Homemade Bath Bombs – How to Make Them Just Like Lush
Do you love those bath bombs at Lush? Learn how to make your own DIY homemade bath bombs (bath fizzies) with a few simple ingredients. It’s so easy to make!
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The seeds for these Homemade Bath Bombs were sown years ago. I lived in a hip neighborhood in San Diego that was walkable. My husband and I absolutely loved it. We could go to dinner and a movie or even do some shopping all within a few blocks of our apartment. One of the stores I vividly remember was Lush – a bath and body store that had an entire wall with baskets full of colorful and fragrant bath bombs.
What are Bath Bombs?
Bath bombs are perfect spheres of molded baking soda, epsom salt and citric acid that fizz when dropped in the bath. It’s almost like those packets of bath fizzies from the health food store – except Lush made them into cute tennis ball shapes.
Homemade Bath Bombs
While I love bath bombs, I don’t love the price tag. It’s typically $7-9 per 6-8 oz bath bomb. Now considering you can only use one bath bomb per bath that’s a HUGE expense. I love relaxing in a warm tub – but not at $9 a pop.
The other issue I have is that while they claim to have natural ingredients – I just don’t know for sure. The scents are so strong I can’t really go into the store anymore without feeling overwhelmed by fragrances. I know there’s synthetics in there.
Plus, while the colors of the bath bombs look great the idea of bathing in artificial food coloring is a huge turn off. I don’t want to bath in chemicals – let alone artificial food colors (which will probably end up staining my tub anyway).
For me, I’d rather make my own to save money and know EXACTLY what’s going into my bath. So I came up with this simple Homemade Bath Bombs (Bath Fizzies) you can make at home with just a few ingredients – and they’re like a Lush copycat bath bomb recipe.
How To Make Homemade Bath Bombs (Bath Fizzies) – Step By Step
In a large bowl, add baking soda, epsom salt and citric acid. Mix well. In a separate small bowl, add water, almond oil and essential oils.
Very slowly add wet mixture to dry ingredients, and mix well. You may notice some fizzing – just keep stirring. (Note: Don’t dump the entire wet mixture at once as it will activate the baking soda and citric acid. It’s important to stir it in very slowly.) Test mixture. You should be able to clump it together to mold. It shouldn’t be too wet or too dry. If it’s too dry, add 1 tsp of almond oil as needed.
Optional: Add dried lavender flowers to the plastic mold or silicone mold before you add the mixture.
Open ornament mold and scoop mixture with both ends to form a ball. Or form ball with silicone mold. Allow to dry overnight (at least 8 hours) at room temperature.
Remove mold and test to make sure mold has set. You can let it air dry more to keep it’s shape.
What Molds to Use For Homemade Bath Bombs
There are a few ways you can mold these Homemade Bath Bombs. I used clear holiday ornaments (used to insert photos to make your own ornaments) as the mold to make the perfect sphere for these Lush-inspired bath bombs. They take a little more work as you’ll need to mold them, and then set in a muffin tin to air dry.
Another option is to use silicone cupcake liners. This is a great option to make a lot at once without a lot of fuss. Just line a muffin tin with the cupcake liners and add the mixture to each liner. I pack it down a little so when it sets it has a natural muffin top look. They look absolutely adorable.
A Great Gift
I came up with this idea to wrap up each of the Homemade Bath Bombs. Just get clear cellophane bags and add some cute recycled paper grass (I used red to make it festive) to it. Top with the Homemade Bath Bomb and tie with a cute ribbon. I pre-made these for an essential oils make-and-take party at my house and they were a HIT!
How to Store These Bath Bombs
Bath bombs store best in a cool, dry place at room temperature. Good options include a basement, garage, or cabinet. If you live in a humid climate, you may want to wrap the fizzies tightly in plastic wrap before putting them in a box or bag. The plastic wrap helps protect the fizzies from excess moisture.
Top Tips for These Homemade Bath Bombs
- Make sure to slowly add the dry and wet ingredients together and don’t dump the entire wet ingredients in or it will activate the citric acid.
- If your mixture is too dry, add a tsp of almond oil, as needed.
- Allow mix to dry overnight, at least 8 hours.
- Use some clear cellophane and recycled paper grass, to make some delightful gifts!
More DIY Skin Care Recipes
Did you try these Homemade Bath Bombs? Don’t forget to rate them and comment below to let me know how it went. You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see what other fun things I’m getting up to.
How to Make DIY Bath Bombs - Just Like Lush
Ingredients
- 2 cups baking soda
- 1 cup epsom salt
- 1 cup citric acid
- 1 tbsp almond oil
- 1 tbsp water
- 8-10 drops essential oils
- 12-15 clear holiday ornaments or silicone mold
- 12 muffin tin
- Optional: 1-2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
Instructions
- Add water, almond oil and essential oils in a small bowl. Mix well.
- Very slowly add wet mixture to dry ingredients, and mix well. You may notice some fizzing - just keep stirring. (Note: Don't dump the entire wet mixture at once as it will activate the baking soda and citric acid. It's important to stir it in very slowly.)
- Test mixture. You should be able to clump it together to mold. It shouldn't be too wet or too dry. If it's too dry, add 1 tsp of almond oil as needed.
- Optional: Add dried lavender flowers to bottom of molds.
- Scoop mixture with both ends to form a ball with clear holiday ornaments or silicone mold.
- Place mold in a muffin tin and allow to dry overnight (at least 8 hours) at room temperature.
- Remove mold and test to make sure mold has set. You can let it air dry more to keep it's shape.
Want More DIY Beauty Recipes?
Check out my book Natural Beauty Made Simple. It comes with 45 homemade skincare recipes with a set of printable labels and gift tags. You can download it instantly to your phone, computer or e-reader, so it’s portable and can go with you anywhere!
With this book, you’ll learn how to:
- Make your own organic beauty and skin care products for less than $25 a month!
- Learn simple techniques to make your own skincare – without the fuss of complicated recipes or hard-to-find ingredients
- Get tried-and-true recipes that work to nourish the skin and make it look more radiant than ever before
- Create beautiful gifts for friends and family with the printable labels and gift tags I’ve included with this book
What kind of citric acid do you buy & where do you get it from? Thank you!
I get it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2aB0E0L
Best bath bomb recipe EVER!!!! Super easy to make and if you put them in molds they come out easy. Thank you so much!!!!!!! OH! I used “skin so soft” oil by Avon. They smell amazing!!!!!
Have you tried soap coloring at all? Do you think it is a good idea?
Thanks so much for your comment. I have thought about it but I was worried about the ingredients in the dye. I’ve thought about natural dyes but I wasn’t sure if it would stain my tub. In the long run, I want to AVOID having to clean my tub more than I need to, if you know what I mean. 😉
Mine are popping open the molds! ? Did I do something wrong?
You might need to keep smushing it down a few times. It’s likely the water was added too fast and activated the citric acid. So just keep molding again.
Mine did the same thing! I had to rubber band them shut.