Season of the Scrub

Ahhh, vacations. Exhilarating, exhausting and relaxing all at once. Having just plopped back in my office chair after a week of southern Colorado skiing (or attempting to ski anyway), me and the spa boy returned home only to find that winter had left the proverbial building. Cloudless sunny skies, less than 10 percent humidity and a high of nearly 90 degrees -- yep, it's a wrap on winter in the Valley of the Sun. It's enough to make a spa girl very itchy. Itchy, that is, because after months of burrowing in sweaters and sweats, I'm back in tank tops and flip-flops and my skin is pasty, dry, dull and you guessed it ... itchy. Time for a scrub.

Salty, sweet and salubrious body scrubs banish dead skin cells, nourish moisture-starved skin and stimulate circulation to restore your outer glow. For an at-home spa experience, try Nyakio's Kenyan Coffee & Sugar Body Scrub (pricey but worth every amazing, heavenly-scented drop) or read about more products here. For a DIY concoction, try our Jacked Up On Coffee or I Am Radiant sugar scrubs. Hey, and even if you're still knee-deep in snow somewhere, Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring. Groundhog says: skin-baring tank tops and flip-flips are just around the corner! Photo: Kenyan Coffee & Sugar Body Scrub from Nyakio, $49.