3. Lavender Foot Soak
(Joseph Barrak/AFP/Getty Images)
A great way to cut down your beauty spending is to resist salon mani/pedis, but that doesn’t mean it can’t feel just as pampering. Kyra Johnson, director of the luxury eco-friendly spa Blue Marble in San Diego, says to start your pedicure with an organic lavender milk bath. Fill a basin with 6 oz. of organic milk (feel free to finish off that jug that’s pushing the expiration date), 3 to 6 drops of lavender essential oil and, if you want to splurge on fresh cut flowers for your home, a sprinkle of lavender petals. Enjoy for 15 to 20 minutes. “Milk is full of lactic acid, which is a natural chemical exfoliant that softens the skin’s surface and delicately reduces dull and devitalized skin,” says Johnson. And not only is the scent of lavender soothing, the essential oil also is known to relieve muscle soreness and has antiseptic and anti-fungal properties to get those tootsies clean.