I love taking baths. Wait… that doesn’t seem like nearly enough emphasis… I LOVE TAKING BATHS. I don’t know what it is but taking a good book (and though I am Kindle obsessed I have just a few paperbacks I’ve kept just for a good soak) and just sitting in hot water for half an hour makes all the difference to my state of mind in the world.
I’ll take a bath with just a bit of epsom salts but I prefer taking baths in something that smells good. It makes me feel uber feminine and pretty all at the same time!
My fave bath bombs come from Lush but they tend to run a bit high so they’re more of a special occasions treat. Plus the nearest Lush to me is kind of a trek and a visit into a mall which *eek* I hardly ever go into these days. I mean, they’re so crowded!
So I have taken to makin’ my own and while they aren’t exactly a Lush bomb, they’re the bomb all the same!
To make your own bath bombs you will need:
- box of baking soda
- corn starch
- citric acid
- oil – I used olive oil but I prefer sweet almond oil
- fragrant oils — I LOVE these tropical scents
- forms like plastic ornaments or little bowls
- food coloring (optional)
- tulle and ribbon to wrap (optional)
Take your 16 ounce box of baking soda and dump into a bowl. I’m in the process of moving and bowls were slim pickin’s… you really need a punch size bowl for this to be less messy.
Add 1 cup of citric acid and 1 cup of cornstarch. Stir until well incorporated. And yes, you’l probably get this all over the place.
Now I could tell you to use an exact amount of oil but that doesn’t work well for me. Instead pour around 3 tablespoons of oil into your powder and mix well. Grab a bit of the mush and squeeze it together. Does it easily hold? If not add a tablespoon or two at a time until it does hold its own shape without crumbling.
Add your fragrant oils to make your bombs smell fantastic! This is my fave… coconut! If you work in small amounts you can have lots of scents…
and colors! Normally I go for pastel with bombs because they will turn your bath water colors. And I don’t know about you, but even though it’s never happened I just worry I’ll turn bright blue or something. But for the sake of photographing well I went a bit color crazy. Just a few dots will go a LONG way.
You can mix really well for a more uniform color,
Or less mixing will make a fun mix of colors.
Press your mixture into your mold. If you make interesting shapes and change up colors, you’ll get an awesome, striated bomb!
If using an ornament mold press both sides together and really smash that sucker. I like to put it under my thigh while sitting. That’s a considerable amount of pressure but not my full body weight. Keep it held together for about a minute like this. Next tap the ornament all around to loosen the bomb.
And pop it out! Now this one is a bit wonky because I dropped it. Oops! It’s also ginormous because I refused to buy any ornaments to use as molds since I already had several left over from last year. BUT these things were 4.5 inches meaning I have an insanely large bath bomb. Like comically too big.
For smaller, more reasonable bombs I used little dipping sauce bowls to make more. Oh, and if you’re wondering, the purple is acai berry, the blue and red are coconut and the orange mango. Mmmm!
Set the bombs someplace safe and let them dry out at least overnight but a few days certainly won’t hurt.
I like to wrap my bombs in pro plastic wrap from WalMart and then in several layers of tulle in colors that complement the bomb underneath. Buy some white ribbon and you can trim up any color combo you can come up with!
We’ve got blue and yellow (which makes some green!) – pink and blue (which makes some purple!) and pink and yellow which you would think would make orange but that didn’t really pan out…
The smaller size are perfect for an any time bath and make great little gifts. Come this Christmas you can get everyone around you smelling beautiful with super soft skin!
Pamper yourself or your loved ones with these Homemade Bath Bombs and I swear you won’t regret it!
***Update — I decided to be selfish and kept the big bomb for myself and used it last night. It was too darn big! My water got cold before it finished fizzing out so definitely go with a smaller mold/plastic ornament!
Written by Allison Murray - Visit Website
I’m affraid it will color my bath… Could that happen?
Hey, Lauren – I can totally understand your concern but the color is lot fainter in a big ol’ bathtub full of water than it is in my little vase. I’ve had a crappy fiberglass tub that stains if you just look at it wrong (or rinse out tie dyes in it) and I’ve not had a problem. If you have chips or deep scratches, that would be where you might have a problem. In that case, I’d either go with far less dye or omit it entirely.
These look amazing! Really professional and colourful :) I definitely want to try my hand at making my own after using LUSH bath bombs for so long
hellocynicalbadger.blogspot.co.uk
How many will this make if we make smaller balls?
Depending on the size you can get up to a dozen out of this recipe. I believe that is with 1 3/4 inch plastic ornaments as the form.
Hey, i was just wondering whether they would crumble in the tub or if they could be used for multiple baths?
Hi, Nimra, they dissolve fairly quickly so I’d say no to multiple baths. BUT you could make the same batch but the individual bombs smaller so that that you could take more fizzy baths!
How long will they store for? If I make them soon, will they be ok for Christmas gifts?
Absolutely. They might start to get soft a few months in if you live in a very humid climate but you’re set for Christmas.
Hii I mentioned you in a blog post (going up soon) because I thought this was such a cool idea!
xxcharlou.blogspot.co.uk
Where did you get your citric acid and is there a specific kind needed?
You can purchase any citric acid (even in the canning section at Walmart). You can see exactly what I purchased at Amazon by clicking the link in the items needed list above the tutorial.
Where do you get the Scent oils?
I get mine from Amazon. In the things you’ll need list there is a clickable link to see what I get.
I am attempting to make approximately 80 bath bombs for a bridal shower. Looking at all of these recipes I am not sure if its worth it for the materials and time. Does anyone have an idea of how many I can make with one batch of materials? And an approximate cost for one batch of materials?
To be honest, with that quantity I’d buy them. With all of the supplies I show in the list, I’d say you could make 18 regular sized bombs but all of those supplies add up quickly.
I’m looking into making a large amount to but I have access to wholesale prices for some of it but do you think you could use a mixer to make this go together faster
I don’t see why not. I’d do a test first before purchasing everything though :)
Hi! I was just wondering if you could substitute the almond oil for coconut oil? and with the fragrant oils could you just use rose water or rose essence ect?
Thank you! :)
Substitutions are absolutely okay!
hey i was wondering what the measurements were? I’d like to make them for my friends for christmas
16 ounces of baking soda, 1 cup citric acid, 1 cup corn starch, approximately 3 tablespoons of oil, essential oil as needed
Does that help?
Hello, I was just wondering how exactly did you wrap them. I’m making some handmade soaps and think the way you wrap your bath bombs is absolutely beautiful.
Thanks so much! It’s just tulle from the fabric section at the craft store, a few layers to match the colors of the bomb beneath and white satin ribbon to close them up!