How to have an at-home spa day with your friends

Dear Style Clinic,

My three friends and I have had to cancel our annual spa day but we want to keep up the tradition separately at home, via the internet. What do you suggest?

This sounds like a brilliant idea and one we should all consider. You want to do it properly so I suggest you follow the schedule of an actual spa day, starting with a group chat (with peppermint tea), sharing what your day or half day will entail and showing off your products. Then I’d switch off and get on with it in the privacy of your own bathroom and bedroom, checking in with each other at agreed times.

Most spa days start with a spa pool dip (well, mine do). But first you need to find your products and ingredients. Begin by lighting a candle (Jo Malone’s new Lavender range is heavenly) in your appointed spa treatment room (probably the bedroom) to burn while you have a detoxifying bath. You can make your own divine blend by mixing half a cup of sea or Himalayan salt with half a cup of apple cider vinegar, quarter of a cup of baking soda and then adding 12 drops of essential oils (lavender for relaxation for me). Alternatively Natura Siberica’s Revitalising Bath Salts use Siberian herbs to relax your muscles and mind, reasonably priced.

Then a body scrub and a shower followed by a luxe body oil or lotion, and back into your fluffy white dressing gown all ready for face exfoliation and mask. Check out Sandersons department store online, which has some excellent spa products, many with 30 per cent off at the moment, including Voya and SKN-RG.

Manicure and pedicure might follow (see Leighton Denny products), plus brow shaping and dyeing (I use Colorsport).

You’ll have been checking on your spa friends’ progress throughout the session but now, go back to group chat to finish your day together with a Zoom or Houseparty shared healthy (already prepared) salad, a glass of wine or infused water, and then switch off and settle down on your chosen day bed (the sofa) with a magazine or book. And breathe.

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