the Flare

Spa Décor - From Set Up to Chill Out

Looking to enjoy some pampered time with friends? Why not recreate the spa experience at home and invite your girlfriends over for some quality time together. Just like a good spa day, it is nice to experience a variety of services. I recommend setting up stations or zones for each treatment throughout your home. Depending on how many people attend, the stations might need to accommodate multiple people, so be sure to keep that in mind when setting them up. Have multiple mirrors, chairs, cute dishes of cotton balls, or whatever that station needs available along with baskets of towels and lots of comfy pillows. And if you are going to bring in professionals to provide services, be sure to schedule more than one of each so that multiple people can be getting massages while others do their nails or get facials.

In order to ensure you and your guests are relaxed, create a calming atmosphere using the soft lighting instructions in my previous article "It's All About the Lighting - Creating That Soft Glow." Add in some flowers or candles with calming scents, like lavender. Then let the music help set the mood - a mix of soft, relaxing tunes can help you zone out in the best way possible. I recommend Cesaria Evora's albums - I can't understand her lyrics since they are in Portuguese, but her haunting velvety voice carries the emotion of her music so clearly that I can't stop swaying. Café Atlantico and Miss Perfumado are my two favorite albums by her. Or you can have the folks at Mix & Burn create a custom music mix for your party, which also serve as great parting gifts for guests or hostess gifts. Their wide selection of music styles allows you to craft just the right blend of sounds for anything from a spa party to a global dance party. The Mix & Burn kiosk can be found at the Woodbury Borders store, along with a great selection of CDs.

- Colleen Fox Slack, Home & Culinary, the Affair