 |
| vanilla & orange bath bombs by Stella Crown |
Bath bombs are amazing and can be spectacular, while rejuvenating us. However, are they really suitable for our skin? Not necessarily. Unfortunately most that are on the on the market, contain loads of dangerous dyes or inappropriate ingredients such as toxic fake fragrances, glitter, etc. which can cause serious skin issues (this is the best scenario).
The good news is that we can easily make bath bombs at home using certain ingredients according to our own needs.
how to make your bath bombs popular and successful
First of all, choose a day when the humidity is under 40%. If it is a high humidity day, then moisture will absorbed by the salt that may be contained in your bath bombs and your mixture will fizz up prematurely. Not a good day if it rains. If you ask me, I avoid putting salts in my bombs. I save these for bath salts :)
Then you should pay attention to the percentage of oils. If the amount of oil is high, the bombs may remain soft instead of hardening and when come in contact with water, they sink and go directly to the bottom of the tub.
I recommend spraying with isopropyl alcohol as it evaporates directly and not spraying with witch hazel or other floral waters that would be ok in a dry climate, but if you live where there is any humidity, will cause premature fizzing.
Your bath bombs should contain a modulator such as corn flour or white clay, as they inhibit the reaction of baking soda and citric acid, giving you more time to mix in the liquid.
Vanilla & Orange Bath Bombs
yields 3 bath bombs
160 g | 5.6 oz baking soda
70 g | 2.5 oz citric acid
50 g | 1.8 oz white clay
35 g | 1.2 oz buttermilk powder
5 g | 0.18 oz orange peel infused almond oil
5 g | 0.18 oz vanilla infused grape seed oil
1 g | 0.04 oz polysorbate 80
10 drops orange essential oil
5 drops bergamot essential oil
5 drops vanilla essential oil
orange zest
equipment needed:
- bath bomb molds
- spray bottle for isopropyl alcohol
- high accuracy digital scale
- mixing bowl
- wire whisk
- gloves
- mask
- Before you start making the bombs, sterilise tools, equipment, work surface and wear gloves and mask. Weigh your ingredients.
- Pass the baking soda, the citric acid, the clay and the buttermilk through the sieve, into your bowl. We use the sieve be cause we don’t want chunks. Stir with your whisk slightly. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir again. Spray with isopropyl alcohol until the mixture is liquefied while stirring gracefully and do not stop until the mixture becomes like wet sand. You can use your hands for the stirring, instead of whisker.
- Pack the mixture in your mold firmly and press well. Pop out directly. If you don’t succeed the shape, pack the mixture back to the mold, press again and pop out. Let your bombs dry for 24 hours.
- Baking soda acts as a natural exfoliating agent by removing dead cells and offers a mild cleansing, citric acid regulates pH and is a necessary ingredient for bombs while white clay has antibacterial activity and removes dirt and toxins from our skin. Buttermilk is particularly rich in lactic acid and in vitamins B2 and B12. The reason we add this, is because it creates extra foaming. Polysorbate 80 is especially useful if you want to add oils to cosmetics. If, for example, you want to add almond oil to a shampoo or if you want to make a bath bomb or a bath oil, then Polysorbate 80 is the ideal ingredient to "bind" the ingredients to each other.
how to use
Just drop them into a bath of hot water and enter the bath. They are fizzy, their fragrance is wonderful and they have rejuvenating properties of the essential oils.
