Ahhhhh... A Spa Day

Spa time!

I decided it was way past time to have a 'pamper Teri' day.  The stresses of everyday life, getting serious again with the weight loss thing, and the toll of working hard in the yard were starting to show a bit too much.  

First activity on the agenda... a detox bath.

I did a bit of research to find a detox bath recipe that I was comfortable using.  OK... I'm doing the opt out bit here -- I'm no expert and I am NOT saying you should do exactly as I did.  You need to do your own research and decide what is best (if anything) for you personally.

There were a lot of cautions no matter where I researched.  From 'make sure you drink a lot before as it is dehydrating' and 'you might feel very light-headed' all the way to 'you might have flu-like symptoms'.  Because of those warnings, I made sure Himself was home when I did this.

This is the recipe I used for my bath waters:

2 cups Epsom salt

1 cup baking soda

1/4 cup sea salt (I had a lavender bath salt already and used that)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon ground ginger

A few drops lavender oil

I filled the tub with the hottest water I could stand and started my soak in my own little personal Dead Sea.  For a good 15 minutes I felt nothing different than a regular soak in the tub (other than slippery water).  At 15 minutes my hands started reacting.  It was a weird achy/itchy feeling that made me really want to rub them.  I did so in the 'spa massage' sort of way... from from fingertips stroking up towards the heart.  A few minutes later my feet and lower legs got that feeling and I rubbed them in the same way.  Felt good.

At 20 minutes the sweating started.  Sauna kind of sweating.  Wow.

At 30 minutes the light-headed feeling started.  And that is where I finished.  I called Himself to start up a cool shower for me.  Almost all of the instruction sites said that rinsing off the salt was "optional".  Well, it wasn't optional for me...it was coming off!  I rinsed without soap since my pores were wide open.

While rinsing, I did some smoothing of my feet to prepare for the pedicure portion of my spa day.

Time to chill out for a bit while sipping some hot tea.  Ahhhhhhh...  I was a noodle for several hours and slept great that night.

For my spa day facial, I used a Rodan & Fields sample gift from my friend Brenda Hagood ( http://brendahagood.myrandf.com )  Very nice stuff.  Brightened my skin and didn't cause any issues for me (I have sensitive face skin).

Next up for pampering were the fingers and toes... mani/pedi time!

With continued yard work in my very near future (like tomorrow) I didn't waste too much effort with my hands.  

I did try a whitening technique I found on Pinterest.  

Soak your nails for a few minutes in very warm water, then give them a good washing.  Spread over and under your nails a mixture of 2.5 TBS of baking soda and 1 TBS of hydrogen peroxide.  Let sit for 3 minutes then rinse well.

It did make my nails look better but definitely NOT like the Pinterest photos show.

Note:  Do not do this if you have any sort of cut on your finger tips!  Ouch!!

Afterwards I deep conditioned the cuticles and slathered on cocoa butter.

Done.  

Feet... they got more work.  After all, we are heading into sandal season!

My dry heels were actually looking pretty good after my post-soak smoothing so my next step was to get some nail polish on.  Hardest part of that was picking the color.

It was purple.

Didn't do anything with the hair today as I did a basic wash-and-go yesterday.  My hair is fine and thin... oh joy.  My short cut lets it lift a bit and I don't have to use a blow dryer.  I rotate shampoo ... mostly a gentle wash that rinses clean and then every couple weeks a moisturizing shampoo and a conditioner.  Any more than that weighs it down to limp strings.  Bleh.

So there I'm done and feeling great!

BTW, here's my latest weight loss photo in my new power walking outfit.  I am 2/3 of the way to my goal weight!!