You can visit your favorite spa for a glorious skin care treatment, but it's just as easy to do at home -- and far less expensive. Aromatherapy treatments, massage oils and body scrubs are available to consumers for home use and often are improvements on standard spa treatments.
For example, salt scrubs, first introduced in spas, certainly do exfoliate the skin, but they often are drying and can sting and irritate the skin. A new at-home treatment, however, Aura Cacia's Nourishing Body Polish, provides gentle exfoliation and leaves your skin smooth and moisturized. Instead of salt crystals, Aura Cacia includes gentler organic raw cane sugar as a natural abrasive in a sensuously creamy base of natural oils and vitamin E.
You'll first need an exfoliating accessory like gloves, a sponge or a loofah (a natural, stiff sponge that comes from a gourd of the same name), available in the health and beauty aisle. Simply use one of these accessories with quick brushing motions to dry-rub all of your skin except your face and other sensitive areas. Next, apply an exfoliating scrub to further rub away dead skin. Finally, rinse off thoroughly in the shower.
And, be sure to enjoy a few moments of spa-like relaxation while you renew your skin. Take time to savor the tingling, stimulating sensations as you exfoliate and increase blood flow to the skin. It's a definite sign your skin is emerging from hibernation. Then, apply jojoba oil or another natural skin- care oil to further moisturize your exposed new skin.
Body care specialists recommend you exfoliate your skin at least four times a year, at the start of each new season. But for even healthier skin, you can exfoliate as often as once or twice a week. You may just create a more mellow state of mind, too!