Ultimate Spaliday Party: Katie Berwitt

On day Duex of the Ultimate Spa Party series, I'm happy to have Katie Berwitt, 1/3 of the Smarty Panties team, chime in on what her Ultimate Spaliday Party would be.

Meet Katie:

A NYC lawyer who formerly worked in the fashion industry, Katie is all about finding great products with out breaking the bank. Katie, her sister Margaux, and their friend E.B. are the trio behind the popular blog Smartypanties.

SmartyPanties.com is aimed at helping women live luxuriously on a tightened budget. They help Recession-istas choose where to spend their money by informing them of sales, discounts, recommending makeup, beauty products, restaurants, activities and events that are worth their hard-earned cash. Women are faced with tons of options of where to eat, what to wear, what beauty products to purchase, how to stay healthy, and where to go out. Smartypanties helps busy gals sift through the huge array of options by enlightening them to the savviest choices. This may mean a drug-store brand or may mean a luxury brand. It may be couture or it could be Forever21. It may be a 5-star restaurant or a hole in the wall. Smartypanties knows luxury and helps its readers discover that good things may not always come in expensive packages!

So how would Katie spend her Spaliday...

If I were to host the most fabulous Spa-liday party I'd mix up some homemade treatments with some luxurious faves of mine. Our motto is Live Luxe. Less Bucks. More Green. So, one good thing is that right now it's totally in vogue to "go green," so homemade and organic things are considered posh these days. This is great because then when I do things at home, I feel like I'm doing something good for myself as opposed to feeling like I'm missing out on a luxurious spa day. (Added bonus? I feel safe because by making some homemade spa treatments, I know there are no scary chemicals or preservatives going into them!)

So before the party, I'd hit up a health store and buy some yummy smelling organic shampoos, conditioners and cremes to sample for my guests. I like Fairway Organic Market (upstairs) if you're in NYC, otherwise a Whole Foods will totally do (just more $$$). This way you're off to a great start of cleansing yourself of chemicals. Have your friends all bring over fun and comfy robes, get some pretty candles and put on some relaxing music in the bathroom. Make some fun tea and have some light snacks like fresh cut fruit and veggies and take turns all going into the shower and getting clean and pretty. I love to shower first with my new organic products but I also like to make up a batch of Honey Lemon Sugar Body scrub to take in. It leaves my skin soft and exfoliated. Then snuggle up in your robes with a good girly movie while you do your nails!

Here is a fave of mine, it kind of mimics Fresh's Sugar Lemon scent but minus all the added chemicals and preservatives.

Honey Lemon Sugar Body Scrub

Ingredients
2 ½ Cups sugar
½ Cup Sweet almond oil (you can use Olive but it won't smell as divine!)
4 teaspoons Lemon juice
5 Tablespoons Honey

Directions

Combine the sugar and oil and stir. Then add the lemon juice, followed by the honey and stir well to combine. This will gently exfoliate your skin and I think it smells delish. Next on my list, I'm going to try it with brown sugar! (PS, you may want to test a patch before slathering it all over you if you have sensitive skin!)

After my shower a Spaliday party with your friends can't be complete unless you do man-pedis. Pick up your favorite polishes (make sure they're Toulene, DBP and Formalehyde free- like Dashing Diva, Zoya, Essie, etc.) Also, I'm obsessed with this Organic Nail Polish Remover. It's amazing. I use nothing else since I found it!

Thanks Katie!

Don't forget you too can chime in with your Ultimate Spaliday Party ideas by joining the discussion on the FaceBook Fan page