I’m a sucker for a really good homemade bath bomb recipe, so when I came up with these confetti bath bombs I had to share them with you.
These bath bombs would work great as party favors, birthday presents, get-well soon gifts, or even as a special treat just for you.
These were the product of a huge bath bomb gift basket I made for one of my girlfriend’s wedding days (technically a renewal of vows, but who cares?). I just love how the Epsom salts look like confetti and after all, these bath bombs were for a really special occasion!
When I showed up on the big day with this basket full of all sorts of bath time goodies, I was a little nervous. I made all of the stuff myself, and I was worried they’d think I was trying to cheap out on their big day. But boy was I wrong.
You should have seen her face, it lit up like a Christmas tree! This really did confirm for me how much good quality homemade gifts can mean to someone!
Course Update
The Brilliant Bath Bomb Course Is Now Available Online!
You can get access to the entire course right away and learn how to make no-fail bath bombs at home. All lessons, videos, & downloads are instantly available online, and you can work through them at your own pace.
Hundreds have already taken my brand new Brilliant Bath Bombs Course. It’s a self-paced online course for making all sorts of different bath bombs and is currently still in its Half Price Launch offer of $15.
Most students recoup that small investment through the money they save on unwasted ingredients alone, not to mention the value they place on their time saved navigating the learning curve! The course literally pays for itself.
So, alongside these gorgeous bath bombs
I also threw in a few of my handmade soaps, some bath salts, body scrub, bath melts, my Cleopatra bath milk, homemade bubble bath, and my latest diy face cream. I’m really kicking myself now because I wish I took a picture to show you guys! Oh well. I hope you can picture it in your mind. It’s definitely something I’ll do again and I always recommend making one to anyone I meet that digs making homemade things.
But you don’t need some fancy event like a wedding to make use of these cool bath bombs. These would also work great as party favors, birthday presents, get well soon gifts or even as a special treat just for you. Whoever you’re making these for, they’ll definitely thank you for it.
The Ingredients In My Confetti Bath Bombs
As you will see below, it looks like we have a lot of ingredients here, you can totally streamline this if you want (although you may get a different kind of look/scent). For instance, you can happily use just one liquid soap dye and one fragrance oil, just to cut back on costs of buying multiples. You can also use any colors/fragrances you want, it doesn’t have to be what I’ve done. Get creative and experiment!
Peach Kernal Oil can happily be substituted for Sweet Almond Oil or Apricot Kernal Oil, although you could also use Flaxseed Oil, Sunflower Oil and Rapeseed Oil as well. The polysorbate, however, is kinda important, as it makes sure that none of the oil makes the bathtub a bit slippery. If you really wanna leave this out, try substituting it for water instead. This will ensure the mixture is wet enough to form your spheres, but won’t do anything about an oily bathtub.
Watch How To Make Bath Bombs
To make sure you understand the technique, take a few minutes to watch this short video which is from my basic bath bomb recipe.
DIY Confetti Bath Bomb Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)
- 1 cup Corn Starch
- 1 cup Citric Acid
- 1 cup Epsom Salts
- 4 tsp Peach Kernal Oil
- 2 tsp Polysorbate 80
- 4 tsp Fragrance Oil For Soap (Raspberry, Strawberry & Vanilla)
- Liquid Soap Dye (Red, Blue & Yellow )
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl (Glass, Aluminium or PET)
Instructions
- Measure 1 cup Epsom salts across 3 bowls.
- Add a few drops of your chosen colors to their respective bowls and mix. Add more if you desire a stronger color. Then put them to one side for a bit, this should allow them to dry while we get on with other things.
- Mix all of the dry ingredients (excluding the dyed Epsom salts) together in a large mixing bowl. Give it a mix so the ingredients are combined, and crush any clumps between your fingers.
- Now it’s time to add the wet ingredients to the bowl. Go ahead and add the sweet almond oil first, followed by the polysorbate 80.
- Give it a thorough mix. We shouldn’t have too much about disturbing the bicarb and the citric acid here, as this recipe doesn’t call for any water (although it may do later on).
- Now, add your chosen fragrance oil. For this, I’m using a mix of raspberry, strawberry and vanilla. I like to call this my ‘cream berry burst’ blend of fragrance oils. But of course, use whatever you like best. Once added, mix again thoroughly so the fragrance is well distributed.Before we add the Epsom salts, give the bath bomb mixture a feel, squeezing some of it between your hands. It should hold together like lightly damp sand. If it feels too dry, add a half teaspoon of water (although only a bit at a time and mixing in between).Once you’re happy with the consistency, go ahead and add the dyed Epsom salts. I like to add them a handful of each at a time, as this just helps a bit with the distribution of colors. Then mix as thoroughly as possible.
- Now for the hard part, getting that cannonball-like shape! Fill both halves of your bath bomb mold so that they are overflowing with mixture
- Then force the two halves together (without losing too much of the mixture). The reason we want it piled high is that as we force the halves together, the compression of the powdered mixture will create a smooth external surface and fuse the two halves of your bath bomb together.
- Once I’ve pushed them together very tightly, I like to tap both sides of the mold gently, just to loosen them. You should then be able to slide one half off and gently set it (mold side up) onto a flat surface. You should be able to slide the other half off once it’s sitting happily. If you find that your bath bombs crumble at this stage, you may want to put the mixture back in the bowl and add a half teaspoon of water (as discussed earlier).
- You’ll want to leave your confetti bath bombs to dry for a couple of days. Drying times will vary depending on the environment. The wetter and more humid it is where you are the longer it will take. For this reason, I don’t tend to leave these to dry in the kitchen or anywhere near a bathroom, as these are usually the more humid areas of any home.
Notes
How to Make My Basic DIY Bath Bombs At Home
After lots of research & experimenting, I now have the best bath bomb recipe ever. I’ll show you how to make bath bombs at home that contain luscious oils and wonderful exfoliating salts for your skin, along with citric acid for that fabulous fizz.
I love your recipes. I make the basic ones with my kids a lot and now we’re looking for more “adventurous” ones, with colour streams. I’m curious what this looks like in the bath. Does it fizz and show the colours separately?
Hi Ari,
This was exactly what I thought when I was developing this formula. Unfortunately, during testing, I found that the died salts don’t seem to dye the bath water that much. However, watch this space, because I have a bath bomb course coming next week with lots of lovely recipes that do just what you’re looking for.
Hi, can I ask what is the purpose for polysorbate 80? Can I skip it? Thank you.
Hi Claire,
Polysorbate 80 is a sufactant, and will help to solubilize our oils into bath water. Without this, your bath can get a little slippery. So I would say if you’re making these for yourself, you could get away with skipping it. Replace it with some more liquid oil and just be carefully when getting in and out of the tub. For selling and gifting, keep it in.
These are not only beautiful but fizz and smell wonderful (Used Bramble Berry’s Plumeria Fragrance). They go together very well if you follow the recipe exactly as written. Just completed 3 triple batches. My bombs are extra large so each triple recipe yielded 11 extra large, 1 normal size and 1 small bomb. I am gifting these this Christmas, so once they are all dried and packaged I’ll be good to go. I do put a couple of drops of fragrance on each bomb before I bag them to make up for the loss of fragrance during drying time. I don’t bag them for at least 3 days which makes the house smell wonderful. Thrilled to have found your site! It’s the best and most informative one out there.
Thank you for the wonderful feedback Debbie!
I love this recipe! It was my first time making bath bombs and they turned out perfect. Thank you for sharing.