If you love baths, you’ve undoubtedly come into contact with a bath bomb at some point in your life. These cute-looking spheres are often colored, covered in glitter, and smell fantastic. But admittedly, I’m not writing this article to tell you about the benefits of those girly bath bombs. I’m here to tell you why you should make your own instead with ingredients like magnesium and coconut oil!
The Conventional Bath Bomb
Bath bombs were actually invented by one of the co-founders of the very popular cosmetic company Lush, although bath bombs generally take after bath fizzies, which have been used since the early 1900s to color and scent your bath water.
Now, I don’t have a huge problem with Lush. In fact, I’ve been known to swing by their store and cover myself in glitter from their bath bombs before sneaking out, looking and smelling like a walking bath bomb. However, it’s come to my attention in recent years that the quality of Lush products has somewhat… well, diminished. Looking at one of their lip tints a few weeks ago, I discovered that it had, of all things, DAIRY in it. What? I thought these people were vegan? My bad.
Anyway, for the purposes of this article, I checked out their bath bombs as well. I’m most familiar with the Sex Bath Bomb—as many people are—so let’s check out some of their ingredients.
- Sodium sesquicarbonate. Sodium what?
- Fragrance. Oh no, not this word again. Did you know this word encompasses nearly 4,000 chemicals, may of which are known carcinogens?
- Propylene Glycol. A toxin used in antifreeze, paint, and oh yeah, this bath bomb!
- Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone. Banned from being put into fragrances, but ok for your Sex Bomb apparently. Not good for people with sensitive skin and can trigger allergic reactions. Don’t want to soak in this, now do we?
- Red 4, 27, and 33. Let’s not forget our dye friends!
I’ve seen enough. How about you? Not that this thing doesn’t look and smell gorgeous, but hey… allergic reactions, fragrance, toxins, and dyes? I’ll pass, thank you very much.
The Alternative: Creating Your Own Sexy Bath Bomb
I get it. It’s easy to buy stuff. However, it’s also cool and super fun to make stuff! When was the last time you and your girlfriends had a bath bomb making par-tay? Well, it’s time to. With just a few simple ingredients, you can make the customized bath bomb of your dreams!
Just gather together these ingredients:
- 1 cup baking soda
- 1/2 cup Epsom salts or magnesium oil
- 1/2 cup citric acid
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- Essential oils
- Optional natural food coloring such as beet juice (Don’t want to add color? No worries, they’ll just turn out white!)
- Dome molds or muffin tin molds (Any shape should do!)
It’s really not that hard: you simply mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. I’ve worked with citric acid before and that stuff foams up like nobody’s business, so be careful and continuously stir!
Ingredients such as baking soda and magnesium oil are fairly odorless, so now that everything is mixed together, you can add in your essential oils and food coloring if you like. Some amazing essential oils as well as combinations you may choose to use are:
- Jasmine (Make your own Sex Bomb with these sensual essential oil!)
- Lavender (Relaxing time!)
- Orange and lemon (Fresh, bright, and inspiring!)
- Lavender and orange (Relaxing yet sweet!)
- Lemongrass (God, this smells like candy!)
Make your own combinations and get creative! You’ll only need a few drops of the essential oil, perhaps 5-10 depending upon desired scent strength. Don’t overdo it!
Once you’ve mixed everything, use a little bit of oil to oil your dome or muffin tin to prevent the bath bombs from sticking. Then, transfer your mixture into the dome molds or muffin tins, but be careful not to fill to the to! (Did I mention the citric acid fizzes and expands?)
No cooking here—just let dry at room temperature until hard. You may have to leave overnight. Then gently get them out and there you go! You can keep in a jar next to your tub, give as gifts, or sprinkle with some glitter! (This recipe was adapted from Health Extremist)
Why Use Bath Bombs?
Magnesium and Epsom salts are very beneficial, essential oils help to relax and reduce stress, and coconut oil helps moisturize skin. Overall, these bath bombs have some serious scent and soothing benefits.
Try making your own bath bombs or gift them to friends and family, and forget about buying conventional bath bombs with those weird ingredients. Customize your own scents, strength, and appearance! With so many different things you can do, you won’t ever want to buy a bath bomb again!
Not a fan of taking baths? If you prefer showers but want the same relaxing benefits of magnesium, opt for pure magnesium oil which you can spray onto your skin after taking a shower.
Head over to Bubbly Belle to order some of our one-of-a-kind bath bombs.