DIY Face & Hair Masks For an At-Home Spa Day

Treat yourself to a luxury spa day at home for some pampered self care that’s good for your hair, skin and body. You’ll be using nutritious, whole food ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen so you don’t even need to leave your home. Taking time out of your day for an indulgent skin- and haircare treatment is a lovely form of self care that is sure to make you feel like a neue person. 

Start with a shower, but not your regular every-day shower. Make your experience a sensual one. Light several candles in your bathroom, play relaxing music, and put some eucalyptus (or your favorite essential-oil blend) in your diffuser. Turn on your shower and get the steam going, switch off the lights and let yourself relax in this tranquil space — the steamy, candlelit glow, calming aroma and soothing music…it all makes for an elevated spa-like experience. 

Enjoy your time in the shower. Let your mind escape from everyday noise, news, and worries. Shampoo your hair but don’t condition. You’ll do that later, after you’ve let the hair mask (which we’ll get to soon) work its magic in your hair for several hours. While you’re in the shower, gently exfoliate your face. Acure’s Brightening Facial Scrub is a great exfoliator that has natural ingredients like sea kelp, lemon peel, madonna lily and French green clay. This exfoliator makes skin feel super clean and soft and leaves it looking brighter. I’ve been making the switch to non-toxic skincare and I love this product because it’s paraben free, sulfate free, mineral oil free, petrolatum free, formaldehyde free, and cruelty free. 

Important side note: What you put on your skin is just as influential to your health as what you put inside your body. Not only is skin our largest organ but it absorbs everything we put on it, straight into the bloodstream. One good habit to get into is checking the ingredients of your skincare products. Toxic ingredients are damaging to your overall health, possibly causing hormone disruption, allergies and disease. A good place to check for clean ingredients is the app Think Dirty. You can search products and see how their ingredients are rated — they use a color-coded system where clean is green, toxic is red and “half n’ half” is yellow. You want to be using products that have all green or mostly green with some yellow ingredients. Red ingredients are toxic and therefore should be avoided as much as possible. 

Now back to the shower scene. Once you’ve shampooed, cleansed your body and exfoliated your face, end with a gratifying full-body massage in the shower. For this I like to use Now Foods Almond Oil but if you don’t have that coconut oil is another excellent choice. Oiling up in the showering is so satisfying, plus once you’re out you don’t need to slather on body cream. You’re skin will be super soft and glowing, and you’ll be good to go.

Throw on a plush robe, slip into your comfiest slippers and wrap your hair in a towel. It’s time to apply your masks. What’s so great about these masks is that they’re made with whole foods so you know there’s nothing damaging or toxic about them. The ingredients include avocado, which moisturizes the skin, exfoliating yogurt which contains lactic acid that helps diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by tightening pores, and raw honey which balances bacteria on your skin, making it a natural acne treatment. Meanwhile, coconut oil nourishes the scalp and strengthens your hair by reducing breakage, olive oil acts as a moisturizer for your hair, and egg is a natural conditioner that can help tame frizz and add shine.

Let’s start with the face mask (see below for ingredients and instructions). With your hair wrapped in a towel, apply a thick layer of the mask all over your face. The mask will dry on your skin after a few minutes which is completely normal. Next, remove the towel from your head and thoroughly apply the hair mask all over your hair from roots to ends, taking the time to massage your scalp to increase circulation and promote hair growth. Once you’ve applied the mask, slick your hair back and tie your hair in a small bun at the nape of your neck. Wrap your hair in a hair towel or plastic wrap. 

Make yourself some spa water with alkalizing lemon or cooling cucumber or brew a calming cup of tea and sit back and relax while these masks go to work. Keep the face mask on for up to 30 minutes, then rinse off with warm water and wash your face with a cleanser. Pat dry and apply any serums or oils you normally would. Keep the hair mask on for at least an hour, up to 8 hours.

When you’re ready to wash out the hair mask, get back in the shower. Before you even get your hair wet start by massaging some shampoo directly onto your scalp. Then add a little bit of water and continue massaging the shampoo in. Once you feel the shampoo is doing a good job of washing out the oils, then you can wet your hair as usual. Wetting your hair first only makes it harder to wash out the oils as water and oil do not mix well. 

Enjoy the feeling of your shiny, lustrous locks and bask in the afterglow of your at-home facial. I recommend taking the time to do this once a week or every other week. It’s a beautiful way to care for yourself and take some time out of your day for self love. When you notice how simple, yet effective these all-natural treatments are, you’ll realize you have everything you need to take care of yourself right at home.  

Avocado Face Mask for Glowing Skin

1/4 avocado, mashed

1 teaspoon full-fat greek yogurt

1 teaspoon raw honey

Instructions: Melt honey in a small saucepan on low heat until melted. Mash the avocado and mix in the yogurt and melted honey.

Hair Mask for Shine

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoons coconut oil

1 egg

Instructions: In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil on low heat. Pour into a bowl along with the olive oil and egg. Mix with a whisk until the egg and oils are well blended. Apply to hair, from roots to ends, massaging your scalp. Cover with a hair towel or plastic wrap and let sit for at least one hour.