A Simple DIY Spa Day Facial Experience You'll Love!

It’s really simple to give yourself a basic, yet nurturing and relaxing DIY Spa Day facial experience.

I know it feels a lot nicer to have someone else do it, while you relax on a massage table with all kinds of exotic ingredients being lathered on by an expert. But in a pinch (or a lockdown) you can totally give your skin a treat with just a few natural ingredients.

Some of these you may already have, others you might want to buy especially for the occasion. It’s completely worth it, especially because all the ingredients mentioned will serve double, triple, or quadruple purpose – and your skin will thank you.

Below I’ll give you a simple step-by-step process to give yourself a natural and completely DIY Spa Day facial. There are no complicated recipes or hard to procure ingredients.

Where possible, I’ll give you alternatives for some of the ingredients, in case they might be more convenient for you.

Nevertheless, all of the ingredients mentioned below will do the job and give your skin a boost!

Table of Contents

BASIC DIY SPA DAY FACIAL ROUTINE

STEP 1 – Cleansing

The absolutely first and most important step in your DIY Spa Day facial routine – you need to slough off all the dead skin cells that may be sitting on top of your skin.

This guarantees that the oils and nutrients you use will be able to penetrate the skin as deeply as possible.
Two very good methods with which to achieve this are oil cleansing and gentle granular scrubs (exfoliation).

You can choose whichever one you want or prefer for this step.

oil cleansing

1 TB of your choice of carrier oil or mix a couple of your favorite oils together.

Most people use olive, coconut oil, sesame oil or castor oil. If using castor oil, it’s usually best to mix it with another carrier oil, otherwise it’s too thick to work with comfortably.

Rub your face with the oil(s) thoroughly in a circular upwards and outwards motion for a couple of minutes.
Soak a cotton or muslin cloth in hot water (not too hot) and wring out.
Remove the oil with the cloth, rinsing it several times with more hot water until the face is clean.

facial scrub

1 tsp of oats, almond, or chickpea flour (buy or grind some up yourself).
Add enough water or milk to make a paste.
Apply to face, scrubbing in circular upwards and outwards motions for about a minute.
Rinse off well with water.

STEP 2 – Steam face

Still in the cleansing steps of our DIY Spa Day facial, we need to really clean out the pores.

The best way to do this is through steaming.

Not only will it open your pores and clean out all the gunk, it will also feel incredibly relaxing for your face!

how to steam your face

All you need is a pot about the same width as your face.
Fill it halfway through with tap water and add a handful of herbs.

Eucalyptus, rosemary and lavender are all antibacterial and toning.

Rosemary is stimulating and lavender is more relaxing.

Lemon peel is also antibacterial and uplifting.

Chamomile is soothing to the skin and relaxing.

When it starts to boil, remove from the fire.
Find a comfortable place to put the pot and place your face over it, covering your head with a towel so that the steam does not dissipate quickly.
Don’t put your face too close to the pot – you should be able to feel the steam on your face but not so that it’s burning.
Stay like this 5 to 10 minutes – as the steam diminishes, you’ll be able to move your face closer.

STEP 3 – Facial mask

One of the classic steps in every DIY spa day facial.

Usually, every time you steam your face, or your body for that matter, you should always rinse it with cold water afterwards. This closes the pores and tones the skin further.

I wrote another post about all the amazing skin and health benefits of cold water contrast. If you’re curious, go check it out.

But since we’re applying a face mask directly after the steam, it’s best to apply it while the pores are still open and your skin still hot.

This way the nutrients and actives will penetrate deeper and more easily.

There are a few good possibilities for masks, depending on what you feel you need the most.

For oily and/or acne-prone skin: clay mask – green or bentonite is best (mix the clay with enough water to make a paste)
Dry or sensitive skin: full fat yogurt or honey (raw)
Dull or dehydrated skin: honey, or honey with pure cocoa powder (mix together to make a paste)
Normal skin: honey or yogurt

Simply apply to the face and leave on for 15-20 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.
Finish with cold water

STEP 4 – Toning

After the thorough cleanse we need to close the pores and bring back the skin to a more acidic pH, which is closer to its natural pH levels. This helps the skin stay balanced and fight off infections.
This particular toner is universal and so it works for all skin types. It also provides added skin soothing and antimicrobial benefits.

It’s made simply by mixing vinegar and water. It’s best if the vinegar is organic and with the mother, but other than that it could be apple cider, rice, white wine vinegar – whatever is handiest for you.

The important thing is that it’s not cleaning vinegar, because the acidity level in this vinegar is much higher. A 5% acidity is ideal.

how to make and apply vinegar toner

1 part vinegar
7 or 8 parts distilled or otherwise filtered water

Distilled is best because there are absolutely no minerals in it that might deposit on the surface of the skin and make it feel dry or rough.

