How to make rose bath bombs

The first time I heard about bath bombs was through Instagram. Someone took a video as they plopped one into the water. I was hypnotized by the swirling colors and the gentle fizzing sound.

Since then I’ve been hooked.

LUSH is one of my favorite stores now and I love how everything there is not only good for you, but good for the environment. They’re so friendly in there too: one girl who helped me out with my purchase actually graduated from the same college I’m going to and enjoys writing just as much as me!

I’m obsessed with their rose scents, particularly their bath bomb rose queen. Yet my world crashed when I heard they might be discontinuing it. I knew I had to do something…

So, here’s my honest attempt to make something similar. It may not be rose queen, but it sure is nice!



Here are the dry ingredients. Don’t add the rose petals until later!

Thing’s you’ll need:

• Citric acid (4 oz)
• Baking soda (4 oz)
• Epsom salt (4 oz)
• Coconut oil (2 tablespoons)
• Water (2-3 tablespoons)
• Rose absolute essential oil (18 drops)
• Lavender essential oil (4 drops – believe it or not this scent helps enhance the rose scent)
• Beet juice (6 tablespoons – this is for coloring and turns the bath bomb light pink)
• Rose petals (a bowl-full)
• Two big bowls (one for dry ingredients, one for wet)
• Rose-shaped molds (I found mine on amazon)
• A whisk
• Several spoons (depends on how many you see fit to help you scoop things)
• A measuring cup
• Plastic wrap

Note: this can be very messy and tiring. It takes about an hour to prepare.



Some of the wet ingredients. This was taken on my first attempt, before I used Lavender essential oil too so it’s not in the picture.

Directions:

1. Fill one bowl with your dry ingredients (citric acid, baking soda and epsom salt) and mix well. Try to get all the clumps out.
2. Fill the other bowl with your wet ingredients (coconut oil, water, essential oils and beet juice) and mix well. If you need to make the beet juice, as I did, use at least two organic beets, peel the skin off, cut them up and juice them.
3. Slowly start to add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. As soon as you do this it will start to fizz so have a whisk handy. Start whisking it until it stops fizzing, then add some more wet ingredients to it. This is a lengthy process but don’t rush it! If you add too much liquid at once it will cause your dry ingredients to become too absorbent and they will literally grow in size which makes it hard to mold them (trust me).
4. Once you’ve added all your wet ingredients give it one last mix. Use your hands to feel it: it should feel like wet sand. You should be able to mold it into a ball with your hands without it growing, fizzing, or crumbling. If it is too dry, add a tablespoon more of water and mix again. If it is too wet (fizzing/growing), add a bit more dry ingredients.
5. Now add your lovely rose petals! I used some from my miniature red rose plant. The petals are dried now but are still very fragrant and pleasing to the eye. If you don’t have a rose plant of your own, you can get organic dried rose petals online. My favorite resource is https://www.mountainroseherbs.com for any organic ingredients, although their rose petals are not always in stock.
6. After mixing in the rose petals, you can start molding. Simply take some of your mixture, roll it into a ball and pack it into your mold. Be sure to pack it in good and not overfill it.
7. When you’re done, wrap the mold in plastic wrap just to make sure nothing spills. Then, put it in the freezer. Leave it overnight and take them out the next morning.

And, done! They look absolutely beautiful when you take them out of the mold. Hope this helps my fellow bath-bomb lovers!