What To Bring To A Spa Day

As much as I love a bit of pampering, I’ve only actually been on a few spa days in my time.

My first experience was a very weird one at Queen Spa in Shenzhen, China, and pretty much made me feel like I was in a mental institution. There were weird sleep pods in the dark and massages with no boundaries and it was a bit of a strange introduction to the world of spas! (Read my review here, kiddo.)

I then visited the Thermae Bath Spa in Bath for a friend’s hen weekend, which was very chic and dreamy with its rooftop pool and aromatherapy steam rooms. Totally changed my mind on spas and I suddenly realised that they’re pretty neat, huh?

Throw in a casual afternoon visit to Thai Square Spa in London with Sophie (read her review here) and I suddenly became obsessed.

WHY AM I NOT ON A SPA DAY EVERY WEEKEND THOUGH?

So recently when I was planning my Babymoon content, I was keen to visit a spa and get myself in on the pregnancy massage action. And you may have spied in my recent blog post, that I choose to do this in the beautiful Eden Hall. Which, spoiler, was an absolute delight. (Read my review over here, pal.)

But I realised right before my spa day that I was a little bit clueless about what to bring to a spa day.

In China you literally take nothing and they deck you out with everything you need. In Bath and London I just took a swimsuit, but I didn’t have any treatments there – did that make a difference? Do they massage you in your swimwear?

So I thought I’d pop together a quick post about what you should take with you on your next spa day.

Let me know if I’ve missed anything!

What To Take To A Spa Day

Swimwear

Ok, the obvious. But spas usually involve pools and hot tubs and saunas and all of those gorgeous things, so swimwear is essential. In my experience there’s usually a mix of swimsuits and bikinis worn at the spa, so there’s no preference, just wear something you feel confident in. You’re there to relax so don’t wear anything you feel self-conscious in. I went for this maternity leopard print swimsuit from Topshop. (affiliate link FYI)

Underwear

If you have a massage, you have a few options on what to wear. If you’re wearing a bikini, great. That will work. If you’re wearing a swimsuit like me, you can roll it down so you’re just wearing the bottom half, but I think that’s just uncomfortable. So you can change into a pair of pants, or most spas will offer you disposable paper pants. I went with the latter but I figured I’d let you know your options in case you want to bring some spare pants with you!

Flip-Flops

Some spas give you little slippers to wear around the spa, some don’t. So I like to bring flip-flops to walk around in, it just feels nicer than going barefoot y’know? And it’s not like they take up much space, definitely worth bringing.

Make-Up

I went to my Eden Hall spa day with minimal make-up, just eyebrows. But after my facial I was completely bare-faced and to be honest I don’t really like to be seen out in the wild without my brows on. So I made sure to take make-up to reapply before coming home!

Hair Products

Fellow fringe-wearers, make sure you bring hair clips or a bandana to get your bangs off of your face! If you have a treatment, it will probably get pushed back anyway, but I think it just feels better to be off your face whilst you’re relaxing anyway.

Also, even if you don’t think you’ll be getting your hair wet, you probably will. Just from saunas and stuff. So be sure to bring a hairbrush with you for afterwards.

Comfy Clothes

I mean, I’m not saying take a different change of clothes to the ones you wore to the spa, because that’s too much. But I think after relaxing all day you want to get into some comfy clothes for the journey home, rather than getting back into jeans, y’know? So I would just wear something cosy there – think loungewear or leggings and a jumper.

Other Toiletries

Other essentials include deodorant and lipbalm. I feel like there’s not much more I can say about these items…

What NOT To Bring To A Spa Day

Towel or Robe

I’ve never been to a spa where they don’t give you a towel and a robe to walk around in. So I wouldn’t worry about bringing your own. Always check the spa website before you go though as they will normally specify.