Learning how to make bath bombs with herbs is a great way to indulge your bath addiction without breaking the bank.
The best part about making your own is that you can experiment with all different kinds of scents. You can choose whether to aim for uplifting, sensual, soothing, or soporific, depending on the effects you’d like.
Hey, depending on whether it’s legal in your area or not, you can even make some CBD bath bombs to soothe joint pain or menstrual cramps.
What You’ll Need to Make Bath Bombs with Herbs
Production Equipment:
- Kitchen scales
- Latex gloves (or non-latex if you have an allergy)
- Mixing bowls
- Spatula
- Whisk
- A sieve
- Soup spoon
- A few bath bomb molds
Ingredients:
- 560 g baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
- 60 g Epsom salts
- 280 g citric acid
- 40 g tapioca or corn starch
- 100 g oil, such as fractionated coconut oil, almond oil, apricot kernel oil, or sweet almond oil (you can use herb-infused oils for therapeutic purposes, as long as you do thorough research on how they’ll affect your entire body)
- Assorted dried herbs, never fresh
10-12 drops of essential oils (EO) of your choice (see scent combinations below) - Optional: 30 g coloring powder (you can choose freeze-dried berry or vegetable powders to add color, or bath-safe mica if desired)
You’re going to measure this stuff out by weight, which is why the kitchen scales are important. There’s a lot of inconsistency if you’re using cups or teaspoons as measurements, but weights don’t lie.
Also, we use dried herbs rather than fresh ones because the fresh ones still have moisture in them. Juicy herbs = bath bombs that fall apart. You don’t want any water content interfering with the dry ingredients here.
Instructions:
Weigh out all the dry ingredients except for the coloring powder, and sift them into a bowl. Then, do the same with the oils in a different bowl.
Mix your essential oils with the coconut, jojoba, or whatever other oil you’ve chosen to bind these babies together.
Use your whisk to combine these ingredients together lightly. If you’re adding dried herbs into the mixture, this is where you’ll add about half a teaspoon.
Keep using that whisk and combine everything together gently. GENTLY. The last thing you want is to get this powdery stuff all over your kitchen or bathroom.
Once the ingredients are mixed fairly homogenously, put those gloves on. Work your fingers through the mixture, then knead it a bit more firmly. The texture you’re aiming for is like the damp sand that’s ideal for building sandcastles.
If you’re adding a colorant, now’s the time to do so. Mix that through (also gently), and then spoon this mixture into half a bath bomb mold. You should add enough that it’s flurbing over slightly. Yes, that’s an actual scientific term.
Do the same in the other half of the mold, then press them together. If you’ve measured things correctly, you should have to use a bit of strength to squish these halves together.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you don’t pack this stuff in too tightly as you go. Add one spoonful at a time, pressing gently. The only time you want to compress it is when you squish them together. That will pack it tightly into a cohesive ball.
Wipe off the excess from around the mold’s edges back into the mixing bowl.
Let Them Set
After you’ve packed these two halves into a tight ball, tap the top with the back of your spoon, and open gently. You should be able to remove the ball without it falling apart.
If it does fall apart, the measurements were likely a bit off. Re-measure and try again, making sure there’s no exposure to water anywhere along the way.
If they’re holding together, great! Set them aside on a newspaper or paper towel and let them set for 24-48 hours. Alternatively, if you’re in a bit of a hurry, you can pop them into the oven on low heat (around 120°F) for four or five hours to dry them out.
Store these in an airtight container, preferably somewhere other than your bathroom. They’ll fall apart if they’re exposed to water, and that includes steam or mist from your shower.
Herbal Formulas and Combinations for Bath Bombs
Herbs have different energetic effects on us, as you’ve probably already learned by now. Citrus scents tend to energize us and lift our spirits, while scents like rose and lavender are calming.
Plants like calendula petals are ideal for soothing skin issues, and infused oils are easily absorbed by the skin.
I mentioned infused oils a bit earlier: these can be really great, but can also be potential skin irritants.
Rubbing herbal oils on joints is one thing, but when you’re using bath bombs with herbs in them you’ll be exposing ALL your tissues to these plants.
