Salty caramel bath bombs recipe

One way to vary the basic bath bomb recipe is to add some bath salts. Bath salts have all kinds of wonderful benefits, and have been used to soothe tired and sore muscles for hundreds of years.

There's also a neat trick you can do when you're making bath bombs with bath salts, to produce a cool speckled effect – like this gorgeous one by Purple Sparkle Crafts.

As we're using salts in this recipe, we might as well carry the theme right through – so let's use a Salty Caramel flavor for our salty bath bombs!

For tons more recipe ideas check out The Handcrafter's Companion.

You need the following ingredients:

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 cup citric acid
• 1 part salt. There are lots of salts you can use, eg Epsom salt, sea salt, Dead Sea salt, or a mixture. See my Homemade Bath Salts site for more detailed info on the different kinds of bath salts.
• 2 tsp of Brambleberry's Salty Caramel Ice Cream fragrance oil
• A few drops of brown coloring (soap-safe)
• 2 tsp of a nice nourishing nut or seed oil, such as almond or jojoba (optional, but gives lovely soft skin!)
• About 2 tsp water or witch hazel. The amount that you need will depend on the humidity where you live, so you just have to play this by ear – details on how to do that below.

And some equipment:

• 2 nice big bowls for mixing – glass is best, as some plastics react badly to oils.
• A whisk for mixing. A sieve can be helpful, too.
• Measuring jugs, cups and spoons
• Molds
• A small spritz or squirty bottle makes it easier to add your water or witch hazel

Making your salty bath bombs

1. Mix the baking soda and citric acid together in your mixing bowl. Stir, whisk, and sieve till there are no lumps and everything's mixed in really thoroughly.
2. In another bowl, mix the bath salts with the color. Stir it all in really well, till the color's completely soaked in.
3. Now combine the two mixtures together, and add in your fragrance plus the oil. Mix it all together really well. You can do this by whisk, or you can rub it in by hand. You'll find that the color seeps out of the bath salts into the rest of the mixture, but only to a certain extent – this is what produces the yummy speckled effect, as the bath salts end up a deeper color than the rest of the mixture.
4. When everything's mixed in thoroughly, spritz in just a little at a time of your water or witch hazel, and then mix it in really well. Go slowly, because if you add too much, the fizzing will start. Keep adding and stirring till you have the right consistency – a bit like damp sand. It should be just wet enough that if you squeeze it in your hand, it forms a nice clump. If it crumbles, add some more water or witch hazel.
5. Now the mixture's ready for the molds. You can use cookie/cake molds, or specialist bath bomb molds, or those clear plastic balls that you get at Christmas – the ones you fill with candy and hang on the tree. Or you can squish your mixture into balls by hand for that homemade look! Whichever you use, pack it in as hard as you can.
6. Wait a minute or two, and then gently tap your bath bombs out of the mold. Leave them overnight to dry, and you're done! Store them somewhere dry. But don't wait too long to use them, as vegetable oils don't last very long without preservative.