Romy Raves

A couple of weeks ago, my son and I were invited out to the swanky rooftop patio at the Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills, California for a lovely Spring Soiree with the gorgeous and down to earth Whitney Port for cocktails, appetizers, chatting  about beauty tips/trends and getting updated about the latest Whitening Products from Crest 3D White.

Needless to say, my little man was in hog heaven when he met the beautiful Whitney Port and she was so sweet to him! Check out the look on his face

After we settled in with a glass of bubbly and some tasty appetizers, I got to know Whitney a little better. She is super nice, accessible, real, beautiful, leggy and very driven. I learned all about her fashion forward clothing line Whitney Eve and she even told me about her favorite go-to healing ointment that she gets in Australia (I wanted to snatch it from her )

Then we got down to the important business at hand, what are Whitney Port’s top 3 Beauty Tips:

1. Get as much sleep as possible! We both agreed that this is simple but very challenging to commit to.
2. Clean your skin morning & night no matter what! Whitney said that washing her face every night and then in the morning followed by a good moisturizer is the key to keeping her skin healthy. She even confessed that no matter what state she is in after a night on the town, she ALWAYS washes her face. 
3. Less is More! She is more of a product minimalist when she is not on camera and feels it’s best to let your natural beauty shine through. She prefers to keep it simple and feels that you should use beauty products and makeup to enhance but not cover up your features. 

For the last ten years or so, I’ve had a weekly ritual that every Sunday night is my pampering night. With few exceptions, every Sunday after my son goes down to sleep, I spend a couple of hours indulging myself in beauty treatments. I always do some sort of face exfoliation, a face mask, a hair mask and sometimes a big yummy bath with intoxicating oils that relax and transport me. Whether it’s one treatment or five, I always make sure I get some ‘me’ time on Sunday nights to unwind and prep for the upcoming week.

So that you can partake in a DIY Spa Ritual of your own, I have created a list of some of my favorite homespun spa treatments and rituals that you can easily do yourself at home. Take a look at my list, see what inspires you and share some of your DIY spa rituals and beauty routines too!

ROMY’S FAVORITE AT HOME SPA RITUALS

• Make sure to carve out a regular weekly or monthly time slot to pamper and indulge yourself, you won’t regret it!

• Start with an aromatherapy or a detox bath. I love using the refreshing yet relaxing combo of orange and lavender essential oils in my bath, ahhhh! And, when I want to detox, I use a minty essential oil of some sort and a few cups of Epsom salt to pull out the impurities

• After your skin is soft and warmed up, it’s time to break out those loofah gloves baby! You can find them at your local drug store
• When I get out of the bath and my skin is moist, I love to spritz my skin with a hydrating cocktail of water mixed with a few drops of my favorite fragrance or essential oil to keep my skin supple and smelling yummy
• Make sure to put on an oversized soft and snuggly robe, so that you can truly emulate that at-home spa experience

• Create the perfect canvas for product absorption with regular exfoliation. I always make sure to exfoliate my face on my pampering nights with either a microderm scrub, an enzyme scrub, or a peel

• Sometimes I add a lip scrub into the mix (you can easily make one by combining brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon & oil) or use a dry toothbrush on your lips

• I follow-up my face scrub with whatever type of mask my skin needs, which usually is a hydration mask of some sort

• There are so many great recipes online to guide you through how to create your own fresh masks at home or visit your neighborhood drugstore for effective and affordable options
• While my mask is doing it’s thing, I like treat my eyes with sliced cucumbers to reduce puffiness or just a fun mask to block out the light

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I don’t know about you, but I am always conflicted on Mother’s Day about how to best spend it: “Is this my day, a day of celebrating motherhood as I wish with my own family?” or “Is it it the day to focus on and celebrate my own mother?” Can you relate? It’s a tough choice no matter how you slice it. So this year, I came up with an inspired way to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom and make it really special without impacting my special day thanks to Burke Williams!

During a recent visit to my local Burke Williams in Sherman Oaks, I noticed that they were offering a fabulous Mother/Daughter Special Package in honor of Mother’s Day and suddenly a light bulb went off in my head: I would invite my mom to come up from Palm Springs and share a special spa day with me at Burke Williams, a week before mother’s day (show mom a slice of my beauty bloggin’ life ) My mom was more than delighted by this special invitation!

Here’s what the Special Mother/Daughter Experience Gift Card includes:

• Both Mother & Daughter each receive a pampering Spa Pedicure
• Each also has her choice of  either a 50-minute Burke Williams Massage or Spa Style Facial with a peel
• Use of all spa facilities
• Relaxation and Mother/Daughter bonding time
• Cost: $275 (valued at $360) and a priceless experience together
• This special gift card package is available for purchase until Mother’s Day May 13, 2012, but you can use it whenever you would like at your convenience

Now, let me tell you all about the fabulous day I shared with my mom and why we have decided to make it an annual tradition! My mom was like a giddy school girl as we arrived at Burke Williams because we were spending this special time together and she hasn’t been to a spa in years

Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly and whisked back to the gorgeous, serene and relaxing Women’s Spa. I did note the pleasant music that was playing in the background as well as a calming signature scent (lavender with a hint of citrus I think) that they had wafting throughout the spa (I love when spa’s have this added touch because I really think it anchors the experience in your memory.) We immediately changed into our yummy & snuggly oversized robes

And we started our treatments right off the bat. We both opted for massages, although I decided to upgrade to the deep tissue massage because I carry so much tension in my neck and shoulders (computer work will do that to you) that a relaxing massage doesn’t do the trick. We both LOVED our male masseuses! My mom said her massage was perfect and sooooo relaxing and my masseuse (Michael) had the most amazing strong hands, he got into every one of my knots and went consistently deep enough to get rid of my tension (which is no easy task!) This was truly one of the best massages I have ever had, he had the perfect touch and it paved the way for an uber relaxing day. In all honesty, I usually have low expectations when it comes to spa massages and this one truly blew me away!

After we were kneaded into mush by our fab masseuses, my mom and I enjoyed some relaxing time in the jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. The Women’s spa is so clean (I noted that someone was always cleaning up the space in some way & I liked that) and beautiful we just loved it. I also noted and appreciated that there were attendants constantly on hand to attend to our every need. After we were steamed and relaxed, we headed to the quiet room for some further unwinding. My mom fell asleep and I was engrossed in Fifty Shades of Grey (steamy & FAB). I totally chilled out and read for about 45 minutes in the serene quiet room and my mom ordered a lovely lunch which they coordinated for her.

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