My good friend CVS sells everything, is usually clean, and caters to all of my weird cravings 24 hours a day. What do you call a place that sells French drugstore products and Kit Kats on the same shelf? You call it paradise.
The DIY Facial: Take Queen Helene’s Mint Julep Masque, a beauty school favorite and excellent May Lindstrom switch hitter—it’s got a fresh scent, major clarifying power, and a satisfying, cartoonish key lime green color. I love to keep a mask on for as long as possible, but this one should stay on for 10 minutes, max.
And then, like the spoiled babe you are, you should follow with: Another mask. Specifically, L’Oreal’s Revitalift Intensive Overnight Mask. It was invented for slumber, but for the purposes of this day, shall be used as a prolonged treatment mask. Revitalift has that “nice mask’ smell (not for the scent adverse) but when applied lightly, leaves your skin a little bouncier afterwards. Blame those hyaluronic acids.
Total for the DIY Facial: $29)
The Deep Pamper: If you live in DC or in a small apartment anywhere, the idea of taking a bath is either 1) luxurious, because you don’t have a bathtub or 2) unsavory, because no matter how much you clean it, it still seems kind of dirty? So if you have a bathtub, I urge you to overcome your fears and take one. Boom! That’s an indulgence you can have for free. Pour in some $8 Mayfair Body Wash Bubble Bath (scent rec: Sea Lily Jasmine) and you’re all set. And because this is a total body experience, eschew your usual conditioner for Aussie’s 3 Minute Miracle Deeeeep Conditioning Treatment. There’s deep, and then there’s deeeeeep—if chlorine water is ravaging your hair, this is the perfect antidote.
I’d also suggest a pair of Pedispa Exfoliating Foot Masks—the kind that you can feel working while you use them. Pedispa recommends an hour to 90 minutes of foot soaking, which means you get an hour-to-90-minute excuse to remain horizontal.
(Total for the Deep Pamper: $22)
The While You Watch Master of None on Netflix: Nothing goes better with televisione than a lil at-home manicure. Begin with Sally’s Cuticle Remover and follow up with the 18K Gold Nail Hardener. It’s easily the best 18K gold product you’ll find at CVS, for one. Flecks of gold mean a slightly shimmery, metallic clear polish (and it’s buildable if you’re looking for something more) that works as a treatment on it’s own or a topcoat over another polish. Do your toenails, too! And while you’re down there, Neutrogena Foot Cream is no-frills, but works wonders for calloused, cracked skin. It is the perfect remedy for the summer foot I acquired while being on my feet all week.
(Total for all of that: $19)
The Quick Fix: Maybe you don’t have all day to indulge. If you’re like me, your “free time’ consists of the 60 minutes you’ve blocked off on Saturday in which you do the laundry you’ve been putting off. In that case, slap on Bioré Pore Strips and Earth Therapeutics Hydrogel Eye Gels to get the job done. The first is a cult classic cleanse. The second is, hands down, the best under eye treatment $9 can buy. That brings the grand total for the whole spa day to about $87, which might be something to consider if you’re debating shelling out for some SK-II sheet masks. Sometimes more is more.
