($12.50 per
pair). Just apply lotion first (Garden Botanika
recommends its High Intensity Hand and Foot
Treatments, $14 each), slide the cotton socks or
gloves on top, and relax. Your hands and feet will
emerge soft and smooth. Wear the socks overnight for
best results. (Also, check out Garden Botanika’s
foot, neck and hand Cozies; filled with mint,
lavender, sweet orange and flaxseed, you can apply
them warm or chilled for a stress-reducing
aromatherapy delight.) |
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Fingertip Tips
Ms. Manicure is your one-stop home manicure center,
with files, trimmers, nail care kits and great
accessories like the Nail Polish Corrector Pen to
erase any unwanted smudges. All the products come in
pretty pinks and purples, making them a feminine
alternative to the sterile nail clippers our
fingertips are used to. Pictured here, the Marvelous
Mini Smoothing and Shaping kit and the Matchbook
Emory Boards. Visit MsManicure.com for more
information and retail locations, and don’t neglect
the toes — MsPedicure.com has all you’d ever want to
treat your feet right. |
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BOOKS
In The Herbal Home Spa: Naturally Refreshing Wraps
Rubs, Lotions, Masks, Oils, and Scrubs, author Greta
Breedlove (Storey Publishing, $14.95) shows how to
pamper yourself on a budget. Full of hundreds of
ideas and recipes to draw out your inner and outer
beauty.
Jo Glanville-Blackburn is the author of Home Spa:
Relax and Home Spa: Vitality (Ryland Peters & Small
Ltd, $9.95 each), manuals for creating a home spa by
working simple, quick routines into your daily life.
Even if you only have five or 10 minutes to devote
to pampering yourself every day, Glanville-Blackburn
is convinced it’s a necessary step to relaxation and
revitalization. |
A Homemade Remedy
The avocado is a home spa staple — its rich oil
content gives skin and hair a natural glow. It’s as
simple as a trip to the kitchen, and you can whip up
a hair, hand, or face treatment in no time. The
California Avocado Commission has several
suggestions, like the following recipe for a
homemade face mask (visit www.avocado.org for more
treatments).
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• Mash the flesh of one ripe
California avocado with a fork (if your
skin’s especially dry you can mix it with a
tablespoon of mayonnaise; if especially
oily, add the juice of a fresh lemon).
• Apply the mask to your face and throat and
leave for 10 minutes.
• With a warm, damp towel, cover your face
for a brief moment, then wipe away the mask.
Rinse with warm water and dry.
• Follow up by spraying your skin with
pre-made, cooled herbal tea (raspberry for
sensitive skin, rose for dry skin and lemon
for combination skin). |
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