Girl's Night In.

It's about midnight on a Friday, and the party at Glorice Sanders's house is in full swing. Wine, champagne and shrimp are spread out on a table. One sister is feeling so good she's got her head back, her eyes closed and a silly grin on her face. Another is lying in semidarkness in an upstairs bedroom, enjoying a strong pair of hands working over her body. The rest of the women are sitting around the kitchen table with their hair wrapped in towels and their feet in basins of warm, scented water. "Mmm," one sighs. "This is wonderful."

Welcome to the latest incarnation of girls' night out: the pamper party. By day, Glorice's friends--or the Sisterhood, as they call themselves--lead hectic lives. One works in a doctor's office, one runs a catering company, another is a flight instructor. So to relieve stress they gather every few months at one of their homes, put on soft music, take off their shoes and let massage therapists and other professionals work their magic. "It's a lot more intimate than a health spa," says Carole Cary-Hopson, the flight instructor. "And your time is not limited. It's very stimulating to get together with other women to discuss goals and to network."

Delores Brown, owner of an art and custom-framing gallery and a founder of the Sisterhood, also appreciates how these gatherings allow her to slow down and relax. "Women are nurturers by nature," she says. "We tend to everyone else's needs and overlook our own. It's worth it to take a step back from time to time and not feel guilty about it."

Kristina Fitzhugh, editor of Spa Index, an online spa guide, says the Sisterhood's pamper parties are part of a growing trend. Since starting her Web site five years ago, Fitzhugh says the number of people inquiring about spa parties has increased from a few a month to at least one a day. "Day spas are recognizing that trend by beginning to offer mobile services," she says. Add to this an expanding array of do-it-yourself kits sold in stores nationwide with everything from aromatherapy candles to body scrubs, and it's clear that home spa treatments are becoming more popular.

This evening the Sisterhood has invited a reflexologist (who uses foot massage to improve overall health), a massage therapist and a pedicurist who calls herself a foot nurturer. Together they offer the women a package deal: $85 per person for all three treatments. On average, prices at spa parties range from $125 to $150 per person. The setting can be luxurious (a hotel suite with a fleet of beauty technicians) or intimate (a few friends giving one another facials at home). The Sisterhood's parties have included as many as 20 women, but there are many ways to scale down the cost. (See "Spa on a Shoestring" below.)

Late into the night at Glorice's, guests were still making the rounds. "We try to plan parties for every occasion: Mother's Day, back-to-school--whatever," says Karen Jeffries-Wells, a former Wall Street computer consultant. "They're so wonderful, we just think up reasons to have them."