Though spring isn't far off, it's that time of year when even the last dregs of winter seem to be lingering too long. To cheer yourself up and conjure up a sense of renewal, give yourself a DIY spa treatment.
The centerpiece of your home-spa day should be a full-body treatment that softens, sloughs and silkens your skin, making you feel brand new. The Japanese tradition offers some easily concocted and very effective recipes, but there is no reason not to mix and match the Eastern ingredients with some from other cultural traditions to get the best of all worlds.
The basic concept is simple: You want a fine but still rather granular substance blended into a creamy-textured base so that the combination forms a kind of paste, and with this you massage the skin of your entire (freshly bathed) self. Give particular attention to the rough, dry or hardened bits -- elbows, knees, feet.