Okay, it’s official – I’m obsessed with making bath bombs! We posted our best DIY bath bomb recipe last month, but I’ve been making so many different types recently (mostly for friends and family) that I just had to share one of my favorite recipes.
So here’s a new tutorial on making mini milk bath bombs. You’ll whip these luxury handmade treats up in no time, and they’ll leave your skin feeling ultra-soft! They are just the thing to turn boring baths into a luxury day spa treatment!
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Shop Bought Bath Bombs Are So Expensive
While I love bath bombs (probably a bit too much), I do find they can be outrageously expensive to buy. Especially the super high-quality ones that I’m now far too accustomed to. If, like me, you just can’t justify such an expense anymore then why not make your own instead?
We all need a little pampering, especially now during these last few cold months. So why not take this opportunity to learn how to make a lovely bath treat? I promise you, you’ll thank yourself the next time you’re soaking in the tub.
About The Ingredients
Whole Milk Powder
I’m using a new ingredient that up until a couple of weeks ago I had never used in a bath bomb before; whole milk powder! This, coupled with the gorgeous shea butter, should leave you feeling ultra soft from head to toe!
I couldn’t resist tying in some kind of tea angle as well, simply because I just love to drink tea! Earl Grey is usually my go to and it has such a lovely, fragrant aroma that I just had to make use of it here.
I am aware that you wouldn’t ordinarily add milk to a cup of earl grey tea but like I said, that the smell just gets me every time so I had to use it for my milk bath bombs. Besides, if you wanna put milk in your earl grey, go ahead! Don’t let the snobs put you off.
- The whole milk powder and the shea butter are the magic ingredients here that will leave your skin feeling ultra soft! Make sure not to get skimmed milk powder, as this just isn’t nearly as good. You absolutely can substitute the shea butter for whatever hard cosmetic butter you have, or prefer to use. Mango or Cocoa butter are excellent substitutes here.
- The polysorbate 80 is a surfactant, which will aid in foaming when you throw it into the bath. This is the first time I’ve actually used a surfactant in bath bombs before and will definitely use one again in the future.
- As for the earl grey tea, I would suggest using loose leaves unless you can get hold of a good quality tea bag. Cheaper tea bags often contain leaves that have been shredded/ground much too finely to get that aesthetic on top. Although we will be grinding some of the tea ourselves with a pestle and mortar so that we can add it to the bulk of the mix as well. The tea I used also had beautiful flecks of purple petals, which look gorgeous on top!
- You can substitute the tea for whatever type you’d prefer. However, you’ll need to have a think about the fragrance. I chose earl grey simply because it has such a beautiful, distinctive aroma. Green tea fragrance oil is widely available, so you could give that a try with some lovely loose green tea leaves (and perhaps a pinch of powdered green mica).
- It’s important to use rubbing alcohol with a very high alcohol content. I wouldn’t use anything below 70%, as you risk setting off the citric acid in the bowl rather than your bath. But we’ll talk more about this a bit later.
- I recommend testing your citric acid before you use it, just to make sure that it’s still active and nothing happened to it during shipping or storage. I can’t tell you how annoying it is to make a bath bomb with citric acid you’ve unknowingly stored improperly, just to find out that they won’t fizz!
Watch The Basic Technique First
Mini Milk Bath Bomb Recipe
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Equipment
- Mixing Bowl (Glass, Aluminium or PET)
- Greaseproof Paper
Ingredients
- 200 g Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)
- 100 g Citric Acid
- 22 g Epsom Salts
- 20 g Cream of Tartar
- 18 g Whole Milk Powder
- 8 g Polysorbate 80
- 16 g Shea Butter
- 4 g Fragrance Oil For Soap (Earl Grey)
- Earl Grey Tea (Best Quality )
- Rubbing Alcohol (at least 70% in a mister)
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients listed above
- Weigh and combine your dry ingredients in a large bowl. You’ll want to add your a few pinches of the earl grey here as well, although it’s best to grind it up a bit in a pestle and mortar first.
- In a smaller, heatproof bowl (Pyrex beakers or jugs are a good choice) weigh out your polysorbate 80 and the Shea butter.Step 2:Â Use a water bath to melt your butter into the surfactant (hence the necessity of a heatproof vessel). You could use a microwave if you wish, but only bursts of about 3-5 seconds at a time.
