12 Days: of Homemade Self-Care
Also filed inBath and Beauty
Treat yourself to much deserved self-care this holiday season! Follow this day-by-day guide and enjoy 12 days of homemade self-care. With natural, easy-to-make, affordable recipes for relaxing skin and body care.
The holiday season is the perfect time to invest a little energy into self-care!
After all, the holidays can be very overwhelming, the weather leaves skin feeling dry (which is also why we have a winter skincare post), and there’s never a bad time to pamper yourself a bit!
Last Christmas season, we saw a variety of “12 days of self-care” advent calendars for sale. We loved the idea, but the calendars were quite expensive, and they had products we didn’t need or wouldn’t use.
We decided that this year we would make our own! 12 days of homemade self-care for the 12 days of Christmas, with DIY recipes that are customized to our needs.
If you want to treat yourself to some Christmas self-care but don’t want to buy a store-bought advent calendar, we hope you’ll join me for this DIY option!
We're sharing what we think are the best self-care recipes for the season, but you can always swap out recipes or tweak them to suit your needs. That’s the beauty of going homemade!
1. Milk Bath Recipe
A touch of milk in your bath water is great for soothing and nourishing the skin while you unwind in the tub. On the first day of Christmas, treat yourself to a milk bath! Luxuriating in a warm bath is the self-care dream. It’s even better when you add this easy DIY milk bath powder.
2. Homemade Sugar Scrub
Exfoliating remains one of our very favorite skincare routines. We feel like a new person after sloughing off all the dry skin, and our entire body feels soft and smooth afterwards!
This homemade sugar scrub is easy to make, smells amazing, and it works wonders at exfoliating skin gently but effectively. It’s one of our most popular homemade body scrub recipes.
3. Homemade Rose Clay Face Mask
Your self-care should leave you glowing, and this rose clay face mask will certainly do that! Rose clay is nourishing and hydrating to the skin, especially when it’s part of this simple yet effective face mask.
Lie back and relax while you wait for the face mask to do its thing; self-care should not be rushed or multi-tasked!
If you want to branch out from rose clay, see our other homemade face mask recipes!
4. 8 Pedicure Foot Soak Recipes
For the 4th day of our 12 days of self-care, it’s time to focus on those hardworking feet. Foot soaks are such a fun way to treat your feet because they improve the skin condition of your soles, and they are incredibly enjoyable!
Get comfortable and enjoy soaking in the warm water with one of these 8 pedicure foot soak recipes. And if your feet are dry, calloused, or flaky, see our other homemade foot care recipes for some extra TLC.
5. Ultimate Relaxing Bath Bombs
These homemade bath bombs are extra special because they have lavender aromatherapy that leaves you feeling calmer and more relaxed. Amp up your at-home self-care and enjoy a hot bath with added benefits. Who doesn’t love a fizzy, colorful bath bomb?
6. DIY Lip Mask
Lip masks are an easy way to nourish dry, chapped lips, leaving them soft and smooth. Choose between two recipes for this DIY — exfoliating or hydrating, or use them both! For day 6, we’ll keep it simple with a 2-ingredient lip mask!
7. Moisturizing Whipped Body Butter
It’s thick, rich, and luxurious; perfect for that dry winter skin. This non-greasy recipe soaks in fast for silky smooth skin in no time. This homemade whipped body butter is a DIY skincare recipe that you will be using daily once you try it!
8. DIY Hair Mask Recipes
Get that soft, silky just-walked-out-of-the-salon hair at home with these DIY hair mask recipes! You’ll love that these masks are made with regular ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen, and they do wonders for your hair.
Choose the mask that fits your hair needs — you’ll find one for dry hair, damaged hair, or oily hair.
9. DIY Under Eye Mask
On the 9th day of Christmas, brighten up your complexion and reduce the appearance of dark circles under your eyes with this under eye mask!
This recipe is much more budget-friendly than the eye masks you can buy at the store, yet it’s so effective and simple to use. This is a great recipe for an at-home spa night, and you’ll be glowing after you use it.
10. DIY Peppermint Bath Salts
Christmastime calls for some peppermint-scented self-care, don’t you think? These DIY peppermint bath salts are one of our favorite homemade Christmas gifts because we personally love using them so much. The peppermint is both invigorating and soothing; these salts make a bath on your cozy night in so much more pleasant.
11. Easy Honey Vanilla Candle Recipe
Whether you’re soaking in the bath, relaxing with a face mask, or cozied up with a good book, a beautiful homemade candle will only make it better! This soothing honey vanilla-scented candle is made with beeswax for a cozy, natural DIY candle. We have lots of homemade candle recipes if you love that calming glow during your self-care nights!
12. 3 Herbal Bath Tea Recipes
They are great for your skin and wonderfully soothing. On the 12th and last day of Christmas self-care, we’re taking it back to a steamy bath. We absolutely love drinking herbal tea on chilly winter nights — who knew soaking in it could be just as enjoyable?! Treat yourself to a relaxing bath with one of these herbal bath teas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these recipes only for Christmas/winter?Definitely not! You can do a little self-care any night of the year. It’s always a good idea to pamper our skin and hair or spend intentional time relaxing!
How long do you need for homemade self-care?Even 10 minutes of self-care will be beneficial, and if you have an hour to soak in the tub, even better! How long it will take to prepare depends on the recipe — anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour or so. As far as using the product and enjoying the self-care, you can spend as much time as you have!
What do we do with leftovers?Leftover bath bombs, candles, body butter, sugar scrub, etc. can be used later for another self-care night, or gifted to friends! Homemade self-care products are such a fun gift for the holidays or just because!
It’s so important to take care of ourselves and unwind during the rush the season brings. These recipes will certainly help you save money on self-care and treat yourself with natural ingredients! We hope you are able to give yourself the gift of 12 days of homemade self-care this holiday season!
Don’t forget to bookmark this page so you can come back each day for the next recipe. And please let me know which recipe you’re most excited to try in the comments below! Happy self-care!
