A Spa Day—Without Leaving Home

By CHERYL LU-LIEN TAN

The start of a new year feels like a time for rejuvenation, and achieving it doesn't have to be complicated. Mathilde Thomas, founder of French skin-care line Caudalie, does so by creating a home spa day—no winter coat required.

"As much as I love New York, the city is so intense," says Ms. Thomas, whose company operates 10 spas worldwide. "I like to have very focused time to unplug and unwind completely."

MImi Ritzen Crawford for The Wall Street Journal

Mathilde Thomas creates a calm environment in her bathroom with candles, simple snacks and books.

When Ms. Thomas creates a spa for herself in her New York home, she arranges to have her husband take their three children out of the apartment for several hours. "I want to clear my mind from the stress of my life," she says.

Then she unplugs her phone—a key step—dims the lights and puts on music from her "relaxing playlist: music that's jazzy, not too formal and not too classical." (Jazz saxophonist Stan Getz is a favorite of hers.)

Ms. Thomas usually lights a candle to add scent and a tranquil ambience to her bathroom. Her current favorite is Caudalie's fleur de vigne scent, but she is partial to Dyptique's woodsy Feu de Bois during cold winter months. Ms. Thomas then draws a bath, adding 10 drops of a relaxing essential oil such as lavender or rose and the same amount of a moisturizing oil such as argan or grapeseed.

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MImi Ritzen Crawford for The Wall Street Journal

Ms. Thomas mixes grapeseed oil, honey, brown sugar and grape seeds into a body scrub.

In the bath, she scrubs the skin of her body with a blend of whole grapeseeds, grapeseed oil, honey and brown sugar, along with organic essential oils such as lemongrass, juniper or geranium. "The grapeseed and brown sugar is going to exfoliate you, and the grapeseed oil will soothe your skin," she says.

Sometimes, if she feels her hair has suffered recent damage from coloring or chemicals, Ms. Thomas says she resorts to "an old French recipe from my grandmother—I mix two egg yolks and five tablespoons of rum and rub that into my hair." Or she tosses two avocados in a blender with enough olive oil to turn it into a spread and uses that as a hair mask. "It's very nourishing because of the fatty acids," she says, noting that she often leaves it in for the duration of her bath, rinsing her hair at the end.

MImi Ritzen Crawford for The Wall Street Journal

Ms. Thomas usually lights a candle to add scent and a tranquil ambience to her bathroom.

Ms. Thomas makes sure to have sliced fresh cucumbers to place on her eyes to make her feel even more relaxed. She also prepares a homespun face mask—a blend of the juice from a quarter of a lemon with half a cup of honey. "The lemon will give you a glow, and the honey will soothe everything and calm your skin down," says Ms. Thomas, who leaves the mask on for 10 to 15 minutes. Ms. Thomas also takes organic grapes cut in half and gently rubs those over her face. "Grapes are very rich in sugar and contains tons of vitamin C, calcium and potassium," she says.

The choice of reading material is important for a home spa day. "I try to avoid everything related to work," Ms. Thomas says. Instead, she usually focuses on a good novel—Patrick Suskind's "Perfume" and Stefan Zweig's "Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman" are recent favorites, she says. "I get caught in it and I don't think about anything else."

For a spa snack, Ms. Thomas often sips organic tea with hints of cinnamon, black currants and orange peels. She sometimes eats a few raw almonds, which are "great for your body, your skin, your hair," she says.

At the end, she takes a moment to pause and reflect. "If I look in the mirror and I see that I've had enough relaxation," she says, "I feel grateful."

Write to Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan at cheryl.tan@wsj.com