Girls night in
You + friends + beauty treatments = home spa evening
January may be cocooning time for many, but I think it’s a also great time for grooming. With friends. Even with unreliable weather, we still need to keep our spirits up, our friendships up, and keep ourselves looking and feeling all kinds of lovely, right? So this week we’ll look at how to do an inexpensive, fun, at-home spa night for you and some pals. With a few key beauty products and some D.I.Y. know-how, you can transform your place into a luxe pampering palace (or at least the setting for a really fun night).
For a casual get-together, there’s no need for invitations — just text, call or email everyone. But if you happen to have a few weeks to spare, pick a day when you think your crew will be in town and find some pretty invitations to snail mail out. (So they’ll automatically know you’re doing this right.) In a pinch, e-invites from Paperless Post (paperlesspost.com) are still stylish and take less effort. Make sure they all include: the date and time of the event; your address and phone; and a note that everyone should wear comfy lounge clothes and open-toe slippers.
To set up: Clear a space in your living room, and gather up all of your clean bathroom towels and face cloths. Dim the lights and light a few scented candles, and queue up a playlist of yoga or meditation music, or an artist you find soothing. (I have one friend who sets these nights up in her den and puts on a tried-and-true chick flick like “The Other Woman” in the background.) Fill up a pitcher with ice water and cucumber or lemon slices, and set that out with some nice glasses. Snacks are going to be necessary, too, so if you want to go the healthy route, opt for sliced veggies and hummus. If you’d rather be a little indulgent, buy some chocolate-dipped strawberries and pop open a bottle of champagne.
Have all of your products, ingredients and tools out on a nearby table (grouped together by purpose) for when your friends arrived. For example:
For manicures and pedicures, set out big bowls for warm water, cotton balls, a cuticle stick, hand cream, nail clippers, nail file, a handful of pretty polish colors, plus base and top coat, polish remover, liquid soap, several towels and tissues. For feet (pre-polish), one easy trick is slathering them with your favorite moisturizer and then putting on toeless PediSox ($12.50 at uncommongoods.com) while the nails get done, so they’re super soft when you’re all finished.
Facials: After everyone’s washed their face and removed their makeup in the bathroom, hand them an easy, no-mess exfoliator, like the Alpha Beta Ultra Gentle Daily Peels by Dr. Dennis Gross ($88 at drdennisgross.com). They aren’t inexpensive, but each pack includes 30 peels, so you’ll have lots left over for yourself for the rest of the month.
After, apply a sheet mask. There are endless options these days, and what works best on each guest depends, of course, on their skin type. So set out a sampling of moisturizing masks, like Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Sheet Mask ($3 on target.com), and a couple of detox masks like the Yes to Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal Paper Mask ($3, ulta.com).
And now for the bonus points: While everyone’s getting their toes polished and their skin rehydrated, pull out the teeth whitening strips as an option (Crest 3D White Dental Whitening Kit, Professional Effects Whitestrips, pack of 44, $44.99 on amazon.com). They won’t exactly make sipping that champagne easy, but will give anyone who uses them even more reason to smile at the end of the night.