Product Description

Learn the secrets of the world's most luxurious spas, treat yourself right and revitalize your face, your body and your hair so you look your best and feel great.

Packed with easy and economical recipes for scrubs, moisturizers, masks, oils and many more lotions and positions, Secrets of the Spas offers the best body nourishing treatments to be found anywhere. They're fun to make too.

Most ingredients are readily available at your local supermarket and are easy to prepare with standard kitchenware.

Each chapter focuses on a specific area of the body and offers a wealth of pampering recipes including olive oil and mango hair conditioner, cucumber facial masks, sea salt body scrub and cider vinegar skin toner.

This book brings the best of the world's spas to your own home so you can look your best and treat yourself right at home.

It includes a special spa-finder directory and spa food and beverage recipes.

A handy chart of natural herbs and oils shows what treatments you can make without even leaving the house.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98084 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From the Back Cover
Indulge in luxurious spa treatments including:

Invigorating and cleansing body scrubs
Replenishing skin toners
Comforting moisturizers
Relaxing baths
Luscious massage oils
Rejuvenating facial masks
Stress relieving facial steams
Regenerative facial peels

About the Author
Catherine Bardey worked as a fashion stylist at Elle as well as other national fashion magazines and as editor for the J.Crew catalog. She lives in New York City.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Banana & Chickpea Protein Mask

Chickpea flour has many advantages: it's an effective skin-toning exfoliator, it stimulates circulation and it rejuvenates tissues. Bananas, rich in potassium and vitamin A, are natural emollients and help reduce redness and puffiness. The egg in this mask will tighten pores and leave your skin feeling revitalized.

Recipe:
4 tablespoons chickpea flour
1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed
1 egg, beaten

In a bowl, blend chickpea flour and ripe banana into a paste. Add beaten egg and apply mixture to face and neck. Leave on for 15 minutes and rinse well with warm water, Pat dry,

Citrus & Milk Bath

Cleopatra was famous for bathing in milk and soothing her skin with milk's natural beauty--enhancing properties. Rich in protein, calcium and vitamins, milk is easily absorbed by the skin, leaving it smooth and moisturized. It also helps ease nervous tension and restlessness. The lavendar and citrus peel in this bath formula stimulate the circulatory system and add a wonderfully luxuriant aroma to the treatment.

Recipe:
1 cup dried milk powder (if you have oily skin, use nonfat milk)
1/4 cup orange peels
1/4 cup lemon peels
4 drops lavendar essential oil

Draw a warm bath and while water is flowing slowing add dried milk, orange and lemon peels and lavendar oil. Soak for 20 minutes. Pat dry and moisturize.

Herbal Foot Soaks

Simple to prepare, herbal soaks are ideal for tired feet. Choose from one or more of the following herbs to custom blend an aromatic bath: comfrey, elderberry, horsetail, lavendar, pine, rosemary and sage.

Recipe:
2 cups fresh herbs or 1 cup dried herbs
2 gallons boiling water

Steep herbs in water for 20 minutes. Strain liquid and pour into a foot basin. Soak feet for 20 minutes and pat dry,

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book! I already look (and feel) 5 years younger!
This is the best spa book yet! So may of them are unrealistic and made for people who are already supermodels. This spa book is made for the every-day woman with varying body and skin types and different needs. The recipes were imaginative, virtually chemical free and fun to make. I took the day off work today and made about five of the recipes. I feel relaxed and when my husband came home he commented on how vibrant and beautiful I look. Thank you Secrets of the Spa.

Wasn't exactly what I wanted, but definitely a keeper!
The book has interesting, useful information. Not only does the author tell you what ingredients to use for certain types of skin but also why. She even gives short history lessons on the properties of the ingredients. I wanted more information as far as shelf life for the preparations and gift giving ideas as there are some of these you cannot package and mail, but I feel I have a good book nonetheless. Even reading the book relaxed me.

Great Book.
Easy to find items. Easy to make treatments for yourself. Christmas is right around the corner and I know what my friends are getting!