We have collaborated with our friends at HerCanberra to bring you tips for turning your home into a spa, no matter what your budget is!

Here’s how to turn your home into a spa no matter what your budget. Thank us later.

When social distancing, it doesn’t take long for the novelty of staying home to wear off. But stay at home we must, and so instead of getting cabin-fever, why not turn your home into a positive oasis of calm and relaxation? No matter what’s going on in your life, you’re still living through a pandemic—you deserve some downtime.

DIY-ing an at-home spa is just one way to achieve this downtime—and you can do it on as little as $20 and all by shopping online. We suggest pairing any of these options with a phone-free space and some relaxing music.

 

$ 20

Not a heap of extra dosh lying around? No worries! You can still create a totally luxe DIY spa for the price of a pizza.

For me, a face mask is an essential part of any spa experience. DIY your own facial with 16Brand’s Super Vegitok’s Mask in Green. 16Brand is a beloved Korean skincare label, and this mask even comes with a pre-treatment cleanser.

If you have the luxury of a bath at home (I’m very jealous!), then a hot bath is a must. Add in a Lush bath bomb and you have an experience. Their Butterball Bath Bomb contains cocoa butter pieces and ylang ylang to relax your mind and replenish your skin—it’s also vegan!

Finally, prep for your night time skin routine and get your mind relaxed and ready to drift off with Mario Badescu’s Facial Spray with Aloe, Chamomile and Lavender. An ultra-light hydrating mist from the king of affordable, high-powered skincare, each spritz is lightly lavender scented and will help wind you down for bed. Sweet dreams.

16Brand Super Vegitok’s Mask (Green)—$4 from Mecca

Lush Butterball Bath Bomb—$6.95 from Lush

Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Chamomile and Lavender—$11 from Mecca

TOTAL: $21.95

 

$50

If you have a little more cashola to play with, you might want to follow a more traditional day-spa schedule, starting with the body and working up.

To begin, get glowing with Frank Body’s Coconut Coffee Scrub. This cult product is Australian-made and the coconut will hydrate and plump while coffee grounds remove dry skin and work to fade stretch marks and scarring. Stand either in the bath or the shower for this one—it can get messy!

Rinse the scrub off (or don’t), then pop yourself into a relaxing bath with The Body Shop’s Moringa Bath Bubble. If, like me, you only have a shower at your disposal, lather up with The Body Shop’s Moringa Shower Gel and smell heavenly either way.

Now, it’s time to focus on face. First, create a clean slate with Frank Body’s Charcoal Face Cleanser, which will lift impurities from your pores. Then, it’s time to soak up some glow.

Queen of A-Beauty (that’s Australian beauty, by the way) Zoë Foster Blake has developed (in my opinion) the ultimate sheet mask in her Go-To Transformazing mask. The perfect shape and texture, it comes drenched in a skin-boosting serum that will soak into your skin, making it look—as she puts it—“far better than it has any right to”.

Finally, seal in moisture and nourish your skin with The Ordinary’s 100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil. An almost fragrance-free lightweight facial oil, it’s rich in linoleic acid and pro-Vitamin A, both of which promote healthy, glowing skin.

Frank Body Coconut Coffee Scrub—$10.95 from Mecca

The Body Shop Moringa Bath Bubble—$3 from The Body Shop OR The Body Shop Moringa Shower Gel—$4 from The Body Shop

Frank Body Charcoal Face Cleanser—$9.95 from Mecca

Go To Transformazing Mask—$9 from Mecca

The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil—$18.90 from Deciem

TOTAL: $52.80

 

$100

If you’re looking to invest in your downtime, why not invest in products that will see you through not just one DIY spa day, but many? This time we’re starting with the hair. Lush makes a nifty range of ‘hot oil’ hair treatments, which is a slightly misleading name. You place a cube of treatment into a cup of boiling water and stir until it creates a crème formula. Wait for it to cool and then smooth through hair. It will usually make enough for two treatments, if not three—just store in the fridge.

A really luxe addition to your DIY spa experience is to double (face) mask—the first to cleanse away impurities and the second to infuse hydration and other goodness into the skin. You’ll often find this is the case with professional facials, and it’s easy to do at home, provided you choose two complementary masks.

Our recommendation would be to start with Aesop’s Primrose Facial Cleansing Masque. Apply both the Lush hair mask and the Aesop face mask and then sink into a bath with a divine-smelling Soap & Glory Fizz-A-Ball Bath Bomb. No bath? Lather up with their creamy Clean On Me Shower Gel.

Now onto the second mask. Glow Recipe is one of the fastest-growing K-Beauty (Korean beauty) brands worldwide, and its Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask is its flagship product with high-powered ingredients like hyaluronic acid and AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids).

Another slightly misleading name that might turn off those who worry about ruining their pillowcases, think of sleeping masks as intensive, leave-on treatments. Simply smooth a thin layer onto clean skin as you would a mask, let it sink in, and then sleep on it for seriously glowing results the next morning.

Lush Hot Oil Hair Treatment—$13.95 from Lush

Aesop’s Primrose acial Cleansing Masque—$43 from Aesop

Soap & Glory Fizz-A-Ball Bath Bomb—$7 from Mecca OR Clean on Me Shower Gel—$5 from Mecca

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask—$35 from Mecca

TOTAL: $98.95