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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What a cute idea!! And I love that you put them in a nice jar, they just seem so spa-like.
Great gift idea! I would so be a bath person if I fit into my bath:) 5’10 + apartment bathtub = bad combo! LoL! Showers for me:)
I’ve been making my own aromatherapy bath salts for years, can’t wait to try these!
Bath bombs can be so expensive (and unnatural) so I love this alternative. I’ve been doing a lot of body scrubs on my own, but never thought of the bath bombs. Love this. Definitely will be trying it out asap.
And I think this will make a nice Mother’s Day gift!:)
This is GREAT!! I love LUSH but at the moment can’t afford them. I love the different colors/patterns. I am also not a big bath person, but in our new house the master bathtub is just HUGE I can’t pass that up. Thank you so much for all your great ideas! I love your blog!
This is so amazing! I’m looking to make the switch to all natural beauty products and these fit the bill. Plus I have almost all of the ingredients on hand. I love relaxing in a hot bath with a face mask as a treat every once in a while too. I usually bring in a good magazine or book and get lost for a while. I love adding epsom salt to my baths as well, especially after long runs or hikes when my muscles need some TLC. Thanks for the tutorial – I will be making and enjoying these ASAP.
Those look like a great money saver, I might have to try them. I have to say though, I am fearing the possibility of another family member walking into the kitchen while you’re making them and tasting the “batter”, haha.
i was holding liv while i was popping them out of the molds and she said, “YUM! bite? please? bite?” haha
What a great gift idea! They totally look Spa-professional-like. I am not a bath person, the heat makes me so nervous – shower it is for me 🙂
This is such a great idea, I love it! While I am definitely a shower person, I have to agree that a bath is a great way to relax!
What an awesome idea! Do they fizz and dissolve like Lush bath bombs?
yep! not quite as bubbly but pretty amazing!
I love taking baths but never make time for them. Reading this post is making me want to change that though!! What a cool idea! I love that you can customize them too.
Oooh these look lovely!!
I am very impressed with all of the products you’ve been making home made lately! I definitely am adding this of my things to make because I also love having bubble baths.
Though I am surprised you still want to have baths in such a hot climate!
I take a bath usually once a week, even more in the winter! My ex actually gave me a huge tin of Lush bath bombs (lucky) so I have a ton of them 🙂 When I run out I will try this out. Thanks!!
These look awesome!! I’m going to try making these for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother’s Day!
I love the Lush bath bombs, but the price… ugh! Crazy. I’ve never really thought about making my own, but I may just have to give it a try… especially with Mother’s Day right around the corner 🙂 Thanks Gina!
These look awesome! I love the colors and the beautiful mold. 😀
Such a good idea! I’ve made my own DIY face scrubs but never bath bombs.
I was always a shower person until I tried Lush products. They really are amazing! I haven’t taken a bath in 6 months (since my son was born), and I still have a stash of bath bombs to use. I’d love to try making my own though because they really are pricey. Plus, I don’t have a Lush nearby, and their shipping takes forever.
I’ve never heard of a bath bomb but I love the idea of making any kind of DIY bath treat. And the price just can’t be beat. What a terrifically fun idea!!
These look great. I make my own deodorant but have never tried my own bath bombs.
I feel so out of it- what the heck is a “bath bomb” ??
Awesome idea! Thank for sharing. . . I love bath bombs but hardly ever get them because of the $$!
I’ve been making my own deoderant using coconut oil, baking soda, arrow root, cornstarch, & any essential oils. Works pretty good and is not harmful like store brands
these are great!!!
Oh I love this! They would make such a great gift or favor at a bridal shower or something! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂 Pinning this for later!
Nice, I love Lush Bombs!!!
I’m a shower person, but only because our hot water heater sucks and won’t even fill up one tub of hot water. When I was in labor and trying to relax in the tub, my hubby had to put all the pots on the stove to heat water to keep the bath warm, just like the friggin’ pioneers…. That is next on our house to-do list!
Ha, ha ha!! Like the pioneers… you just made me crack up 🙂
hahah i loved that, too!
These are beautiful!!! What a treat!
Gina ~ Where’d you get the cute jar to store your bath bombs? Love that.
world market. i think it was $6? really inexpensive
Three of my four guys have eczema. I hate it so much for them! Two of them have it very severely. If you have any tips that you’ve discovered, I would love to hear them! I hope Olivia’s isn’t as bad as my guys.