Choose wisely. Yeah, cayenne-infused oil may be great for easing arthritis pain, but do you really want it sloshing around your nethers? Noooooo.
Oil that’s infused with something like St. John’s wort, chamomile, or calendula should be fine. Just veer away from anything that’s overly warming, spicy, or irritating.
I’ll spare you the horror story about a friend of mine who used a spicy cinnamon bath bomb after a salt scrub.
Uplifting:
These herbs and scents are ideal for lifting spirits if you’ve been feeling down. They also have complimentary scent profiles, so they’re unlikely to cause migraines or nausea:
- Clary Sage EO
- Bergamot (dried herb, or EO)
- Tangerine (grated peel or EO)
- Neroli EO
- Lemon balm leaves
- Vetiver EO
- Rose petals (or rose EO)
- Borage petals
- Grapefruit EO
- St. John’s wort-infused oil
Calming and Soporific
These herbs are great for calming frayed nerves. If you’re dealing with anxiety or stress, and need to calm down after a difficult day, try some of these combinations.
- Cedar EO
- Valerian (dried herb)
- Sweet orange EO
- Chamomile (dried flowers)
- Catnip (dried leaves)
- Passionflower (dried leaves and flowers)
- Vetiver EO
- Sandalwood EO
- Clary sage EO
- Lavender (dried flowers, or EO)
- Lime (dried grated peel, or EO)
- Bergamot (dried herb, or EO)
Respiratory Support
Remember that bath bombs with herbs, just like infused bath salts, aren’t just for soothing aching joints or calming your nerves. The scents they release can also do a world of good if you feel like crap.
For example, if you’re congested and/or coughing like some kind of lurgy-addled mucus fountain, a hot, steamy bath full of healing herbs can help you breathe easier.
For this kind of respiratory help, try mixing together some of the following:
- Eucalyptus EO
- Rosemary (dried herb, or EO)
- Peppermint (dried herb, or VERY scant amounts of EO)
- Thyme (dried herbs)
- Pine EO
Pain Relief
If you suffer from body aches and pains, a hot bath can go a long way to offer soothing relief.
Adding herbs to the mix can alleviate tension and discomfort from joint pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, menstrual cramps, and more.
- Marjoram (infused oil)
- Yarrow (dried leaves, infused oil)
- Roman chamomile (dried flowers, or EO)
- Helichrysum (dried petals)
- Rosemary (dried herb, or EO)
- Clary sage EO
- White willow bark (dried herb)
- Cypress EO
- Lavender (dried flower buds, or EO)
Arnica (dried herb)
*Note: if it’s legal where you live, try adding some CBD oil into your wet ingredients. It can work wonders for pain relief, as well as for alleviating stress and tension. For moderate pain alleviation, aim for 50 to 100 mg of CBD oil per bath bomb.
Sensual Blends
When it comes to overall wellness, it’s important to remember that sensuality is just as vital as any other type of self-care.
Scent and herb blends that stimulate blood flow and inspire feelings of love and playfulness work wonders on many different levels.
These scent/herb blends don’t need to be used as foreplay either: they’re wonderful to promote feelings of body positivity and self-confidence.
- Jasmine (dried flower petals)
- Sandalwood EO
- Ylang-ylang EO
- Neroli EO
- Rose (dried petals)
- Honeysuckle (dried flower petals)
- Sweet almond EO
- Cedar wood EO
Use Complimentary Scents that You Like Best
When you’re working with aromatic and medicinal herbs, keep in mind that many of them have strong scents that aren’t necessarily complementary.
Additionally, remember a scent that’s soothing and calming for one person might be nausea-inducing in another.
Many people love the scent of lavender and keep sachets of it in bed to help them sleep. I can’t stand the stuff personally, so I only keep a small bottle of EO at hand in case I need it to treat burns.
Members of the mint (Lamiaceae) family tend to work well together. As a result, if you like lavender, you can mix it with things like thyme, mint, and lemon balm without worrying that the scents will overwhelm or cancel each other out.
In contrast, delicate plants like roses should be the stars of their own show or complemented by citrus or other gentle florals.
