Dorm Room Spa: 3 Easy DIY Beauty Recipes to Try
It’s that taxing in-between time of the semester again – spring break is over, papers and projects are coming due, and finals are looming ahead. It’s clear that college students are stressed right now, and with that stress comes the need for relaxation. And what better way to unwind than by pampering yourself and indulging in some me-time?
Of course, as college students, we can’t all afford to shell out for a trip to a high-end spa. So how do you get all the benefits of a spa treatment without the hefty cost? Easy. Raid your kitchen! Here are three of my favorite do-it-yourself beauty treatments that are easy (and fairly cheap) to whip together in your dorm room or apartment.
1. The Olive Oil Hair Treatment
Olive oil isn’t just for cooking — it’s great for your hair, too! Olive oil has been proven to give hair a healthy sheen, help to repair split ends, and reduce frizz.
To give your hair a conditioning treatment, massage about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into your hair and scalp. The amount you’ll use should vary depending on the length and thickness of your hair. And remember to massage it in well – the massaging feels really nice on your scalp, but is also important to the treatment, as massage stimulates helps promote a healthy scalp.
Next, take a warm, damp towel and wrap it around your head and treated hair (“turban” it). Leave it on for about 30-45 minutes. This allows the olive oil to work into your hair to have the full effect.
Finally, rinse out the olive oil with shampoo. This might take a few shampoo-ings (when I tried it, it took 2 rounds.) Give your hair further rest by allowing it to air dry, if you have the time. Then say hello to your luscious locks!
2. The Miracle Mask
This DIY mask, made of nutmeg, honey, and cinnamon, is calming and soothing for stressed-out skin – in addition, it smells absolutely amazing!
The secret? Nutmeg and honey act as natural anti-inflammatories, which can reduce swelling and redness in skin. They’re also great for soothing acne scars and preventing infection. In addition, the nutmeg and cinnamon also work to exfoliate your skin when you wash this mask off.
Before you begin, it’s always a good idea to do a small test with homemade mixes on your skin to make sure you don’t have a bad reaction to any ingredients. So remember to do a quick patch test on sensitive skin, like that on the inside of your wrist, before applying this mask to your face.
To create the mask, mix 2 tablespoons of honey with a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg. The consistency should be like a thick paste. After it’s all mixed, apply the mask to your face and let it sit for 30 minutes. Wash it off with warm water, scrubbing softly in circular motion for exfoliation.
3. Brown Sugar Body Scrub
One of my favorite DIY beauty treatments is this brown sugar body scrub, found on The Frugal Style. It’s the perfect way to get rid of dry winter skin, as well as prep your body for any sunless tanner you may be applying.
To create the scrub, just mix together half a cup of coarse brown sugar with a tablespoon of honey, a little olive oil, and 1/4 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, then apply all over your body and rinse. The scrub not only smells delicious, but leaves your skin feeling ultra-smooth.
Your Thoughts?
What do you think of DIY beauty treatments? Do you have a particular recipe that’s your favorite? What have you tried? Does DIY save you money? Make sure to leave a comment – can’t wait to hear your DIY spa tips!
Posted on on March 22, 2011 / Filed Under: Beauty & Hair / Tags: Beauty, DIY
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Rebecca
These are awesome, can’t wait to try them!
Blair
these are really great ideas
One thing though: hair is dead, so it’s not posible to repair split ends after they split
Camilla
These are really good ideas, especially for students
Shay
These are AMAZING. Better yet- they are easily do-able…I am definitely going to try these veryyy soon!…More of these posts would be much appreciated :)
Ley
I’ve been doing the olive oil and the brown sugar for years! Especially after these dry winter months. So great. I’d be careful with the cinnamon in the face mask, because it can be realy caustic if you have sensitive skin and leave red, blotchy areas.
Lalitya
I ll definitely try the hair and body scrub this weekend:) pls do more articles of this kind.. And ya.. I got one.. A thick paste of turmeric powder and honey is very effective on pimples
Molly
These sound like great ideas! I especially can’t wait to try out the olive oil one.
Just a heads up, if you still have editing powers for posted articles, you want the brown sugar to be coarse, not course.
T
can’t wait to try out the oilive oil hair treatment, i’ve been meaning to do it for weeks but never have the time.
also the body scrub sounds good…
more of these kid of posts would be great! :)
Chelsea
I love this kind of thing, especially since my budget is kind of limited. I’ve never tried the second two ideas, but I love doing the first. The olive oil really does make my hair softer and shinier, although Blair is right, it can’t actually repair split ends. However, it does strengthen hair so breakage and split ends are less likely to happen. Definitely take your time with it though and don’t skip the warm towel. I’ve rushed it before and ended up having to shampoo my hair way more than twice because I only gave the oil about ten minutes to soak in. The end result is definitely worth it, though!
Lynne
Wow, this is great! I see so many DIY beauty treatment recipes online, but so many of them have the craziest ingredients that no one honestly has just lying around. These all simple, effective, and fun! More DIY posts would be much appreciated [:
Shelby
I’m trying the mask tonite!
