BY STEPHANIE KASHETA
Everyone should be able to pamper themselves, regardless of their budget. Here is a list of at-home spa treatments you can make for fractions of the cost.
DETOX BATH
Once a week, take a bath with epsom salt, a half cup of baking soda and 10 drops of essential oil of your choosing. This will not only help you unwind but regulate your body’s stress-related hormones and balance your ph levels. I’m partial to tea tree oil, but any essential oil will do.
STEAM YOUR FACE
Bring a pot of water, lemon slices and mint to a boil. Remove it from the heat. Get yourself in a comfortable position and get your face as close as you comfortably can and cover your head with a towel to trap the steam. Steam your face for ten minutes. This not only opens up all of your pores, but brings everything to the surface.
SPOT TREATMENT
Tea tree oil is a great solution to stubborn acne and blackheads. For really bad breakouts you can also crush up a couple of aspirin pills and make a paste with water.
FACE MASK
The best face mask I’ve ever made is as follows: 1/2 teaspoon organic cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon raw honey, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice. Mix all together and apply. Just be careful to wash (not scrub)
Blemish LIGHTENER
Mix 1 tablespoon papaya pulp or plain yogurt, 2-3 teaspoons ground oatmeal (more for thicker consistency), 1 teaspoon of sugar. Apply and leave on for five minutes before rinsing off with cool water.
TEETH WHITENER
Mash one strawberry into a pulp and apply with toothbrush. Stawberries have natural bleaching properties
ABOUT THE WRITER
Stephanie Kasheta is a graduate of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where she majored in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. She is currently finishing up her MFA in Fiction at Emerson College in Boston. She is a Las Vegas native who recently relocated to Cape Cod with her husband, a veteran of the US Air Force an father to a seven-year old future writer named Olivia. She is an assistant/acquiring editor to Jacquelyn Mitchard at Merit Press and on Saturdays can be found blowing glass at the Sandwich Glass Museum. Follow her on Twitter
