Herbal Bath Bomb Recipe
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This is a simple recipe and instructions for making herbal bath bombs with lavender, peppermint, and marjoram oils. It makes eight small fizzies or two large rounds, and it can be paired with a matching soap for handmade gift sets.
These natural herbal bath bombs are made with a beautifully scented blend of sweet herbal oils. They’re uplifting yet soothing, and the extra dash of conditioning oil and Epsom salts makes them great for your skin. The ingredients you’ll use are pure and natural, and making the bath bombs is super easy. Best of all, if you grow some of the herbs yourself, you can use your own dried lavender, peppermint, and calendula to decorate. It’s a beautiful and natural way to use homegrown herbs!
DIY bath bombs are an easy project that you can make without any prior experience. The ingredients you’ll need are available at many health food stores and pharmacies. You can also order them online, and I’ve left links to where you can find them. Expect this recipe to take you about an hour or less to make. After that, the herbal bath bombs need a day to dry and harden. After that, store them in an airtight container and add them to your warm bath for all-natural, indulgent relaxation.
Bath Bombs with Herbal Essential Oils
The three herbal essential oils I chose for this recipe have benefits for both the mind and your skin. Lavender essential oil is soothing and gentle, with an intensely floral scent. Peppermint has that natural zingy menthol that will make your skin tingle pleasantly. Marjoram is a sweet herb related to oregano, and its oil is calming and sweetly herbal.
When you make this herbal bath bomb recipe, you blend the essential oils into a base that fizzes upon contact with water. That base also contains a quarter cup of Epsom salts, which will nourish you from the outside with their magnesium content. All in all, these are wonderfully indulgent yet therapeutic natural bath bombs that the whole family will love.
Tips for Making This Recipe
You don’t need much to make bath bombs, but you will need a spray bottle to moisten the bath bomb mix. The trouble with making bath bombs is getting them the right consistency—too dry, and they won’t hold form, and too wet, and they get stuck in the mold. Aim for the mixture to feel like the perfect kind of wet beach sand for making sand castles with. Not sopping wet and not so dry that it falls away.
Even if you get the consistency off a bit, you can still save your recipe by using a silicone mini-muffin pan. The finished herbal bath bombs will harden in the cavities and pop out easily, making the project stress-free. You can use two-piece bath bomb molds for this recipe, too, but they’re a lot trickier to master.
How to Use Herbal Bath Bombs
To use these herbal bath bombs, simply pop one or two into a hot bath and watch them fizz away. As they disintegrate, they’ll fill your bath with tiny herb pieces, a sweet fragrance, and a small amount of conditioning oil. Once you’ve soaked up the indulgence, all will drain away, but you may need to rinse the bath with water to move some of the herbal pieces along.
This herbal bath bomb recipe looks professional, smells incredible, and makes pretty handmade gifts. This recipe has a matching herb garden soap recipe that you can make too! Pair them together, and you have beautiful, natural gifts handmade by you.
More Bath Bomb Recipes
- Relaxing Lavender Bath Bomb Recipe
- Oatmeal Rose DIY Bath Bomb Recipe
- Christmas Tree Bath Bomb Recipe
Herbal Bath Bomb Recipe
Equipment
- digital kitchen scale (optional)
Materials
Herbal bath bomb mixture
- 1/2 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) 120 g
- 1/4 cup Epsom salt 65 g
- 1/4 cup citric acid 60 g
- 1 tsp jojoba oil or sweet almond, apricot kernel, or fractionated coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp lavender essential oil
- 1/2 tsp marjoram essential oil
- 1/2 tsp peppermint (mentha piperita) essential oil
For decoration
For wetting the mixture
- witch hazel in a small spray bottle
Instructions
Make the Bath Bomb Mixture
- In preparation, decorate the bottoms of each cavity of the mold with a scattering of dried herbs and flowers. These will be visible on the tops of your herbal bath bombs. After you're finished, put on gloves.
- Place the baking soda, citric acid, and Epsom salts in a bowl and mix them together. You can use a spoon or whisk, but I often use my gloved hands.
- Pour in the liquid oil and essential oils and blend them in, too.
- Spray the mixture with a couple of squirts of witch hazel, then mix it together with your hands. Continue spraying and stirring until it feels like the right consistency. It should be like lightly damp sand. Not too wet, but just enough to hold its shape when you squeeze it in your hand. If the mixture easily crumbles, add another spritz of witch hazel, mix, and try again.
- Once the bath bomb mixture holds form easily, you'll need to work quickly. The next few steps are all about artistry, and you can customize it however you'd like.
Construct the Herbal Bath Bombs
- The first bits of dried herbs and flowers should already be in the mold cavities. You did that before making the bath bomb mixture.
- Spoon about a Tablespoon of your bath bomb mixture into each cavity. You're aiming to only fill the cavity halfway. Press down slightly.
- With your fingers, scatter a layer of dried peppermint on top, especially around the edges. This will create a pencil line along the sides of the herbal bath bombs.
- Spoon another Tablespoon of the fizzy mixture on top and then press the whole thing down with your fingers. Press as hard as you'd like without leaving finger marks*
- Decorate the bottoms with more peppermint leaves if you'd like. Press them in lightly with your fingertips.
- Leave the herbal bath bombs to harden in the molds for a full day. After that, you can safely pop the herbal bath bombs out of the mold.
- Store them in a container that's both airtight* and watertight, or use them right away—it's up to you. Though they can still fizz after a long time, it's best to use or gift these herbal bath bombs within six months to one year of making them. After that time, the scent and color will fade.
Hi Tanya,
I share your love of nature and your ethos to keeping everything natural and growing your own food and body care. Very grateful for the time and effort to share your knowledge and wisdom.?❤️
Have made these bath bombs first time using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form them as I don’t have a mini muffin tin. I got 4 bath bombs out of it holding together nicely but am finding after 15 hours at room temperature they are slowly fizzing on the outside a bit. They seemed fine when I initially made them. Any ideas how to keep them dry without fizzing before use?
Hi Nelia and this is a common issue with beginner bath bomb making — one I’ve made myself a few times! It’s probably because you used too much liquid (witch hazel and/or water) in the recipe. If you’re sure it couldn’t be that, then it could also be that the room is very humid.
I just found you and your web-site. I LOVE! everything you are doing as it is all organic, and free of synthetics. I have ordered everything to get started on making my first tray of the lavender, peppermint and calendula soap. My question: can I infuse natural incense cones (I have jasmine, rose, orchid and lavender) to achieve a color for soap or bombs? Are they safe to use in soaps or bombs?
thank you,
Shirley
Hi Shirley and lovely to hear from you :) I wouldn’t advise using incense cones for anything than what they’re intended for. Even if they are made with essential oils, you don’t know what else is in the cones or if the essential oil used is suitable for skin. Not all essential oils are the same! Stick with using pure essential oils from trusted suppliers. Each oil should have an IFRA document listing whether it’s suitable for use in various types of skincare and products. Good luck and have fun!
Hello. Do you happen to sell the ingredients needed to make the bath bombs? I would love to make that purchase. If not, where did you get your ingredients from?
There should be links within the recipe to help, Najla. I don’t sell the ingredients direct though.
WI enjoy making bath bombs so I will try this way.