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There is another option to spending a few hundred on a spa weekend; create your own at home. From learning to switch off from it all to detoxing our bodies inside and out, here the ELLE Beauty Team walk you through their ideal home-grown pamper weekend
Aim: to get my skin ready for the lighter, spring make-up
Friday 7pm
I start as I mean to go on and begin the weekend by taking off every inch of my make-up as soon as I get home. With my skin cleansed I feel refreshed and celebrate with some of my favourite Bliss Triple Oxygen eye patches, £38.50, (and a large glass of wine), which feel cooling after a long week at work.
Saturday 10am
I wake up after a good night’s sleep and resist the urge to wear any make-up. Instead I start my morning with some goodness from the inside out and pour myself a glass of apple juice with a big glug of E3 live algae in it. A superfood supplement that promotes healthy skin and increased energy levels, it’s pretty murky looking but after taking it for nearly a month my skin feels incredibly supple.
Saturday 11pm
A rare evening in heralds an early night and an excuse for a proper massage to get my circulation revved up. I spend a good five minutes working Trilogy’s Rosehip Oil, from £16.50, into my freshly washed face, paying particular attention to my jaw line and cheekbones to encourage toxins to drain away.
Sunday 11am
A long sleep has done wonders for my complexion and I wake looking refreshed. A handful of linseeds on my yoghurt makes me feel virtuous (they’re packed with omega 3 for healthy skin).
Neal's Yard Linseeds, £3.05 for 500g, from Holland and Barrett
Sunday 10pm
A thorough clean of my skin with my new Clarisonic Mia, £120, ensures every last bit of dirt and grime is removed. I slather on YSL’s Beauty Sleep, £40, a plumping concentrate with an in-built brush, the perfect preparation for the week ahead.
Clarisonic Mia, £120 at Space NK
Aim: To completely escape from work and technology
Friday 6pm
I turn off my work computer and that's it for 48 hours, not a beep, text, tweet, BBM, status update from me for the rest of the weekend. I feel my palms getting sweaty.
I've chosen to stay home tonight in place of supper with some girlfriends. This is a tactical move, so I don't have to call OH to come and pick me up from the station at 10pm. Much easier if I go straight home. I've banned our household from watching television as well. I am going to have to get creative. Have a pile of books and magazines I wanted to catch up on, but I'm antsy. I decide to have an Epsom Salt bath, might as well couple my digi-detox with a bit of a physical one too.
Try The Eco Bath Epsom Salt Bath Soak, £8.39 at hollandandbarrett.com
Saturday 11am
I'm cranky. I've slept too long and I can't watch Saturday kitchen while I eat my poached eggs.I keep trying to justify an emergency switch on of the blackberry to OH in case there has been any kind of emergency. Clearly, everyone I need to hear from has his number, and yet, I feel completely wired in the wrong way.
Aim: To cleanse my body internally (and lose a few pounds)
Friday, 6 pmI decide the best way to kick start my detox is with a colonic, so I head to EF Medispa on the King’s Road. I have a colonic, £90, where warm water is passed into the colon, breaking down waste and flushing it out. It’s surprisingly relaxing! After an hour my tummy feels flatter and less gassy. If you want to go all out, try the Californian Colonic, £250 for 2 hours, which involves a traditional colonic, followed by a shot of wheat grass passed into the colon and left for 15 minutes to ‘soak in’. The green stuff is chock full of minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll which stops unfriendly bacteria in its tracks and cleanses the blood of toxins.
Top Tip: Avoid salad straight after as it can make you bloat (fish and vegetables are fine).
Enq: efmedispa.com
Friday 9pm
I pop a probiotic pill (which I’ll do everyday for a week) to boost my good bacteria. A lack of good bacteria in the gut can lead to excessive gas, bloating, intestinal toxicity, constipation and poor absorption of nutrients. I like Bio-Acidophilus Forte, £6.10 for 7 day’s supply.
Enq: victoriahealth.com
Saturday 10 am
My detox is based around David Kirsch’s 48hr Cleanse, £23, which is a more advanced version of the lemon, maple syrup and cayenne pepper concoction and will last you the whole weekend. On top of those ingredients, the formula has Acai Berry, Milk Thistle and Cranberry extract to cleanse the colon, liver and Kidneys; it also suppresses appetite and boosts energy. You simply mix 120ml of formula with 120ml mineral water, four times each day, and sip super slowly. It actually tastes really yummy and works as a good distraction to hunger. David’s rule is that if you’re chewing, you’re cheating, so I keep plenty of Dr Stuarts Detox tea, £2.09, at hand (which is surprising yummy, I usually find herbal tea bland); however I cheat a couple of times, but had satsumas and almonds at hand so I didn’t go completely off the rails!
Enq: David Kirsch,
Saturday 8 pm
This is usually the time on a Saturday when I would be tucking into a take away and a glass of wine (sigh). Instead, I draw myself a long, hot bath with two capfuls of Elemental Herbology’s Detox Bath Oil, £20. The oil contains grapefruit, juniper berry, rosemary and geranium oil to help reduce fluid retention, invigorate circulation and shift toxins. While I can’t see or feel any immediate results, I do feel relaxed and happily distracted from thoughts of food. And right now, that’s enough of a miracle for me.
Top tip: If you want to ramp up your bath time add a handful of Dead Sea Salt, the sodium draws toxins out of the body.
Enq: Elemental Herbology, spacenk.co.uk
Sunday 12 noon
I book in for a Bikram Yoga class, £14 (or 10 days for £15 intro offer), which is carried out in a heated room (think sauna) at 40 degree heat. The teacher takes us through a 90-minute class which involves a set of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. The stances focus mostly on toning and lengthening the legs, stomach and back (and by the looks of most of the attendees, it works a treat). The heat relaxes the muscles and allows you to get deeper into each posture, so you get maximum benefits. There are postures to help stimulate the colon to cleanse itself, so I work extra hard at these. Dripping with sweat I leave the class feeling relaxed and a bit tired – it may be yoga, but it ain’t easy.
Enq: hotbikramyoga.co.uk
Aim: To get foot model feet
Friday 6pm
My pamper weekend begins with a trip in to town to visit Bliss spa to test their Hot Milk and Almond Pedicure, £61.30 for 60 minutes. Whilst watching Sex & The City on the flat screen and supping a smoothie my feet are soaked in a bath of hot milk and almond oil. The smell is incredible – the enzymes in the milk eat away at dead skin (even Cleopatra was in on this trick with her milk baths). Whilst one foot is soaking the other is buffed, the nails are trimmed and my cuticles are treated with oil. After the lengthy soak (which has already made my feet feel softer) my feet are buffed further with Blood Orange + White Pepper Sugar Scrub and my nails are given two coats of Essie Poor Lil Rich Girl.
Enq: Bliss, blissworld.co.uk
My feet are already feeling smoother and looking neater but I still liberally spray on Margaret Dabbs Intensive Treatment Foot Oil, £20. It contains Emu Oil which is really nourishing.
Enq: Margaret Dabbs, margaretdabbs.co.uk
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