Bath Salts Recipes

Bath salts recipes are easy to make, affordable and very beneficial. Make a batch or two today, put them in a sealable container with a label, and stash them in the linen cupboard for the next time you have a bath. Run your warm water in, add a cup of your now fragrant salts and relax until the water goes cold.

These make terrific gifts, too. Use ingredients like dried herbs and flower petals to make it exotic and romantic. Add some mica powder to make it colorful. Even some FD&C liquid dye can add color, as long as you only use a small amount.

Choose your ingredients wisely: Epsom salts (Magnesium Sulfate USP)is a soaking aid for minor sprains, muscle aches and bruises. It is also a water softener and bath additive.

Dead Sea Salts or sea salt (sodium chloride) is used as an astringent, antiseptic, cleanser and can be used to adjust viscosity of liquid.

Essential oils need to be therapeutic grade and used carefully. Less is more in cases like this, so go sparingly at first and then increase the amount you use drop by drop. I learned the hard way with a very pepperminty bath. You talk about a cooling bath – very – and not relaxing at all. Use essential oils from The Oil Shoppe for top quality and priced right oils.

Now go ahead and enjoy some of these bath salts recipes and then get creative and try some of your own. It’s fun and it feels good too!

Basic Bath Salts Recipe

  • 3 cups Dead Sea Salt, regular sea salt or Epsom Salt, or a blend of two or three of these salts. Sea salts typically come in several grain sizes. Combining multiple grain sizes can make your salts more appealing. Keep in mind, however, that more course grains do take longer to dissolve in the tub.
  • 15-24 drops of your selected essential oil or essential oil blend. Be sure and take heed in the safety data for the oils you choose to use.
  • 1 tablespoon fractionated coconut oil or other carrier oil for moisturization (optional).

Directions

Place the salt mixture into a bowl. If you have chosen to include the optional carrier oil to your bath salts recipe, add it to the plain salts and mix well with a spoon or fork. Then, add the drops of your chosen essential oils. Again, mix very well. Add the mixture to a pretty jar, salt tube, or container that has a tight fitting lid. Salts that are kept in a container that is not air tight will lose their aroma more quickly.

After a day, you may wish to mix well again, to ensure that the oils are well incorporated. I usually just shake my container a bit before opening it and pouring the salt into the bath.

To Color Your Salts

For the most natural bath salt recipe, leave your bath salts uncolored. Certain exotic salts including Hawaiian Red Sea salt and Black Sea Pink salt are naturally colorful. Try mixing these salts with Dead Sea or plain sea salt for speckled effect.

If you would like to add color to your salts, FD&C liquid dye or mica powder can be added before you add the essential oils. When adding FD&C grade liquid dye, be sure to add only a drop at a time and stir well. When adding mica powder, only add a tiny amount (1/16-1/8 teaspoon is usually sufficient) and stir very well. Using too much dye or mica powder can discolor the water and discolor the skin, so be very careful. Leave bath salts at a soft pastel color. It is also important that you make sure you are using skin-safe colorants and that the user of your bath salt blend does not have any allergies or sensitizations with the colorant that you have chosen.

To Use

Add 1/2-1 cup of the salts to running bath water. Mix well to ensure that the bath salts recipe has dispersed well in the tub before entering. To keep the essential oils from evaporating too quickly, you can add the bath salts just before getting in the tub instead of while the water is running. Sitting on undissolved chunky bath salts, however, can be uncomfortable, so make sure the salts have dissolved well before entering.

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Rest Easy Body Rub

Sometimes, you just need a little pampering escape. (Hmm, is that allowed?) The following body rub is really best when you can have someone else massage you with it. But self-application (second best, I know) works well too.

It’s included in this section because it makes a wonderful bath salts recipe. Once you apply Relaxing Body Rub or soak in it in the tub, it’s generally best to go to bed or at least lie down. Don’t try to operate any machinery or help anyone with Math homework.

RELAXING BODY RUB
6 drops Atlas Cedarwood
3 drops Clary Sage
6 drops Orange

Mix the oils and use in any of the following ways:
1. Combine the essential oils with 2 ounces emu oil or avocado oil in a pretty bottle. Use this as a body rub to really relax you before bedtime.
2. Add the essential oil blend to 2 tablespoons virgin organic coconut oil and rub a little on your pulse points (wrist and temples) before bedtime.

Get it Wet
This blend is also great used in a bath or a diffuser. For a bath, just mix oils first, then stir it into 1 cup Epsom Salts (or sea salt) and pour it all into your warm bath water. Stir up all the crunchy salt and hop in. Mmmm, relax!

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