My cat, Kenji, has a bit of a drinking problem.

Do you need a day to yourself? Maybe you’re stressed out from work, overwhelmed with obligations for friends and family, or maybe you just partied a little too hard this weekend (ahem…cough, cough – like I did). Whatever the case may be, sometimes you need to stop, tell everyone else to back off and get some me-time in.

So, here’s my 9-step de-stress, detox plan for today. This plan is going into action as soon as I finish writing this.

Step One - drink as much water as possible. Add slices of orange, lemon and cucumber  to your water pitcher for a refreshing “spa drink.” You can also try adding strawberries for a lightly sweet taste.

Step Two – Put on some relaxing music. Maybe it’s Beethoven. Maybe it’s the sounds of whales mating with harpsichords in the background – hey whatever you’re into. I’m not judging you.

Step Three – Lock yourself in the bathroom, get your fluffy robe ready and light some scented candles. Carabella candles are nice and you can use them as massage oil too!

Cactus & Ivy Bath Grains

Step Four – Draw a hot bath with some cruelty-free bath salts. I like Cactus & Ivy’s Coconut & Soy Bath Grains. Cactus & Ivy is a cruelty-free, vegan AND all-natural company! Coconut milk powder and soybean oil soothe and moisturize your skin while the vanilla and sandalwood essential oils relax your mind. The salt, sugar cane and epsom salt mixture can also be used as a body scrub. The Bath Grains leave a lot of oil in the water, so it’s perfect for very dry skin. I also really like ABRA’s Stress Therapy Bath. The natural mineral blend has lavender, chamomile, St. John’s Wort, valerian and hops to relax and detox your body. It also has oils (sunflower and olive), but not too much – so I would recommend it for normal, combination or oily skin.

Elliott's Ethos 3-in-1 Gel

Step Five – Use a body wash and a pouf or loofah to scrub away dead skin. There are a ton of good, cruelty-free body washes out there. I like the 3-in-1 Pomegranate & Cassis Gel Body Wash, Bubble Bath & Shampoo by Elliott’s Ethos. You can use this gel to scrub while you’re sitting the bath and it will add more bubbles to your bath. You can use it on your hair too. And, it smells great. I used this the other day in the shower, then left to run some errands. When I got back, my whole apartment smelled great! My Beauty Bunny readers – you can get free shipping and handling for purchases of $20 or more when you use code: mybeautybunny (expires 4/10/10).

Speaking of pomegranate, Weleda also has a nice Pomegranate Creamy Body Wash. It smells good and has sesame seed, sunflower and macadamia nut oils to soothe dry skin. Weleda harvests their pomegranates from organic farms in Turkey and uses a cold-pressing process to harvest the seeds. And, of course I’m sure you already know about the antioxidant, free-radical scavenging properties of pomegranates.

Step Six – Veg out. Do some OMs if you want.

Weleda Pomegranate Products

Step Seven – Towel off, but before your skin is completely dry, rub on some body oil. Weleda has another pomegranate product called Pomegranate Regenerating Body Oil. You can slather it on everywhere – it won’t clog pores. I wouldn’t put it on my face, but I have combination skin. I think it would be fine for dry facial skin. You can also use regular body lotion if you prefer it, but the body oil is nice for a deep moisture. Whichever kind you use, putting it on when your skin is slightly damp means you’ll absorb more moisture.

Step Eight – Use a deep moisturizer on your face. Even if you have oily skin, you need moisture. I like to use a deep moisturizer every now and then, like Riversol’s Daily Moisturizing Concentrate. It’s pretty heavy, so I wouldn’t use it on my combination skin every day. I see it as a special treat for my skin. If I lived in a cold, windy climate, I would use this every day. But, I live in sunny So-Cal – don’t be jealous.

The Daily Moisturizing Concentrate contains thujaplicin, a SUPER antioxidant from the red cedar tree. Thujaplicin is purported to help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Riversol Moisturizing Concentrate

Daily moisturizer and SPF are of course, the best way to avoid wrinkles in the first place. Or, hey – if you’re like me, and never venture out into the daylight, maybe you don’t need SPF. You’ll just become pale and ghostly – which can be considered sexy (as in hot vampires) or just really gross (like Gollum). You be the judge.

Step Nine – Do some yoga stretches, take a nap, paint your nails, read a magazine, watch some trashy TV, sweet talk someone into giving you a massage, or my favorite – all of the above.