In Malaysia, having a bathtub in a household is something not so common. It is a sign of luxury. When I arrived here in Europe realizing having a bathtub is so common here, I still don’t understand why it is a luxury. I have never truly understood the magic of a bathtub for my whole life. Until I experienced my first heatwave here in Europe. Having bathed in cold water to cool down for the whole summer without going to the overly crowded swimming pool is one of my favorite things to do. And then the pregnancy. That soothing and calming feeling of having to stay inside a tub full of water did help me to ease some level of discomfort at the later stage of pregnancy.
I somehow forgot how it is wonderful ever since my baby arrived, I never really got a me-time let alone enjoy a bath. Until earlier this year we decided to pamper ourselves with homemade treatment prepared by each other, it is not like we had ten thousand things to do though as we were in confinement due to the global pandemic. My husband surprised me with a zen spa. There is something magical about having a small love-shaped bath bomb from Lush fizzed away in the tub. Truly satisfying.
Later that day I quickly found that a bath bomb costs anywhere from 4.95€ to 19.95€ at lush. I mean, wow. That is far more than I would love to pay for my bath each time just to see the fizzling and bubbling of a bath bomb. So I know it is time to find a way to fix my new addiction (thank you husband!).
Ingredients of simple shea citrus bath bomb
The fizzling and bubbling effects are merely just a chemistry effect. Nothing is too complicated here for a chemical engineer. Bath bombs involve an acid–base reaction between citric acid and sodium bicarbonate. As a bath bomb dissolves and its components disperse into the bathwater, the protons from the citric acid rapidly combine with the basic bicarbonate and generate carbon dioxide gas. To complete this holistic spa-like experience, of course, we have to have some cosmetic benefits from Epsom Salt, carrier oil like safflower oil and shea butter, and fragrance from essential oil. And finally, we need witch hazel to mold the bath bomb. Here I chose witch hazel as it doesn’t react so much with the mixture. We need to keep those fizzling fun in the bathtub.
This is a rather simple recipe to create, you will need the following ingredients:
- 44.8% Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
- 22.4% Citric Acid (If you are not sure what to do with this Citric Acid after you make the bath bomb, check this post!)
- 22.4% Epsom salt
- 5.7% Safflower Oil
- 2.9% Shea Butter
- 0.6% Essential oil of choice. Here I use Citrus Burst and Sweet Orange
- Witch hazel, as needed
DIY Tools
Side Note: I strongly recommend to have a spray or mister bottle to control the volume of spritz. That way it will not create too much of reaction before you even mold them.
Simple Shea Citrus Bath Bomb
Course: Beauty RecipesDifficulty: Easy8
pcs30
minutesThis recipe creates 8 bath bombs in quarter cup shape. Phase A: Oil mixing phase, Phase B: Dry mixture ingredients, Phase C: Molding Phase
Ingredients
Phase B: 1 cups Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
Phase B: 1/2 cup Citric Acid
Phase B: 1/2 cup Epsom salt
Phase A: 2 tbsp Safflower Oil
Phase A: 1 tbsp of Shea Butter
Phase A: 3.2g Essential oil of choice. Here I use Citrus Burst and Sweet Orange
Phase C: Witch hazel, as needed. (I used about 8ml)
Directions
- Melt the shea butter together with the safflower oil over medium heat in a double-boiler, drips in the essential oil once you’re done heating them.
- Mix all the ingredients of phase B in a mixing bowl.
- Slowly pour in the oil mixture to the mixing bowl. Stir as you pour until homegene.
- Spritz your witch hazel. Each time you spritz, stir and mix immediately to avoid it creates too much of chemical reaction. Each time you mix check if they start to hold together by taking a handful of it a squizz.
- Once they’ll hold together, press the 1/4 cup measure full, let set for a few seconds, and then upend the cup and tap the bath bomb out onto some wax paper. Repeat until you’ve used it all up. Let the bombs dry for a few hours, turning halfway through.
Notes
- Witch hazel can be replaced by water if you don’t have any. Adding the water will, of course, start the reaction. This is why we’re using a spray bottle—to distribute the smallest amount of water over the largest area possible. Spritz and stir, spritz and stir. If it starts to fizzle, stir like mad to overwhelm the water with dry mix. Every so often, grab a handful of the mixture and see if it will hold together. Don’t add too much water! If you do, they’ll react as they dry and use up all their fizz before you draw a bath.
- Safflower oil can be replaced by any carrier oil you have , like avocado oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil etc.
- Essential oil can e replaced by any essential oil that you like. But please maintaining the same ratio as mentioned above.
- Shea butter can be replaced by cocoa butter.
- Store somewhere cool, in a plastic bag so they don’t absorb water from the air. Use within a month.
- *This post contains affiliate links which means I make a small amount of commission from each qualifying purchase at no extra cost from you.
And voila, enjoy this magical fizzling me-time you hard workers there!
If you decided to stop feeding those money-sucking cosmetic giants, join me for DIY?
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Calleigh
Hi, I am Calleigh, MEng Chemical Engineering and a process engineer, and I'm here to show you how to DIY your skincare and household products with the correct formulation and using only natural ingredients. I believe that eating good food (Yes I have cooking recipes too!) and living in a chemical-free environment are the keys to having a healthy lifestyle. And that doesn't need to be expensive.
