Are body wraps worth it? Good question!
Pick up Cosmopolitan or Marie Claire – and you’ll see an article that has stunning celebs with glamorous bodies who have lost their baby weight super fast with the help of innovative, 100% organic body wraps. Cynthia Nixon, Nadia Bjorlin, Paula Abdul, Melanie Griffith and many more love being slathered with organic pastes and wrapped up like a pre-boiled hot dog. Professional body wrappers is even starting to be quite a popular career choice for ambitious entrepreneurs!
But there is a good point to it, as body wraps can be good for your body in many ways, whether it’s cellulite, weight loss or sore muscles. You do not however have to go to a spa or buy a product. There are great DIY body wrap recipes that are just as effective, and you can create them easily at home!
Here’s what body wraps can do for you:
- Lose weight
- Banish cellulite
- Detoxify your body
- Nourish your skin
- Increase your metabolic rate
- Skin regeneration
… and much more. Many people are swearing by the awesome effectiveness of homemade body wraps.
As as a Mom of a five month old, I know how much I struggled with the post-pregnancy belly and would give anything to battle my belly fat safely.
Enter – homemade body wraps – the perfect solution to all my woes.
Are DIY Body Wraps Just as Good?
I know you’re skeptical – even I was. Let’s face it – we are all told that weight loss is not easy, you need a disciplined eating routine, lots of exercise, a truckload of veggies and what not. So, the idea of sitting at home and watching Simpson re-runs, all the while wrapped up in a homemade beauty pack that matches the effects of the body wraps used at high-end, trendy spas just sounds too good to be true.
Well, the truth is that a body wrap can be an epic fail or a sweaty success – it all depends on the right formula and technique of making and wearing one. In this ultimate guide to body wraps, we will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about homemade body wraps.
How Does a Body Wrap Work?
Body wraps are worn for one main reason – to get you as hot and sweaty as possible. To get satisfactory results that make you lose inches, clear off toxins and hydrate your skin, we tackle one area at a time in a body pack. Even a steam room or a sauna can’t give you as effective results as a body wrap can, provided you follow our guide to the letter and use 100% organic ingredients.
Start off with full body skin exfoliation. Next a thick paste of the your chosen combined ingredients is slathered on your body and the whole area is wrapped up in plastic or any other material which will promote blood circulation, boost your immune system, and get you all sweaty.
7 Rules for Getting the Most Out of Your Homemade Body Wraps
You can wrap up your post-baby tummy all you want and keep sweating till kingdom come, but if you don’t follow our super effective body wrap rules to give you the bulge-free body you desire, you might not see any visible results at all.
1. The Right Ingredients
If you want cellulite-busting, fat-fighting, skin-glowing, detoxifying results from your hours of sweat sessions, you MUST use 100% organic ingredients only. Trust me on this and I promise you that you will see inch-shifting results.
2. Pre-Made Body Wrap Kits
Whether you’re a busy professional or a mom of twin toddlers, we all feel lazy at times when we actually get some much-needed time to ourselves. And that is why it is so easy to be lured by the pre-made kits. You just put them on and sweat and sit it out.
But you should know this before you give in to the temptation. Store bought ones tend to have harsh side-effects with hardly any results and with synthetic ingredients, pre-made body wrap kits are an abysmally poor relative of the homemade ones.
3. Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate
Jump in a hot shower and scrub and buff at that dead, dry, flaky skin to reveal silky soft smoothness. Let the steam help you in opening your pores so that your high-quality, organic ingredient body wrap sinks in to the deepest layers of your skin.
4. Fight Fat with Water
Drinking water makes your skin glow but did you know that it could help you with weight loss? Hydrating yourself properly before getting packed up in your wrap will help shrink your fat cells and remove fat from them.
5. Exercise
If you think you can celebrate with double cheeseburgers and a large order of fries, because you lost a few inches, think again. Your job is not done once the wrap comes off. You need to eat healthy to balance the new body.
6. Stay Consistent
No matter how perfect you think you look now, you need to maintain a consistent body wrapping routine and stick to it for permanent results.
7. Don’t Overdo It
Take it easy, have fun with it and remember that it’s a slow and gradual process. So, don’t expect overnight results.
