Bath Bombs Galore!
Hello Kreators!
Ahh bath bombs, also known as little balls of bliss and relaxation! If you have ever had a Lush product you will probably know that they smell amazing. However because of the price, you probably wouldn't use a Lush bath bomb everyday. So I decided to make a heap (27, to be exact) as a party bag, instead of lollies. So I have become very experienced in making DIY bath bombs, and I'd like to share how I did it. Enjoy!
This recipe makes 5 - 6 bath bombs. Because I was making 27 bath bombs, I got 1kg of epsom salts and citric acid from a place in Marrackville called New Directions. It basically had everything you would ever need, and was super cheap. But if you're only making a few bath bombs, then you can get most of your ingredients from pharmacies or Woolworths.
Materials:
-1 cup epsom salts (can get from some pharmacy)
-1/2 cup citric acid
-1 cup baking soda
-2 tsp essential oil*
-3 tsp olive oil
-1 tsp water
-food colouring
-rubber bands
-measuring cups and spoons
-bath bomb moulds - I used some ice moulds from Kmart for $4 a pack. However there are plenty of bath bomb moulds from Ebay.
*I got my fragrance oil from the reject shop, which was quite cheap. But you can also get aromatherapy and better quality fragrance oils from a pharmacy.
Method:
The method varies depending on what type of bath bombs you're making. I made two tone bath bombs (with two colours). The method below is how to do two tone bath bombs. If you just want to do 1 tone, then don't halve the ingredients, just make 1 mixture.
1. Firstly halve all the dry ingredients (salts, citric acid, baking soda). Place the two halves of the dry mixture in seperate bowls. Then whisk together.
2. Now in a much smaller container (I used two jars), make sure you halve the wet ingredients (essential oil, olive oil, water, food colouring) and put in two seperate jars. Then mix together, (don't worry if they're not complete dissolved into another).
3. Now SLOWLY add half of the wet mixture to half of the dry mixture. If you tip the whole thing in, it will cause a chemical reaction and start fizzing. As you pour in the mixture, continue whisking it together. Repeat this for the other bowls/jars.
To test the consistency, take a small handful and squeeze it an open your hand. It should look like the picture below and hold it's shape, but as you hold your hand flat, slowly fall apart.
4. Now to make the mixture into a ball. You must do this as soon as possible, no matter what you read on the internet, if you leave the mixture overnight it will harden and become impossible to shape. But if you do accidentally, (like I did the first time) I put the grains into a jar and used them as bath salts. They worked fine and still fizzed, but just wasn't in the bath bomb shape.
There are many ways you can layer your bath bombs, have fun and experiment! To do three simple layers, make sure on the top of both halves you make it the same colour and overload them. The way you can push them together over a bowl. When you're compacting them, don't do it super tight, but don't compact it too loose. It's essential that you make sure all gaps are filled, otherwise it won't be spherical. As I found out, if you do it too tight, once you leave them, the begin to ooze out and expand. I made the bottom layers a little more firm so it would keep it's shape. Then lightly packed in the other layers.
5. Once you've layered them how you wish, put two rubber bands around it to secure it in place, just in case they start to expand. If you've compacted them right, then you don't have to leave it very long. But just to be sure I'd say at least 10 minutes until you take the moulds off, but the longer they're in the better. If you're having trouble removing the mould sometimes tapping (or whacking) with a spoon can help. Don't actually use them until they've turned more hard.
There you go! Your very own DIY bath bombs, because there is nothing like a fizzing, hot, fab smelling bath in winter;) I hope you have enjoyed making them, and feel free to leave any comments or questions below.
Kate xox
