Bath salts are super relaxing. I love to throw some in, light some candles and sit in the tub with a glass of wine. It’s heaven after a long day.
But when I use one of my homemade bath salts, I’m never sure if I should use bubble bath as well. I’m sure it’ll be fine, but it just feels wrong to me. So I decided to come up with a foaming bath salts recipe, so I don’t go without my bubbles ever again!
Introduction
These bath salts are actually quite fun to make, and even more fun to use. I was surprised by the amount of foam it makes, and would be a great addition to bath time for the kids too.
But if you’re like me, you won’t waste these gorgeous bath salts on the kids, you’ll keep them for yourself to use once they’ve gone to bed. You know what, I’m sitting here writing this, and all I want to do is run another bath!
Gorgeous Bathing Salts
What bath salts recipe would be complete without lovely bathing salts? Well, they wouldn’t be bath salts at all would they?
We’re using fine sea salt for this foaming bath salts recipe, which provides a smooth, powdery feel to the finished product. However, it’s absolutely heaven on the skin. It helps to detoxify, and restore the natural PH balance of the skin, prevents moisture loss, and unclogs blocked and congested pores.
We’ve paired this with dendritic salt, and the reason we do this is because it helps keep our sea salt fresh, dry, and free of clumps. Have you ever reached into a jar of half-used bath salts to find they’re all stuck together? This should help prevent that.
Furthermore, it helps to hold and enhance the natural aroma of our essential oils. Without this, our fragrance wouldn’t stay strong for very long. I’ve noticed this with a lot of store-bought bath salts. They smell nice for a little while but very quickly fade out.
Bubbly Surfactants
Now comes the fun part. We need to make use of a surfactant to be able to create our lovely foam. We needed something that had good flash foam, produced thick, luscious bubbles in the bath, and was also gentle on the skin. The answer was SLSa.
Don’t confuse this with the common yet much harsher SLS. SLSa is the more natural alternative. While it is more expensive, its particles are much less coarse and generally cause significantly less irritation.
However, it can still cause irritation, but not to your skin. When working with this ingredient, it’s important to use a face mask to prevent inhaling this surfactant. It usually comes in powder form, and can easily be aerosolized while mixing it into your other ingredients.
Colors, Fragrances & Aesthetic Flourishes
This is the fun part, because you can use whatever you like! You can even leave its fragrance and dye free if you prefer it that way, although swap out the essential oil for regular grapeseed or olive oil.
You can happily use essential oil or fragrance oil here. We don’t judge, although we much prefer to use essential oils. A gorgeous lavender or geranium would smell lovely and not cost you too much money.
If you do want to use a fragrance oil, consider perhaps using a sea-themed fragrance oil blend. Many aromatics suppliers that sell essential oils also sell fragrance oils and blends. Something like ‘ocean breeze’ could be to die for in this recipe.
We’re using a dash of blue mica for this recipe. We think it just feels natural in the bath, but you can use whatever you like. Combining your color with a complimentary fragrance would work great (e.g. pink with a strawberry or raspberry fragrance oil).
If you really want to push the boat out, you could add a little biodegradable glitter to make mermaid bath salts with powerful foaming action. Other aesthetic flourishes you may wish to include are dried flowers and botanicals. These make your product scream ‘I am natural’, even if it kind of isn’t. Dried rose petals or lavender buds look especially nice.
OK Let’s Make Foaming Bath Salts
Sea Breeze Foaming Bath Salts Recipe
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Equipment
- Mixing Bowl (Glass, Aluminium or PET)
- Spoon or Spatula
Ingredients
- 180 g Fine Sea Salt (60%)
- 60 g SLSA (20%)
- 33 g Dendritic Salt (11%)
- 24 g Baking Soda (8%)
- 3 g Essential Oil or Fragrance Oil (1%)
- 1 Pinch Mica Powders
- 1 Cosmetic Jar
Video
Instructions
- Place the dendritic salt into a bowl. Add the fragrance oil and mix well.33 g Dendritic Salt, 3 g Essential Oil or Fragrance Oil
- Next, add the baking soda to the dendritic salt mix. Try to soak in as much of the damp oiliness as possible so that we can protect the salt and milk powder from becoming wet.24 g Baking Soda
- Add the sea salt and mix again.180 g Fine Sea Salt
- Put on your protective face mask. Then weigh out your SLSa powder, and carefully add this to the bowl. Although the SLSa needs to be thoroughly combined with the salt mixture, care is required so that you do not create too much air-born soap powder. Once you have completely mixed in the SLSa, you can remove your face mask.60 g SLSA
- If using, add the mica, add a little at a time until you reach a shade you are happy with.1 Pinch Mica Powders
- Spread the salts onto some baking parchment, and allow the salts to dry for 48 hours stirring them from time to time. Placing the baking parchment onto a baking tray or sheet is perfect for this.
- After 48 hours transfer to a clean air-tight container, ready for use.1 Cosmetic Jar
Notes
- Be sure to use only glass or PET plastic containers for holding the salts.
- Store in an airtight container & use this within 6 months.
How To Use Your Foaming Bath Salts
So you’ve whipped up your foaming bath salts and now you want to know what to do with them! You can totally use them like you would any other bathing salts and throw a cup in the bath.
However, as these are foaming bath salts, I find it better to tip a cup of your salts under the tap as it fills the tub. The running water will agitate the surfactant a bit better, resulting in more bubbles and foam for your bath!
Alternatively, if you don’t have time for a full bath but still want to make use of your salts, consider pouring a cup of them into a bowl or bucket of warm water. You can then soak your feet, just like a little foot spa treatment!
I do this a lot actually. I’ll set myself up in the living room, soak my feet and type up these posts for you guys! It’s actually super relaxing!
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about foaming bath salts today. I know I loved making these, as well as using them! In fact, I’m going to run a bath right after I’m done writing this for you.
But before I go, remember that these bath salts are yours to play around with! You’d be surprised how different you can make bath salts, by just switching up colors, and fragrances and adding one or two aesthetic flourishes.
Let me know how you get on with these in the comments section below. I’m also happy to answer any questions, including helping you troubleshoot any problems!
how many jars (and what size) can you get out of one “batch”? thanks!
This makes around 300g, which is roughly 10.5 oz, so you’re looking for a glass, PET plastic or aluminium container that can hold this much. Two 5 or 6 oz containers should work fine too.