- While you wait for it to melt (should take about 15 minutes if using the water bath), weigh out your fragrance oil.Once the butter has melted and combined into an oily liquid, remove from heat and add your fragrance oil.Then, go ahead and pour the oil mix into the main mixing bowl that contains your dry ingredients.
- As soon as you add the oils, give the mixture a thorough mix. I like to use the tips of my fingers to rub the ingredients together. You should find the mixture holds together like wet sand, but definitely not saturated.You want to work quickly here so you get as much time to mold your bath bombs as possible.
- Now it’s time to mold! But right before, give your mixture a couple of sprays with the alcohol. This should give it a bit more liquid to help it all hold together. Don’t let the smell concern you, it won’t be present in the finished product.
- Next, add some of the loose tea to the bottom of one-half of your molds. Be careful not to add too much, and don’t use any of the tea we ground up to add earlier. The leaves should look like little sticks poking out of the top, and too many will be overwhelming.
- When you’re happy, fill the mold with the bath bomb mixture, covering the tea. You’ll want to fill the other half of the mold as well. Make sure you really pack it in.
- Then, force the two molds together with significant force. We really want them to fuse together, which can require a fair bit of pressure.
- Now turn the mold upside down so that the base mold (the one without the extra tea leaves) is on top. Then, gently remove the base mold and carefully set the base of the bath bomb onto a sheet of greaseproof paper/baking parchment. Then, lift the top mold off, revealing the lovely tea aesthetic underneath.If at any point the bath bomb crumbles, it could be that you’re taking a little too long and letting your mixture dry out. Just give it a couple more sprays of the alcohol to get it back to a more stable consistency.Leave your handcrafted bath bombs to dry overnight. Be careful where you leave them, though. I find the kitchen or bathroom is totally unsuitable, as they can become too damp of an environment for them to dry. Somewhere warm and dry is perfect.
Notes
Cappuccino Coffee Bath Bombs
This is a variation on the recipe above, but instead of tea, we are featuring the look and aroma of coffee.
I kind of like this one a bit more! I just love how it looks, and the cute little coffee beans on top takes this to a new level. I absolutely love the smell of coffee, too, so that kind of helps as well.
The whole milk powder in this recipe, along with the slightly harder cocoa butter that we’re using in this recipe, should leave your skin super soft and ultra-silky!
Ingredients
- 200g Bicarbonate of Soda
- 100g Citric Acid
- 18g Whole Milk Powder
- 20g Cream of tartar
- 22g Epsom Salts
- 8g Polysorbate 80
- 16g Cocoa Butter
- Cappuccino/Coffee Fragrance Oil
- Brown Mica
- Excluding the Mica, weigh and combine all the other dry ingredients.
- In a heat proof container, melt the cocoa butter. Once melted add the polysorbate and fragrance oil.
- Mix the oil & butter into the dry ingredients, as with the tea bath bomb you will need to use your hands to mix and rub together.
- Separate the mixture into two equal halves. Add the mica to one half to give it a nice coffee tone. If the mixture feels a little too dry give it a short blitz with the rubbing alcohol. You may need to do the same with the white half.
- Place a coffee bean into the bottom of your mold then fill the mold with the white bath bomb mix. Pack it in well to avoid it crumbling when you remove it. Fill the other half of the mold with the coffee-colored mix and press both sides tightly together.
- Carefully remove from the mold, sprinkle with a little mica and set aside to dry.
Coconut Ice Bath Bombs
I’ve always loved the aroma of coconut. For me, it’s the perfect balance between creamy and fresh, so I use it as much as possible. I don’t know if you’ve had it before, but coconut ice is delightful, so I thought why not try and make a bathbomb inspired by this delicious treat!
This is a twist on the other milky recipes above. However, in keeping with the theme I am using coconut milk powder instead of the whole milk powder. You still get a lovely skin softening bath bomb.
I use coconut fragrance oil here, along with a bit of pink mica. You can use red mica, but just don’t use as much as you normally would. The half and half color split is a lot of fun to do and looks beautiful as well!
