Forget the Spa. Here's How to Give Yourself a Back Facial at Home.

Whenever I review the menu of services offered at a spa, my interest is always peaked by treatments that involve scrubbing/exfoliating the back. I've wanted to experience a back facial forever but my other skin issues have always taken priority.

But as summer draws nearer, I've realized that I can't neglect this important aspect of my self-care routine. Our back and shoulders will be exposed more now than ever. Last night I attempted my very first at home back facial and I have to admit, it was a huge success. I even received a compliment on the softness of my skin this morning so my efforts didn't go unnoticed.

I'll break down exactly what I did plus how you can execute your own variation of the back facial at home.

When I first thought out the process, I reflected back to all the steps involved in a typical exfoliating facial. The first and most important step is the steaming session. This is an absolute must because it opens up the pores and loosens dirt.

Steaming is a bit trickier when it comes to our backs. For this first back facial, I decided to leverage my underutilized infrared sauna. Heavy sweating accomplishes the same thing as steaming. Once I stepped out of the sauna, I headed straight for the shower.

Next, I lightly dampened my skin with warm water (to keep the pores open). Then I grabbed my favorite body polish of all time and proceeded to scrub vigorously to remove surface dirt and skin. This step is a normal part of my shower routine but scrubbing after a steam session has a much greater impact.

Unlike a normal shower, I decided to take things one step further to make it a true back facial. After scrubbing, while the skin was still wet, I moved to the deep pore cleansing step. I had just the right product for such a task. One of my favorite items from Fresh is their Umbrian Clay Bar. It's shaped like a bar of soap which makes it super easy to mask the hard to reach areas of my back. As far as price is concerned, Fresh's Clay bar is a bit on the expensive side. But trust me when I say that it lasts forever. But, the good news is that I've stumbled upon some very cost-effective alternatives like this one which contains dead sea minerals.

Another reason why this mask works well is because it's a pretty thin consistency which means that it dries quickly. I rubbed the bar over my entire back, arms, chest, neck, and face. Pretty much the entire top half of my body was covered as if I had taken a dip in a therapeutic mud bath.  Then waited 5-10 minutes for it to dry completely. Quick tip, you may have to shut the water off because any steam in the shower will prevent the mask from drying. Use the extra few minutes to shave or scrub the dead skin from your heels.

Once the mask was fully dry, I rinsed again. To complete the entire session, I decided to do one more round of scrubbing. This was to ensure that any remaining clogged pores were addressed and to create the softest skin imaginable.

The difference in my skin is like night and day. It's so smooth and soft to the touch. If I keep this ritual up, I'll stay glowing. I have to reiterate how important sweating is to this process. If you don't have access to a sauna, consider using your facial steamer as an alternative. But instead of facing it, you'll use it for your back. Another option is to lay warm towels across your back or doing a back facial post-workout. If you don't like any of these options, consider soaking in a warm bath for a few minutes to prep the skin for exfoliation. Whatever option works best for you, go with it.

When it's hot out, our backs sweat quite a bit. Sweating is a detoxing activity. Because of this, we need to take additional steps to remove everything released by our pores. If not, we might find ourselves plagued by acne or at the very least, dull skin. I also believe that properly exfoliating our backs help reduce body odor so when you do sweat, it's not mingling with dead skin and dirt sitting on the surface.