Relaxation is a distant dream for most people any time of year, and it’s usually unheard-of in the weeks leading up to the holidays. But this is the time of year when you need relaxation most: the days are shorter, summer sunshine is a distant memory, and it can seem difficult to fit all of your tasks into the few hours of sunlight that remain. Once all the hustle and bustle of the season is past, you may want to take some time to sit back, relax, and maybe even pamper yourself a little bit.

Here are a few inexpensive ways to take care of yourself, right in the comfort of your own home:

Home Facial Treatment

One of the loveliest things about a day at the spa is sitting back in a chair and having someone massage your face. It sounds a little strange when written down, but a facial massage is one of the most relaxing sensations known to humankind!  Here are some ways you can enjoy a similar sensation at home:

• Start by  washing your face gently with your favourite face wash, or a gentle daily facial product, like Olay Daily Facials.
• Exfoliate gently but thoroughly using a gentle scrub such as Snap Clear Skin Facial Scrub, Kosmea Daily Facial Exfoliant, or simply use North American Hemp Company’s Exfoliating Face Cloth when you cleanse.
• Rinse two clean, soft facecloths or hand towels with hot water, lie down somewhere comfortable, and drape the hot towels over your face, leaving your nostrils exposed so you can breathe. This will open your pores and allow the facial treatment to work its magic.
• Apply a face mask of your choice, such as the Sanctum Hydrating Gel Mask, or the Biore Self-Heating Mask, or something homemade!
• Rinse gently with warm water.
• Apply a gentle moisturizer such as Jamieson ProVitamina E Fresh Youthful Hydrating Gel-Cream, using firm motions to trace a line from your chin to your temples, and then over and around your ears, and from between your eyebrows to the top of your forehead, and around your face. Repeat.

Give Yourself a Manicure or Pedicure

It’s not as hard as you think to get soft hands and perfect nails. You can do it at home with a few key tools. Here’s how:

• Remove any lingering nail polish from your finger and toe nails with a gentle nail polish remover.
• Treat your paws: Either soak your hands or feet in warm water for 10 or 15 minutes, coat your hands in a hydrating moisturizer such as Sally Hansen Hand Care Moisturizing Cream and wear Urban Spa Moisturizing Gloves or Booties overnight, or use an exfoliating scrub to soften the skin.
• File your nails in one direction using a good-quality emery board such as the Revlon Ceramic Stone Nail File.
• Use a cuticle moisturizer such as Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream to soften the cuticles, and then push back and shape your cuticles using a cuticle pusher and trimmer such as the Revlon Cuticle Trimmer with Cap.
• Apply two coats of your favourite french manicure nail polish, or make it easier on yourself with the Sally Hansen 5 Minute French Manicure Pen Kit.
• Or, try these other easy at-home manicure kits: Pedifix Pedi-Quick Salon Pedicure or Urban Spa Manicure Pedicure Kit.

Aromatherapy: Make your Bath more Relaxing!

Whether you are looking for a good body scrub or just a scented oil that can create a relaxing, invigorating, or rejuvenating environment, there are plenty of products to tickle your fancy. Here are some items that will make your bath more relaxing:

• Add a few drops of essential oils to your bath, and let the aromatherapy work its magic. Use peppermint and spearmint to enliven the senses, rosewood to stabilize the emotions and create self-awareness, sandalwood to inspire and gain insight, or pine to detoxify and invigorate.
• Exfoliate your skin and give it a youthful glow with Forever Natural Bamboo & Jute Bath Mitt, or the Sanctuary Mande Lular Sensuous Body Scrub.
• Sit back and soak up the relaxation: lean back on an Urban Spa Microfibre bath pillow and cover your eyes with an Urban Spa silk eye pillow and let the water wash the tension away!