DIY Bath Bombs
Two things officially turned me into a bath person:
our tub, which is much larger than any we’ve had in the past
and LUSH bath bombs.
It’s a huge deal, as I’ve always preferred showers, but there’s something seriously awesome about sitting in a super hot bathtub with your hair in a messy bun, a face mask on, your cell phone a room away and painting your toenails. Maybe a glass of wine on the floor next to the tub, too. I do it up right 😉
I don’t take baths too often (maybe once every 2 weeks?) but when it happens, it’s a pretty glorious treat. “Treat” because the bath bombs I love are 7 to 10 dollars a piece.
That adds up, ya know?
Since I’m on a homemade beauty product kick, I thought it would be fun to experiment with making my own bath bombs. Not only would it be more cost effective, but I’d be able to make a large batch at once. This way, I’d be ready for the random evening when I need some time to decompress, relieve super sore muscles and enjoy some quiet relaxation.
In my quest to making my own bath bombs, I did some research online to familiarize myself with ingredients and strategies. My only two conclusions: there are so many techniques and ratios, but quite a few of them work (giving you freedom to use ingredients you enjoy!) and everything out there is bad for you and will kill you. Thanks, Google.
While I wouldn’t use these for Oliv- she has eczema so we stick to unscented California Baby products, pure coconut oil and shea butter for the little lady- they’re a fantastic supplement to my LUSH bath bomb stash, which has currently dwindled down to two. They look and smell absolutely lovely; I can’t wait to experiment with different colors and scents.
Here are the ingredients I used:
(all linked ingredients are Amazon affiliate links; just a heads up)
-8 oz Corn starch
-4 oz Baking soda
-4 oz Citric acid
(available to most health food stores)
-3 oz Cocoa butter
, softened (you can also use pure shea butter here instead, which has a much milder scent — the cocoa butter smells like chocolate)
-2-3 T sweet almond oil
-2-3 T coconut oil
-1/2 small bottle of rose essential oil
; you can use any essential oils you love
–India Tree natural food colors
(optional, or any food coloring you prefer)
1. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add the liquid ingredients and oils, then using your hands, press the mixture together until is has the consistently you like.
Add more oil or scent as needed.
You can also get creative here and add essential oil combinations, or even dried herbs, like lavender.
3. To make multiple colors, I split the ingredients into thirds and used natural food coloring to color the mixture in each bowl.
4. Press the mixture into molds -I had a rose silicon cupcake pan that was perfect for this- and allow to harden and dry out overnight. If the mixture is still soft in the morning -it depends on your climate- pop in the freezer for an hour or so to harden.
5. Let the bath bombs dry out completely and then store in a container, ready to enjoy!
These bath bombs float (from the corn starch), leaving your skin super soft and lightly scented.
Hope you love them!
xoxo
Gina
Have you made any beauty products lately? Are you a bath or shower person?
*I ended up making 8 huge bath bombs for $22, since I had most of the ingredients on hand. Some more homemade bath bomb tutorials I found online are here, here, here and here.
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I love making bath bombs, I actually seel them on this little site http://www.etsy.com/shop/LatherTime?ref=si_shop I went to LUSH at the mall and it gave me a headache, I actually couldnt stand the smell so I didnt look long, but they gave me the idea to make ’em on my own. i love this blog .
ugh. I just wrote you a nice little note, and apparently borwser backed out of it.
In any case, I really enjoyed reading a few of your blogs, so cute! And fully helpful. I am from Southern California (LA and San Diego all over the place) and I moved to Scotland a little over 2 years ago. I still have yet to go home for a visit. Your blog was super cute and made me smile, as I adored seeing photographs of Trader Joes products…awww I miss T Joes so much you have no idea. i have thought more than once about writing them to let them know how loved they would be over here in the UK. Anyways, you remind me of California, and I love your notes about the fitness side of things as well. So cute, your aside about the airy yogi able to kick ass in the combat classes 😉 Well i look very forward to reading more of your posts.
xoxo T;)
Try looking for citric acid at a home brewery store or home brewery website. At my local whole foods 4oz is over $5, but at the beer brewing store, it’s $6 a lb.! Will significantly lower your cost per bomb.
You can get it online in bulk for 2.18lb
Great read and easy to understand. I have created my own bath bombs and some have been failures. But when I’m on a crunch I buy them from SimplyOrganico.com. I found they make with theirs with lot of butters which leaves me skin very soft.
