A bath bomb, sometimes called a bath fizzie is a scented ball which, when placed in a full bathtub, bubbles and fizzes, scenting and colouring the bath water.

INGREDIENTS LIST:

Citric acid
Baking soda
Cornstarch
Epsom salts or fine sea salt
Distilled water
Light carrier oil such as Grapeseed, Sweet Almond or Jojoba
Shea Butter
Vitamin E oil

Non-water based skin and soap safe colorant (optional) Cake Icing Colorants work wonderful and you only need a small amount.

Fragrance: only cosmetic grade top quality oils and or pure Essential Oil.. Do not use alcohol or water based products or perfumes.

Latex gloves

The photo above shows a basic at home set up for preparing to make your bath bombs. Gather all your equipment and utensils so that you can move smoothly and quickly. Remember to use exact measuring cups and spoons. I use a wire whisk to incorporate my dry ingredients together to a very fine blend.

You will need 2 to 3 sets of bath bomb molds, measuring spoons, measuring cups, a strong handled stainless steel spoon for mixing. If you use a wooden spoon mark if for use in product making only. Scissors, Colorant, fragrance, carrier oils and your vitamin e capsule.

MEASUREMENTS: DRY INGREDIENTS

1 cup of baking soda

1/2 cup citric acid

1/2 cup of cornstarch

1/4 cup of epsom salts, (or fine sea salts). Do not use the grocery store salt in these recipes. The epsom or salts will help to speed up the drying process, its great for the skin and if you live in a humid area it really is a must have to help pull the moisture out quickly during the curing time.

Mix or sieve all of the above ingredients until combined and you

have a very fine smooth blend. I recommend starting out making a single recipe batch until you have become accustomed to the blending technique of mixing the oils and powders together.

MEASUREMENTS: WET INGREDIENTS

You will need 2 1/2 tablespoons of oils all total

1 lg. vitamin E oil capsule (this aids in preserving your oils.)

1 tablespoon melted butter-shea, cocoa, mango

1 1/2 tablespoons of carrier oil-grapeseed, sweet almond, jojoba

To that 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of fragrance oil or about 15 to 20 drops of essential oils

3 teaspoons of distilled water

Colorant

Blend these together very well, shake in a tightly closed jar for an ensured blend.

MIXING YOUR DRY AND WET INGREDIENTS TOGETHER:

Tip: I use a large stainless steel stand mixer when making batches larger than the one above, you must mix by hand or machine very quickly so that the ingredients blend well and do not start the fizzing process. You can also use an old Quisinart for this small of a batch, do not use one that will be used for foods. Also the product will fog up your plastic permanently. A large stainless steel mixing bowl works perfectly also for a single batch.

BEGIN by making a well in the center of the powder mixture. Slowly, drizzling the wet mixture into your bowl, mix, mix, mix quickly. Scrape up all the sides, add more oil and mix again quickly and evenly to ensure all the dry ingredients have taken in the oils. If you have added colorant there should be no white powders showing when you are done. You should be able to hold the ingredients in your hand and when squeezed it forms together as damp sand would.

It is very important that you do not over wet the ingredients or the fizzing action can begin and all the mixing in the world will not stop the process. Adding additional powders will not work. Should your bombs be too moist they will cure with either flat bottoms, have bumpy little warts on them and possible crack all over. They are still usable but not pretty enough to give as gifts. Keep these for yourself and start over.

MOLDING YOUR BATH BOMBS

You need to work at a good quick pace when packing and molding your bombs. You can pack this mixture tightly into soap molds (the flexible plastic ones, milky way brand works great), or in the 2 sided round molds to make balls. You need to pack this very firmly and tight.

If using the 2 sided molds pack them very tightly on both sides, then over pack by putting some of the mixture on top of each side before pushing together. The mold should not meet together when pushed, there should be about ¼ of product between the 2 mold edges. Do not twist it together, only push. Remove the 2 sided mold pieces immediately or within 5 minutes or it will not come off.

If using soap molds the mixture needs to dry for at least 6 to 12 hours before carefully turning over and releasing. Leave bombs to dry and cure on parchment paper or a ceramic surface for at least 24 hours, 48 hours for large bombs before using or packaging.

My packing preference for bath bombs is using shrink wrap bags. Just drop in your bomb and seal the opening. At this point you can place a label on your bag and if you prefer you can heat shrink it tightly. This really keeps out the humidity and moisture that will cause your product to break down way before its time. Other packaging ideas are to wrap in cello paper and tie with a pretty ribbon or wrap in colored tissue paper and tie.

Shrink Wrap Bags

Bath Bomb Secrets Revealed When I count up the dollars and cents spent over the years on so called, great online beauty recipes, I could have bought 10 hard cover $25 books at Barnes & Noble! Many times I would just receive the same recipe word for word from someone out there just copying and pasting away without any clue of how to do what was in the ebook. Does this sound familiar? Sure it does, and it goes on all the time. You have now reached the one place where you will not see that.