Shake thoroughly and apply to the face and neck. You can apply it with a face pad, as a spritz, or pouring it directly in the palm of your hand and patting your skin with it.

STEP 5 – Moisturizing serum

While your skin is still wet from the toner, apply the face oil serum (below).
Alternatively, you can also mix a few drops of water or toner with a few drops of the face oils in the palm of your hand, and then apply it.

The water or toner will help hydrate the skin, while the oils will lock in that moisture and help to nourish the skin.

These face oil recipes are very basic, but they pack quite a punch due to the essential oils used.

They are in themselves serums, as well as moisturizers.

You should choose the oils and essential oils depending on the type of skin you have, or the skin issues you might be facing at the moment.

Having said that, many essential and carrier oils serve different skin types and skin concerns, though they might be more popular for one thing or another.

Bellow you’ll find the list of the most recommended and readily available oils to choose from. You can mix and match if you want, but you’ll be served perfectly by any of them individually (one carrier oil and one essential oil).

So choose according to your convenience or preference. Needless to say, all essential oils should be 100% pure and all carrier oils should be pure and cold-pressed.

Oily skin, acne-prone skin, breakouts

Carrier oils: jojoba, grapeseed, tamanu, pumpkin, sunflower

Essential oils: tea tree, lavender, rosemary, clary sage, Frankincense

dry skin

Carrier oils: olive, avocado, argan, almond, rosehip, jojoba

Essential oils: chamomile, geranium, Frankincense, lavender

normal skin

Carrier oils: jojoba, almond, sunflower

Essential oils: lavender, chamomile, rosemary

Sensitive or reactive skin

Carrier oils: avocado, olive, jojoba, apricot kernel, almond

Essential oils: chamomile, lavender, Frankincense, myrrh

mature skin

Carrier oils: rosehip, tamanu, olive, apricot kernel, jojoba

Essential oils: Frankincense, carrot seed, geranium, myrrh, lavender

How to mix and apply:

1 oz (30ml) of carrier oil with
8 to 10 drops of essential oil

Mix in a glass bottle, ideally with a dropper. Shake well and squeeze out half a dropper’s worth into your palm.
Rub your palms together to distribute it between both hands and apply to face with upwards and outwards motions. For even better results, apply with a lymph draining massage.
Do this for a few minutes or until the oils have been absorbed by the skin.

STEP 6 – Under eye treatment

Give your eye area a little extra something by applying a few drops of pure vitamin E or castor oil directly.
Apply them with light finger taps all around the eye area. Never drag the delicate skin around your eyes!
Whenever you are performing a massage, always use oils on wet skin to provide the proper slippage.
When applying thicker substances, such as vitamin E or castor oil, always pat them into the skin.

STEP 7 – Acupressure facelift

I’ve shared this acupressure massage on a previous post on how to perform a lymph draining massage, as an added bonus step.

It’s taken from an excellent book on Ayurveda beauty techniques I’ve mentioned before.

It usually takes about 5 minutes or so, which is why you might not be very tempted to do it every day (like I’m not). But for a DIY spa day facial, it’s perfect!

how to

Apply pressure in a clockwise direction on the points displayed for about 20 to 30 seconds.
Use your middle finger, unless otherwise indicated.

Points:

Center of chin: helps to relieve head colds
Both corners of mouth
Center of bone between nose and upper lip
Outside corners of nose where nostrils flare: it relieves the sinuses
Center of cheekbones: push up on underside of bone and massage
Lower lids just above cheekbones: don’t massage, press gently with ring fingers
Brows: use thumbs to press upwards on inside corner of eyebrows at bridge of nose; with thumb and forefinger, pinch brow all across the arch, from inside to outside corner (if sore that means there’s built up tension). Can relieve headaches.
Temples: use flat of fingers
Third eye
Crown: place both hands on top of head and move them rapidly back and forth

STEP 8 – Face slapping

Yes, really!

This might sound crazy, but trust me there’s logic behind it and why you’d want to add it to your DIY spa day facial routine.

Slapping your face and neck all around will stimulate blood flow to the skin layers, helping to oxygenate and nurture the tissues.

I’m not talking about serious b*tch-slapping here – they’re light taps! Be even gentler around the eye area, but feel free to go a bit harder on the rest of your face, especially under the chin.

Do this for 30 seconds to a minute and you’re done!

This is a great but simple DIY spa day facial routine that is both fun and doesn’t take a lot of resources. You can also play around with the ingredients, as well as add other more exotic ones, if you’re in the mood for an extra treat.

If you can carve out an hour for yourself every week or so for some TLC, you’ll definitely reap the benefits of all that skin sloughing, deep cleansing, and tissue stimulation.

I hope you enjoyed this DIY Spa Day facial and let me know what you think if you give it a try!

A Simple DIY Spa Day Facial Experience You’ll Love!