Even if one prefers showers, if I made some, would they put out a pleasant fragrance in the bathroom?
in the shower when I need my fix of super deliciously smelly product I make myself a sugar or salt scrub with some coconut oil which is brilliant for your skin and some lovely scents and some fine sugar so it doesn’t hurt the skin too much 🙂 my favourite scent to work with with the coconut oil is a lime one which blends with the sweet coconut beautifully 🙂
okay.. I think I understand how you did the lovely mottled colour effect but just to double check… is it simply that you didn’t mix the colour in so that it was completely blended? LOVE the effect! 🙂
yep!
Hi, just tried to make these and this mixture came out really sticky and gooey. Is it supposed to be 2-3 tablespoons or teaspoons of the oils?
Hi, just tried to make these and this mixture came out really sticky and gooey. Is it supposed to be 2-3 tablespoons or teaspoons of the oils? Please help!
Hi. I found this exact recipe elsewhere and also had problems with these never drying out. It’s been several days and they are still soft. I used 3 T of both oils, I will try to cut that in half, and I will try to put them in the freezer. Any other tips or suggestions? Thanks!
You should try putting less oils. If it’s too oily they will be squishy. If they are too dry they will crumble.
dont freeze them the ice that builds up in them will melt and soften them
what does the T stand for tablespoons or teaspoons/
capital T is tablespoon
I followed this recipe exactly(minus the dye).. And it did not work at all. The bombs won’t dry- 4 days later. They don’t float or fizz. I had to mash it up in my hands to break it up in the tub.. Help!
did you try freezing them to harden?
Same problem – tried exact recipe minus the dye and my bombs don’t fizz, float, or dry…. don’t try this its a waste of expensive cocoa butter and coconut oil!!!!!!
that’s such a bummer. quite a few people have followed the directions and didn’t have a problem. did you put them in the freezer to harden?
You probably used too much water. Next time dont use any water. I made some for my wife with just coconut oil, and they fizzed like crazy in the bath. Adding water means your gonna (or have a very high potential of) reacting the whole deal.
Where did you get the mold? It’s cute!
pampered chef 🙂
Hello! Your bath bombs are adorable! I’ve been losing my mind trying to get my bath bombs to float! I’ve made a dozen batches and all are fabulous, but sink like rocks! Every recipe, of the 100s I’ve found, uses about the same amount of cornstarch as citric acid. I see that yours has twice as much! I am hoping you have given me the “magical floating fizzie” recipe! (So I can sleep, lol!) Love your blog! Thank you. Blessings.
haha! please let me know what the verdict is 🙂
They float like feathers with your recipe! I’m really tickled! I use little plastic “rice/ sushi molds” that I bought online form China in a heart and star shape. Perfect size! I also needed to leave out the Epsom Salts for them to float. But I’ll just make separate “therapeutic bath fizzies” with the Epson salt, eucalyptus, and rosemary that just won’t need to float. My floaties will be moisturizing and fragrant! Thanks so much! Blessings, H.
Hi- I was wondering if all ingredients with oz. are measured by weight using a scale, or volume, using measuring cups? Thank you! I am super excited to try this out, I currently use level naturals bath bombs (not as expensive as Lush) but would love to have control over ingredients and scents.
Put in fridge for hours. After defrosting at room temp mush. Very disappointed. Agree with others don’t waste your time.
did you put them in the freezer at all?
You shouldn’t really put bath bombs in the fridge or freezer at all. As they warm up to room temp, you run a really high risk of the moisture from condensation setting the bomb off prematurely.
A good bath bomb recipe will dry out nicely a room temperature. If your recipe won’t dry properly at room temp, there’s something not quite right about it.
Dont put in fridge. Too much moisture cause them to react after taking out. I did this and caused them to react too early
Please, please let me know if you’ve used a scale to measure the amount or is it by volume?! I’m dying to make these! Thank you!
Is there anything you can recomend for an alternative for coconut? I’d love to use this recipe but I have an allergy to coconut.
I know this reply is really delayed to your question, but you can use pretty much any food/body safe oils. Instead of coconut oil, you could use sweet almond, olive, palm, hemp, avocado, castor, etcetc. Just pick one you like the sound of and use it to replace the one you can’t use!
Where did you find the molds, I have been looking for flower molds that are medium size like this, and where the molds are firm, and not flimsy
Do you ever have any problems with the food coloring staining your skin or the bathtub?
nope! i didn’t use a ton of it
Can’t wait to try with my 8 year old.
Hey, quick question.
At the end of the article you had said you made 8 large bath bombs. Was that with one batch of this recipe, or with multiple?
Thanks!!
one batch 🙂
So, I made bath bombs about a week ago. After they were done and packed tightly into the mold I put them in the freezer like every bath bomb article told me too. It said to keep them in there until they harden, so I did and once I took them out I put them into tight plastic goody bags and they got all mushy ….. Do I just keep the molds in the freezer until I want to use them? Ty
They got mushy 15 mins after leaving them out of the freezer …