Spa Night Essentials

This post has been a long time coming! It's that point in my life where I feel as if I should be taking just one day off each week to pamper myself and restore my "beauty homeostasis" as I call it. Pretty much, take the morning or evening off to treat myself to a nice mani/pedi, take a long hot shower, lather on tons of body butter, relax with a face mask, bleach my face, the works. Unfortunately, my days are so incredibly busy that I often forget to have a spa night. However, I had last Friday afternoon off and decided to have a little "spa morning". And boy, was it relaxing! I felt so relaxed, groomed, hygienic, and scratched off a lot of beauty things I had wanted to get done like shaving my legs and finally giving myself a pedicure! 

So, I will be trying extra extra hard this summer to take one afternoon or evening off each week to pamper myself to a home spa. To really enforce this habit, I even made a little "spa night essentials tub" full of the products I want to use for spa days.



Doesn't have everything I mention below, but most things for a great spa night. I'm thinking of putting the tub in my bathroom since most of these products are bath products. These are the things I used for my spa night Friday and I think I got a good batch of stuff! Here's my routine below:

First things first, I hopped in the shower. Nothing relieves stress for me like a nice long hot shower. I used my Bath & Body Works Shower Gel in Rome Honeysuckle Amore with a loofah for exfoliation. I would actually like to start using the BBW Aromatherapy shower gels for future spa nights since they smell so incredible and the scent is so much more potent than the regular shower gels. My favorite Aromatherapy shower gel is the sandalwood rose one, which is so incredibly soothing! I also applied some of my Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash  on my chest and back to zap some of the zits there. I know, gross, but I've found that since I've started working out more regularly, I tend to get more acne around my cleavage area and my back so I've been using a salicylic acid body wash to help clear them. To treat myself a little bit more and finish up my bath, I lathered on my LUSH Neon Love Soap that I had gotten back in February. Oh my it smells SO good in the shower but definitely not worth the $5 I paid for the little sliver since it barely left any scent once I hopped out of the shower. I also used the Bare Foot Lemon & Sage Foot Scrub all over my feet, focusing on the heel area, to soften and clean them. To finish things up, I washed my hair with my regular Pantene shampoo and conditioner, washed my face with my new favorite St. Ives Even & Bright Pink Lemon and Mandarin Orange Scrub, and shaved my legs with the Skintimate Shaving Gel in Flirty Mango. So citrusy! I may start applying a hair mask, but I don't have one at the moment. Organix makes some good hair masks, so I may try another one out for next spa night.

Once I got out of the shower, I put some of my favorite body butter, the Lavanila Body Butter in Pure Vanilla all over my legs. I don't put any lotion over my torso or arms because the BBW shower gels are moisturizing enough for those areas. Now, I think for future spa nights I may try and bleach my face before I apply any lotion or makeup. It's hard for me to find a time to bleach my face, so I think combining it with spa night may work nicely. Either that or applying a face mask on days where I don't have to bleach (I just bought some little sample pods of the Origins charcoal mask that I'm probably going to try next!). For moisturizing my face, I used my Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisturizer. Even though it was the afternoon, I used my evening moisturizer because it is more hydrating than the daytime version. Plus, my foundation has SPF in it, so it wasn't a huge deal.  For a little acne control, I applied the Murad Acne Spot Fast Fix, which is great because it dries completely clear. Finished up with some LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub followed by Nivea Olive Oil & Lemon Lip Balm to moisturize my lips.

Next for some much needed relaxation! I first lit my new Bath & Body Works Mason Jar Candle in Lilac Blossom. Smells so good once the top wax pool layer is melted! Excellent springtime candle. I watched some YouTube videos while I was doing other stuff, but normally I just listen to my chillout playlist on iTunes or turn on the Colbie Caillat Pandora radio station. After relaxing and watching some videos with a nice cup of Celestial Seasonings Peppermint Herbal Tea, I decided it was finally time to pamper my feet! I massaged in a foot lotion all over my feet and then put on a pair of warm fuzzy socks so the lotion could soak in. I left the socks on for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, I decided to paint my fingernails. I first used some of my Rosebud Perfume Company Rosebud Salve around my nails and cuticles to soften and moisturize them. Since it's officially summer and I've been craving neon nails, I applied Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nailpolish in Sunkissed (bright mandarin orange) with NYC Extra Shiny Topcoat. Then I went back to my feet. My oh my, when I took the socks off my feet were smooth as a baby's butt! Loving the scrub + lotion regime on the feet! Anyway, once the socks were off, I popped in some toe separators and applied a few coats of Revlon Colorstay Nailpolish in Delicious (bright red).  I may do a separate, more detailed mani/pedi routine blogpost in the future, but for now just suffice it to say that the results were amazing! Three days later, and my feet are still super soft and my feet look great in flip-flops!

That is it for last week's spa night! Hope I can keep up the routine and take some time off each week to pamper and groom myself, preferably on a Sunday evening as a way to detox and unwind after a harsh week. You feel so much more energized, ready, and re-charged to start another crazy rough week, which makes your work performance soar and boosts up your confidence. As you can tell, I'm absolutely obsessed with home spa nights at the moment, haha.

Here is a recap of all the products mentioned: 
Bath & Body Works Shower Gel in Rome Honeysuckle Amore
Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash 
LUSH Neon Love Soap
Bare Foot Lemon & Sage Foot Scrub
St. Ives Even & Bright Pink Lemon and Mandarin Orange Scrub
Skintimate Shaving Gel in Flirty Mango
Organix Quenched Sea Mineral Moisture Surge Treatment
Lavanila Body Butter in Pure Vanilla
Sally Hansen Creme Hair Bleach
Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask
Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisturizer
Murad Acne Spot Fast Fix
LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub
Nivea Olive Oil & Lemon Lip Balm
Bath & Body Works Mason Jar Candle in Lilac Blossom
Celestial Seasonings Peppermint Herbal Tea
Rosebud Perfume Company Rosebud Salve
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nailpolish in Sunkissed
NYC Extra Shiny Topcoat
Revlon Colorstay Nailpolish in Delicious