Ally
The part you mentioned about using more or less olive oil depending on the thickness of your hair is SO true – I tried it once a while back, and my thin hair had to be washed 6 times! great tips :)
Tamana
Is is OK to use regular cristal white sugar instead of brown sugar? Thnx for the great post!
Jenna
trying the olive oil right now!! :) hahahope it works!
Tia
just tried all three of these. they are FABULOUS! my skin feels amazing. more posts like these would be great!
Lee
Tamana: Yes white sugar should be fine… I did a scrub with white sugar that Michelle Phan uses that was very similar and it was WONDERFUL. I’d like to try the brown sugar one though–I bet it smells wonderful.
The Frugal Style
Thank you so much for including the DIY scrub from The Frugal Style. I wanted something that really smelled like the one you get from Fresh. It smells wonderful. I keep a big tub of it in the fridge and pull it out every so often. It smells sweet, but the little bit of lemon adds just the right touch. Thanks again, and I really love your site. Great ideas!
Melissa :-)
Anubha
these homemade recipes are the best! better than the products we use because not only are they natural, but you cant really go wrong with them. In india a lot of people use these recipes and more as they are a part of our age old culture. the hair oil bit as well, where everyone applies oil,be it olive or coconut , to make it strong and grow faster! :)
Jazz
I’m doing a “at home” spa night with my mother, and I’m going to try these ideas. Their very simple and I like that! If you have any other simple recipes let me know! Thanks(:
Amanda
The mask made my skin feel very soft and reduced redness, so that was awesome! The only thing is I should have waited until it wasn’t so hot… it was running down my face the whole time so I couldn’t really just let it sit. I also had a ton left over, probably only needed half. But thanks for the recipe!
Angela
Silly question, im guessing you put the oil in your hair dry right? Other wise it will separate?
Erin - Western Washington University
Angela–You’re right! Not a silly question at all :)
Carly Gibbs
I just tried the olive oil and the face mask! My skin feels really smooth and my hair feels much softer than it did a few hours ago, and it is in really bad condition, hasn’t been cut for months! Thanks for the tips, will definitely be doing them again, and will try the body scrub!
Rachael
I’ve heard of the olive oil one before, but never got around to trying it! I will defiantly try it tonight, and also the face mask, sounds so delicious though, how am i going to stop myself from eating it?! :)
Amelia
These sound great! I often use sugar and honey as a scrub and love the way it makes my legs feel!
I have heard that egg, honey and olive oil as a hair mask is quite effective. Anyone tried it?
Sydney
This mask left my skin softer, it reduced redness, and my skin smells so yummy! I’m going to go this mask all the time now.
Michaela
I use the honey treatment all the time! Finally got some olive oil for the others. I love body scrubs!!
Twiggy
All of these are great except for the brown sugar body scrub. When I tried it(twice) it made my skin feel very oily and slimy even after I had rinsed. Not a pleasant feeling.
claudia
just curious, when you use the olive oil does your hair need to be damp before putting the olive oil into it? and should you use conditioner afterwards?
i really want to try this! x
Carrie
I loved the brown sugar scrub! it was easy to make, not too over-powering, and worked perfectly to make my skin smooth with a light, sweet scent. Nice idea! :)
Carrie
Excellent! Thanks for posting!
Janie
How often should you do the olive oil treatment??
Erin - Western Washington University
Claudia–I put the olive oil into dry hair and it worked out fine. If you think your hair needs extra conditioning you can use conditioner afterwards, but for hair that’s a little oilier than usual, I wouldn’t suggest conditioning after this treatment since it can weight hair down.
Janie–I wouldn’t suggest doing the olive oil treatment everyday, but you could try it once a week or 2-3 times a week if your hair is really dry.
Janie
Thank you!!
MK
Hey! These are great ideas! I have done the olive oil treatment and it is fantastic! I am sooooo excited to try the the others! thx :)
Jo
Can’t wait to try this out! Especially the olive oil hair treatment :)
Gretta
I’ve always used white sugar for my body scrubs but brown sugar smells so much better! Sometimes if I want to have a little pick me up I’ll use a little peppermint oil in the solution to stimulate my pores. If you try this just be careful not to get your scrub in any sensitive spots, like eyes.
Grace
I tried the cinnamon mask and brown sugar scrub last night. The scrub was a-maaa-zing, but the mask was troublesome. It started to melt (maybe because I was in the bath?) and when I took it off after 25 min my skin was red and burned a little. The redness cleared up in an hour or so and my skin looked really nice the next morning, but I’m not sure it was worth the unpleasantness.
willow
This is so weird I’ve been looking for olive oil/egg treatments for hair all night.. I couldn’t find any so I just guessed on some ingredients. Then I get on stumble and the first thing tha comes up!! Wowwwww.
