7 Days of Spa — at Home

For one week, sneak in a luxurious little treat each day — right at home! Follow our schedule of sweet indulgences, adapted from some of the world's best spas.

Sunday
Salt Bath, Adler Thermae Spa Resort, Tuscany, Italy

At the center of the Adler Thermae Spa Resort in Tuscany, Italy, is a natural hot spring, rich in healing minerals. Surrounding one of the thermal pools are many small huts, each one an entrance to a different sauna or bath that's hidden within. The most relaxing of them all is the Grotto Salina, the underground salt bath, which is a pool of water enriched with Dead Sea salts, known for their muscle-melting and skin-soothing properties.
Take 30 minutes: Run the water in your bathtub at about 82 degrees (think comfortable heated-pool temperature) to stimulate microcirculation, recommends Dr. Thomas Platzer, Adler Thermae's resident physician. Then add 1 cup of Dead Sea salts (try Ahava Dead Sea Bath Salts, $18) to the water and soak for 15 minutes. Almost as relaxing as the bath itself? The mandated post-bath rest period of at least 15 minutes.

Monday
Get rid of morning puffiness.
Signature Stone Facial, Spa Bellagio, Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas

The Vegas Strip is America's epicenter of excess, so swollen eyes come with the territory. Which must be why Spa Bellagio at Bellagio, one of the Strip's most luxurious hotels, created the Signature Stone Facial: An aesthetician massages your face — from temples to cheekbones, down your jawline to the back of your neck — with small heated stones. Then she brushes on a skin serum with gentle, circular strokes. Last, she presses cold stones around your eyes to relieve lingering puffiness.
Take 10 minutes: For a few bucks, you can buy small river-rock stones at a florist and a silky synthetic paintbrush at a crafts store, says Julia Shintaku, Spa Bellagio's lead aesthetician. Place the stones in a bowl of water and ice. Apply a serum to your face (try Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum, $20) and use the brush to work the serum into your skin, making circular, upward motions. Then take a cool stone and place it under your eye at the inner corner; slowly push toward the outer corner. Repeat on the upper eye area and, with another stone, on the other eye. "You'll look like you've gotten the sleep you needed," says Shintaku.

Tuesday
Slough off sluggishness.
Gifts of Our Garden Spa Treatment, Lake Austin Spa Resort, Austin, TX

Sometimes it's hard to put your finger on what's dragging you down. So at the Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, TX, they let your nose make the call. In the Gifts of Our Garden Spa Treatment, you choose what smell appeals to you most from a cartful of herbs, each with its own therapeutic properties. "What smells best to you is what your body needs," says Lynne Vertrees, director of treatment development for the resort's LakeHouse Spa. Your chosen herb is picked fresh from the spa's garden, then crushed along with sea salts, shea butter, and essential oil. The mixture is applied to your skin for an allover exfoliation. After you rinse off in the shower, you receive a full-body massage, body wrap, and scalp massage.
Take 15 minutes: Create an energizing scrub to use in your shower. Herbs such as rosemary and sage help to stimulate your nervous and digestive systems and generate skin renewal, says Vertrees. Crush a sprig of either herb into 4 oz of Epsom salts and 1 oz of unscented body oil. Shower off, then apply a rosemary-enhanced body lotion (try Aveda Rosemary Mint Body Lotion, $20).

Wednesday
Get a midweek moisture boost.
Sensuous Wave Jojoba Butter Cocoon, Jade Mountain, St. Lucia

At Jade Mountain on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, spa services are offered in your room. Because, really, why would anyone want to leave her private, open-air sanctuary with its own infinity pool overlooking the mountains and the sea? For the Sensuous Wave Jojoba Butter Cocoon, the therapist uses a dry body brush to whisk away dead skin, followed by a sugar, grapefruit, and rose oil scrub. After you rinse off, she massages your skin with a citrus body butter, then wraps you in Mylar and a blanket. Your head is massaged while the body butter soaks into your skin.
Take 30 minutes: Whip up your own moisture mask by mixing jojoba cream (try Ren Grapeseed Jojoba and Shea Butter Body Cream, $29) with grapefruit and jasmine essential oils. Apply it just out of the shower, says Mary C. Weber, spa manager for Jade Mountain. Then "cocoon" your body in plastic wrap and snuggle under a blanket for 20 mellowing minutes.

Thursday
Eat a healthy, yummy meal.
Cantaloupe Coconut Gazpacho, Rancho La Puerta, Tecate, Mexico

At Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico, you eat and cook wildly fresh and flavorful spa cuisine; there's an on-premises organic farm plus a cooking school, La Cocina Que Canta ("the kitchen that sings").

Take 10 minutes: Try this summery soup recipe from Creative Chef Jesús González:

1 medium cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/4 cup lime juice
1 (14-oz) can light coconut milk
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 medium seedless cucumber, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 cup additional melon (honeydew or cantaloupe), cut into small cubes
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 Tbsp agave syrup or honey, to taste

1. In a blender, puree chopped cantaloupe, lime juice, and coconut milk. Pour into a large bowl through a sieve. Discard pulp.

2. Whisk chili powder and cinnamon into cantaloupe puree. Stir in cucumber, melon cubes, and mint. Season to taste with syrup; chill for one hour.

Friday
Revive at the end of a long week.
Willow Stream Signature Manicure, Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Scottsdale, in Arizona

By the time Friday rolls around, it's hard to find the steam to enjoy the weekend. But at the Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Scottsdale, in Arizona, you can tap into an oasis of energy right in the middle of the desert. Power up while you're pampering: The Willow Stream Signature Manicure starts with tea and organic cookies. "What better way to build up your energy reserves?" says spa director Jill Eisenhut. Your hands are soaked, and myrrh oil is applied to cuticles, which are pushed back or nipped where necessary. Nails are shaped. An energizing aromatherapy mist is sprayed onto face and hands. After a delicious hand and arm massage, nails are swiped with alcohol to remove debris, then polished with a base coat, two coats of color, and a top coat.
Take five minutes (or five seconds!): A quickie mani is more about clean than color. Fine-tune your nail shape with an emery board, then apply nail oil (try Kerstin Florian Myrrh Nail Oil, $34) and push back cuticles. Wash your hands, then paint on a coat of clear polish. Finish with Willow Stream Energy Hydrating Spritz, $12, an invigorating combination of lemongrass, ginger, and sandalwood. Or heck, skip the mani, hit the spritz, then go out and play!

Saturday
Have a sweet and sexy date night.
Couple's Body Painting Treatment, SiSpa at the Resort at Singer Island, in Florida

The Couple's Body Painting Treatment at SiSpa at the Resort at Singer Island, in Florida, is a marriage of romance and relaxation: You start together in a rose petal-filled tub, dining on chocolate truffles, strawberries, and champagne. Then you are served chocolate syrup, body butter, and brown sugar scrub and given 20 minutes of private time to "paint" each other with your hands. After you rinse off, enjoy side-by-side Swedish massages, which culminate with champagne dripped onto your bodies for a bubbly sensation. You'll get 20 minutes of alone time to finish off the bottle.
Take however long you like: Set the scene with candles. "Any bathroom can look good with the right lighting," says SiSpa spa director Arielle Sutton. Grab your man, lock the door, then pop open a bottle of champagne and let some spill out onto your skin. Then mix your own "paint": Sutton likes Deserving Thyme Mega Moisturizing Body Butter, $21, and Brown Sugar Body Scrub, $26, plus Hershey's Special Dark Syrup, 2 tablespoons each. Yes, your skin will be soft and glistening, but we suspect you'll also be sporting another type of glow.

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