Make Bath Salts

Make some refreshing bath salts to help you relax after a long day's work or shopping. Bath salts are easy and relatively inexpensive to make. Most recipes are a blend of Epsom salt and coarse sea salt. I recommend mixing them 50/50 your first time. After that you can make adjustments as you see fit. Some recipes will use either one or the other exclusively, something you might consider if price is a factor.

Bath Salt Recipe

After you've blended your salts, for the sake of our discussion, lets say a cup of each, scent them with an essential or scented oil. The concentration and blending of oils is an art as well as a science, and should reflect your personal taste. Any aromatherapy text will give you an idea of what a particular scent or combination of scents will do. For a total of two cups of salt, start with ten drops of essential oils. Work from there. You shouldn't need more than 15 drops.

For your first time, I'd start with lavender. Orange, geranium, and rosemary have also worked well for me. I've blended them and also used them alone.

There are oils that don't work well in the bath. A partial list would include oregano, basil, bergamot, and cinnamon. For more information about oil blends for the bath visit: Aromaweb for a primer on essential oils and how to use them.

Color Your Bath Salts

Once you've applied the scent, you can blend food coloring to add a splash to color. This isn't necessary, but you might like to make a nice presentation if you are giving your bath salt creations away as gifts. A drop of food coloring goes a long way, so use some restraint. When blending and mixing, use gloves in order to avoid direct contact with the oils, which can cause skin reactions in their concentrated form.

Your finished salts will be wet, so spread them out on a piece of aluminum foil to dry before placing them in a container. In humid areas, you can dry them in the oven on low heat . Once dry, place your bath salt in a glass jar(s). Your homemade salts will last indefinitely.

You will find many variations on this basic recipe, but this simple approach will make attractive, aromatic bath salts that you will be proud to use or give away.

Note: Since writing this post, I've made bath salts five or six times. I keep some for myself, and prepare the remainder as gifts. I've bumped up the recipe to six cups each sea salt and Epsom salt, with 25 drop each of rose geranium and lavender essential oils. This oil blend is popular with everyone, and I find it very relaxing. I blend blue and red food coloring to make a subtle lavender tint, starting with a half teaspoon of each color for a large batch (Remember to blend the red and blue before adding them to the salt mixture).