Jen
I really like the honey mask! Honey is also really good for your hair. I like to add about 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 tablespoons (I have thick hair, so some people may not need to use as much) of olive oil to my rinse out conditioner and leave it for about 10-15 minutes after shampooing. It makes my hair really shiny and soft :)
Kati
I love the cinnamon, honey, and nutmeg mask. It wasn’t irritating at all and left my skin very smooth. On of my favorite DIY treatments is a mask/scrub using brown sugar, lime juice, and honey. I leave it on my face for about half an hour, than hope in the shower apply more for a body scrub than rinse it all off. Its great and really smells awesome.
Katie
Great ideas. I’m so excited to try these and possibly get rid of my hideous acne.
Lesa
I just tried the mask. I loved how easy it was to make and that I always have the ingredients on hand. It made enough for me to use a couple/few times. I did everything just as directed. I have pretty sensitive skin, so I was waiting for it to possibly burn, but it didn’t. I was surprised how easily the mask washed off – at first. After I washed most all of it off, I still had all these little bits of spices on my face. Probably would have been better to use the mask before getting in the shower and then just rinsing it off in the shower (I could also do all these treatments at once that way).
The down side? My skin was red afterwards. Not that big of a deal, considering that’s somewhat normal for my skin and I wasn’t going anywhere. However, I had a TON of whiteheads afterward! Maybe that’s technically a good thing, because it’s drawing it all out of my pores. But who wants to do a mask and then walk around with pimples all over their face?! I’m just glad I tried this on a day I was staying home to study.
Overall: I’m not sure if I’ll be using this mask in the future. I may, MAY, give it another chance. Who knows, maybe it’s just a bad skin moment and it’s not the mask’s fault. We’ll see.
JEN RAMOS
I like that MIRACLE mask…may try this! thanks! :))))))))
La Toi
These all three worked amazingly! Especially the face mask! I’ve been desperate to find something effective for my face. I recently tried ProActive, and it DESTROYED my skin and caused me to break out SO badly :( This mask is the only thing that I’ve been able to find that will soothe my skin, and my face is finally starting to clear up. It really is a miracle mask! My hair feels really nice after the olive oil, and I absolutely cannot say enough about the body scrub- my skin is so smooth and soft afterward. Thanks SO much for posting these <3
Anisa Alawi
Olive oil treatment really does work. However, it is even better when you add 100% coconut oil and avocado. Make sure you ripen the avocado for a few days before you use it, hence making it easy to peel and blend. Once the the avocado is soft enough, you can use either half, or the whole thing–add oil olive and coconut (it has to be 100%, or it won’t work)- blend it until it becomes liquified, and just follow the steps listed above. I hope this helps. This treatment usually lasts for an entire month, depending on how often you blow dry and flat iron your hair.
erin
has anyone tried making a good size batch of the body scrub or face mask? I am thinking of making them as gifts. does anyone know if they would go bad? or if they store well?
Megan
I tried the face mask last night (however I didn’t have any nutmeg so I just used cinnamon and honey). I was so impressed with the results!! As soon as I took the mask off my skin was a little red, but when I woke up this morning, it was fresh and glowy and the normal redness of my face was drastically reduced.
For me, the mask worked wonders on reducing redness and fading acne scars and blemishes – I definitely recommend it for those who no longer battle serious acne but have scars and redness left over. Also it’s so easy to make!
La Toi
Erin- I just used some of the face mask that I left in the fridge for a little over a week. It works fine :)
Madi
Ahh! I just put the mask on!! I’m interested to see how it turns out on my skin! Thanks for sharing these cool beauty tips!
georgina
is it okay to use the olive oil on semi permanently dyed hair, or will it wash the dye out?
Hannah Caufman :)
I love all of your creations !!!! Keep up the great work z!!!!!!!!
Daca
Brown sugar body scrub is my favorite. It gives great results so I am glad you have mentioned it.
M.H.
I tried the face mask last night and I absolutely loved it!! My skin was also a little red after, but this morning it looked better than it has in a long time. Can’t wait to try the body scrub and I will probably do the olive oil treatment either tonight or tomorrow. Thanks so much!!
Gracie
Love it! I’ve done the olive oil hair treatment and face masque, still have yet to try the scrub:)
Maja
Amazing idea! Thanks for sharing!
Megan
I’ve been using extra virgin coconut oil for acne and the frizz in my hair and it’s AMAZING plus is smells great. It’s like a hidden secret no one talks about!
a
Conditioner works well to rinse out the olive oil, w/o the drying effects of shampoo. Take a large handfull and scrub it around just like you would shampoo, you may have to repeat… but it works.
Kelly
My daughter and I just tried the mask and we loved it, will be using it regularly! Thanks!
Jessica @ Zipper Supplier
I’m going to try olive oil in my hair, see how it goes…
rainbowsilk
It’s great.
I do this.
And it is very useful to me.
Thanks for the great article.
Kaylee
Olive oil is so great for the hair. So are eggs and mayo! Usually I’ll mix up some eggs (great protein for the hair), mayo, and some olive oil and mix it into my hair. When you rinse, rinse with luke warm water or it’ll cook the eggs!