5 Super Effective Homemade Bodywrap Recipes for Various Body Issues
Target Problem #1. Cellulite – The Cellulite Body wrap
Seaweed and clay both act as powerful ingredients in battling cellulite, shifting inches and rejuvenating your body. Here’s how you create one of the most effective wraps for cellulite:
What You Need:
- 1 cup Seaweed Powder
- 3 tablespoons Almond Oil or Olive Oil or any oil you like
- 2 cups warm water (or coffee for an extra cellulite-busting kick)
- 2 drops essential oil (Rosemary, juniper, or fennel)
Method:
Mix all the bodywrap ingredients to form a mud-like consistency. Stand in your tub or on newspapers or a large towel to avoid a mess. Start by smearing the paste all over your lower half body.
Now you have two options:
- wrap yourself in plastic, followed by bandages, as plastic increases heat;
- or wrap your lower half in bandages dampened in warm water for hydration.
Both methods work well. Choose what works for you and go with it. Wrap yourself in a blanket and relax for one hour. Remove all seaweed with a warm shower.
Target Problem #2 – Weight Loss – The Skin-Tight Jeans Bodywrap
What You Need:
- 2 cups green tea (or water but green tea helps with weight loss)
- 1 cup bentonite powder (clay)
- 2 drops of a diuretic essential oil
Method:
Mix all ingredients to form a paste. Do not use a metal bowl as it might react to the clay and draw traces of the metal. Follow the directions of the bodywrap described above and do ensure that you take a good shower to remove all traces.
Target Problem #3. – Detoxification – The Epsom Salts Detox Body wrap
What You Need:
- 1 cup Epsom salt
- 4 cups chamomile herbal tea bag steeped water
- 3 tablespoons olive or coconut oil
- 2-3 drops Rosemary essential oil
- Old sheet
Method:
Mix the boiled water that has been cooled to a warm temperature with the salt. Soak an old sheet in the solution. Massage the oil on your body. Wrap yourself in the warm sheet, followed by a plastic to keep it all nicely packed for proper sweating. Spread a blanket and lie on it for an hour to naturally sweat it out.
Target Problem #4. – Circulation – The Ginger Clay Bodywrap
What You Need:
- 2 tbsps. ginger powder or roots (less for sensitive skin)
- 5 tbsps. bentonite clay powder
- 10 tbsps. warm water
Method:
Mix up everything by hand or in a blender to form a paste. Smear the paste on the body parts where you want to boost circulation and wrap up with plastic. Rinse off with warm water after 20-40 minutes max. and finish off with a cold rinse.
Target Problem #4. – Muscle Pain – The Caliente Bodywrap
What You Need:
- 2 tbsps. cayenne powder (less for sensitive skin)
- 10 tbsps. white clay
- 20 tbsps. warm water
Method:
Make a thick paste of all the ingredients and warm it in the microwave for a few seconds. Apply on the area where it hurts the most and let it sit for 10-12 minutes. Wrap with plastic for more heat and sweat but be careful as the cayenne powder might burn your skin. Shower with warm water.
Target Problem #6. – Rejuvenating Skin – The Olive Oil Beauty Detox Body wrap
What You Need:
- 2 cups almond or olive oil
- 7-8 drops grapefruit essential oil
- 2-3 drops lavender or fennel oil
Method:
Mix up all the oils and pour into a spray or squirt bottle. Spray all over your skin and wrap up in plastic and bandages for a smooth, snug fit. Stay in a warm area for one hour and shower it off with warm water.
Ninja tip: Instant Ready & Great Results
I love DIY stuff, because it is fun to do, affordable and you use fresh ingredients. That said, sometimes it can be a huge time-saver to have a quick & easy fix. For instance, when I’m traveling, I love to take some instant wraps with me. If you don’t have much time, these body wraps by Shape and Body Tone are a treat. Instantly available and no mess to clean up.
Natural & practical
How These Body Wraps Work?
Basically, just throw them on. You don’t need to mix your own ingredients, because these wraps already contain a gel that has active herbal ingredients in it, which are:
- Hedera Helix Extract
- Camellia Sinesis Extract
- Ruscus Aculeatus Extract
- Ginkgo Biloba Extract
- Paullinia Cupana Extract
- Equisetum Arvense Extract
- Caffeine
- Capsaicin
- Menthol
- Simmondsia Chinensis Oil
- Coffee
- Arabica Bean Extract
You can simply stick the wraps to any part of your body, and they stay put no matter what you do. The wrap detoxes your body and smoothens out striae or cellulite. Some people experience a result after one use, and only use it for one hour. But for me, I noticed the most result when I would keep the wrap on during the night for 8 hours, and then repeated this after 4 days. However, you should try it out for one hour first, because the ingredients are quite strong. A more sensitive skin could get agitated, so it’s best to first try the wrap out for one hour, and check how you feel. You can get this body wrap kit here.
That’s a wrap! 😉
