We live on a pension, which is just about adequate, as long as I am very sensible; Some weeks, it is more a case of ‘just surviving’ on a pension. I say this not to gain sympathy but to establish my position.
When I browsed the Sunday Supplement I admit to muttering “You must be kidding!” The spread showed a beautifully glossy female with a shining look. It told me I too could look like this.
It was an article on how to have a ‘spa day at home’. Great, I thought, save money and still feel pampered. Then I read with horror the prices of the products: a candle for a mere $60, $33 for soap, various unctuous oils and creams $200, and in the same magazine a face cream for $420. Whatever planet they come from they are not convincing me to buy it. Cat food and fruit is more important in our home.
I have a few better suggestions. Burn a candle if you must — from Woolworths a vanilla one was $4. Make a body scrub using olive or coconut oil, with some drops of perfume and handful of sugar, scrub all rough areas of skin with this then shower off thoroughly with a good shower gel. Aldi do some great products for less than $5. It makes skin feel soft and silky. The sugar and oil work on the neglected areas well, such as your heels and elbows. Then while still warm slather on a nice perfumed body cream. I buy several when Avon have them on special, so I can be really generous.
I am sure the results I obtain are as good as the spa that might have cost me enough for a holiday in Queensland! Sure, so I miss out on the foot massage and the manicure, but we can’t have it all can we?
My total outlay was about $20, which is quite a bit difference to the magazine one that was in excess of $1,000. I do have one ‘luxury’ item in my armoury, I buy a fake tan spray, and it actually works, as I spray my ‘less than pretty’ bits and feel 100 per cent better with glossy brown skin. I paid about $9 for the one I use.
Yes, who needs a day spa?