Sorry to butt in, but I may be able to help: My two step-sons had terrible eczema as little kids, and Grape Seed Oil was a godsend. It cleared up almost immediately everytime we used it. As they got older, they took it in pill form also. Take heart Courtney, it eventually cleared completely when they hit puberty 🙂
wow, good to know- thank you!
Thank you for the tip and the encouragement! My 5 year old has it the worst. He itches so bad that he will claw his legs until he has big gashes in them. It just breaks my heart. I’m willing to try anything to help give him some relief!
Try coconut oil. My cousin found it really worked well. She also swears by the Seacret products.
Also, have you looked into allergies? A lot of excema is caused by an allergy. Check out naet.com for noninvasive testing and treatment for allergies. They can even eliminate allergies which I think is totally awesome!
poor guys! livi has it mostly on her elbows and thighs. i found that the aveeno naturals eczema bath soak works REALLY well, so we try to do that at least once a week.
I’ve tried Aveeno’s eczema lotion, but I haven’t tried the soak. I will try that out! Thanks! 🙂
Great post! This should be a fun weekend DIY. 🙂
I wish I could make these! I have asthma and it becomes hard to breathe with a lot of scents. I have to use a lot of unscented soaps in my showers and baths. Shampoos I am ok with but I dont want to have to go to the ER after every bath I take because I can’t breathe. Maybe I should find some scents that I am ok with and try those!
I make lots of my own beauty/bath products since I have skin allergies and I like to know what I am rubbing all over myself. My favorite is exfoliation bars which is organic sugar, coconut oil, and homemade soap shavings. I will have to try these as I am Lush obsessed but am not a fan of the price tag. Sending you an amazing week! Love + Shine Courtstar
Ok I’m going to sound pretty naive, but I didn’t know what a bath bomb was!! 🙂
I youtubed it and it’s soooo amazing! It bubbles and fizzes and has colours and stuff 🙂 I am excited to try it out sometime in the future!!
Great gift idea! I can’t wait to make these.
Looove this idea! I, too, love the Lush Bath Bombs, but have a difficult time splurging on them. Especially when my baths are cut super short these days by a 10 week old! Great post 🙂
Gina ~ Have you used your bath bombs yet? If so, have you found that they stain your tub??
My Sexy Bomb from LUSH stained my tub.
LOVE this!! What a great gift idea. Thanks for posting this 🙂
Oh, I forgot to ask – Gina, where did you get that awesome cupcake pan?
I LOVE Lush, but yes… they are a little (okay, A LOT) pricey. I discovered them several years back on my honeymoon, and whenever I’m near a store, I have to buy just one little thing. So thank you! Now I can make these for friends and, most importantly, for myself! 🙂 It’s okay to be selfish once in a while.
I need to bookmark this. I have a bad habit of “saving” my bath products because I don’t want to use them up, so they dry out or go bad before I ever enjoy them. These might solve my problem 🙂
I love LUSH, but my wallet definitely does not. I’ll definitely be giving these creations a shot. I love how it looks like you can really get creative with the colors and molds. They could end making really great gifts during different holidays. Do you have any recommendation as to how much of the mixture should go into each “bomb”? I’d be nervous about making them too small/big.
A tip for the Lush bath bombs–I break them up and can usually get two to three baths out of one ball. The scents and oils are really strong, so you really don’t need to spend the whole thing on one bath!
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing. I need a bath! I haven’t had one in forever- sounds like a great mother’s day gift too 😉
I made these a couple days ago. Thanks so much for the directions!! Mine still aren’t completely dried out, even after some time in the freezer. The hardened, but then softened up a bit as they warmed up. I was thinking of popping them into the dehydrator for an hour or so. Do you think it would help, or am I just going to have a mess on my hands?
Thanks!!
if anything, store them in the freezer- that should be totally fine!
Thanks, Gina!
I love your cupcake pan! Where did you find that?
pampered chef 🙂
I love this recipe! I’ve tried making these in the past and they always ended up crumbly or just off somehow. The shea butter really holds them together well and makes them feel truly luxurious.
What do you mean by T? Teaspoons? Tablespoons? Sorry, I’m just confused, I’ve never seen that anywhere.
I love this recipe! Lately I’ve been really into DIY beauty products. I noticed in your pic of lush products that you had Ro’s Argan body conditioner. I’ve been experimenting with my own recipe for that. What I’ve come up with seems to work pretty well, but I was wondering if you’d ever tried? I love that stuff, but (a) it’s expensive and (b) I live in Idaho and we don’t have a lush store.