Ingredients
- 200g Bicarbonate of Soda
- 18g Coconut Milk Powder
- 20g Cream of tartar
- 100g Citric Acid
- 22g Epsom Salts
- 8g Polysorbate 80
- 16g Cocoa Butter
- 4g Coconut Fragrance Oil
- Pink Mica
Method
Using the same method and treating all the ingredients as you have before. Separate the mixture into two bowls before adding the pink Mica. Pack one side of the mold with pink and the other with white.
Ultra Luxury Bath Bombs
Like with my coconut ice, and cappuccino bath bombs, this is take on the tea recipe that I had done before.
Although this time I will be exchanging the polysorbate for one of the most precious oils on the planet, Argan Oil. While a little expensive, this really does make a gorgeous bath bomb.
This, in combination with the shea butter, should leave you feeling moisturized all over!
I’ve fragranced this with a mix of Musk and Champa Flower fragrance oil. It smells ah-ma-zing! I’ve also dusted the top with gold mica, because why not!
Ingredients
- 200g Bicarbonate of Soda
- 100g Citric Acid
- 20g Cream of Tartar
- 18g Whole Milk Powder
- 22g Epsom Salts
- 8g Argan Oil
- 16g Shea Butter
- 2g Musk Fragrance Oil
- 2g Champa Flower Fragrance Oil
- Gold Mica
You’ll remember that I recommended substituting Polysorbate for an oil earlier on in the Coconut Ice Bath Bomb recipe. Notice here that I’ve done exactly that, as well as returning to the use of whole milk powder. It just makes the bath bomb more luxurious and expensive sounding (which it is, really).
Method
As usual, treat anything dry as a dry ingredient, and follow the method set out earlier on. Don’t forget to melt the shea into the argan oil before adding it to our mix. This should be done in a water bath or in the microwave (in 5 second bursts).
I prefer not to add the gold mica to the actual mixture. I have tried it before and needed quite a lot to get a shimmery effect, and as I have substituted the polysorbate which works as an emulsifier, using a lot of mica would result in it floating around the bath in clumps. Plus, I find the bath bomb looks more effective when simply dusting the top of the bath bomb with it.
Final Thoughts
So there we go, your new go-to tutorial on how to make min milk bath bombs. It really shouldn’t take you very long to whip these up for you to enjoy, gift or even sell! Handmade bath bombs can sell for a pretty penny, and they’re excellent additions to any bath and body market stall or online store. They look absolutely lovely, especially if you can get some good quality tea for the topping.
- The first time I made these, I used a lower quality tea on top which was completely ground. While they worked and smelt fabulous, I found the top to be rather unsightly. Almost like someone had used my bath bomb as an ashtray! Don’t make this mistake as well.
- I would like to try using a different tea next time, just to see if I can get as good with a different variety. Like with so many of my crafts, I totally recommend you take this recipe and make it your own. Prefer to use chai? Give it a go! I’m sure it’ll smell and look divine!
- The key to this craft is working quickly. I’ve made many bath bombs in the past, and the main problem I’ve had is getting them to stick together when you put them in the mold. I found that if you work efficiently you should be fine, but at the same time try not to rush as you need a steady, gentle hand when trying to get them out of the damn molds.
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing this DIY, but I’m sure you’ll have much more fun making homemade bath bombs yourself!
Go ahead and let me know how you got on in the comments section below. I’ll also try my best to answer any queries you may have. We’d also love it if you would like and follow us on social media, too!
What can you use in replace of polysorbate for your milk bombs? And what is the ratio? please
Hi Ali,
I haven’t had any success finding a good alternative to use in place of Polysorbate. You could consider using SLSA, but you will have some reduced fizz and increased flash foaming (makes a great foaming bath bomb). You will need to make use of it in powder form and incorporate it with your baking soda at the beginning.
As for ratios, you’d need about 13% SLSA. If you really don’t want to use a surfactant at all, you could leave it out entirely. However, keep in mind that your oils and butter will not emulsify into the water and will sit on top. This isn’t an issue until you get out of the tub, as it can make things a little slippery. So if you go that route, just be cautious when entering and exiting the bath. Best not to sell them, either.