Envirocraftiness: Spa Series: Day 1

WELCOME TO THE FIRST DAY OF THE SISTERLY SPA SERIES!!

I hope most of you know me already - Jill, sister to the fun and talented Leslie over at Try To Keep Up! All week long we'll be providing you with spa product recipes as well as reviews of store bought stuff too for when you just don't have the time to make it yourself! Each day one of us will be doing the DIY version and the other sister will be reviewing something she bought, so make sure to check out both blogs daily!

TODAY: BATH BOMBS

What's better in winter than soaking in a nice hot tub of water?

Soaking in the tub with a fragrant fizzy bath bomb, that's what!!

Bath bombs are great for your tub because they're fun, smell great, and you can put all kinds of good things in them for your skin.

Today I'm making a cinnamon/clove/orange bomb. I love the festive smells and the warming effect this one has.

You're going to need:

Baking soda - this softens the bath water and your skin. It helps neutralize body odor and it soothes the skin. Baking soda can be found easily at the grocery store.

Cornstarch - this is another product that helps soothe skin. Again, hit up the grocery store.

Citric Acid - this is the "active ingredient" that makes your bath bomb fizzle. It has antioxidant and toning properties. Citric acid can be trickier to find. I buy mine locally at a health food store, but it's widely available online and cheaper that way too.

Salt - Salt helps draw toxins from the body. This is where you can get a bit creative. There are a whole bunch of different salts you can use ranging from table salt to epsom salts to dead sea salt. I chose to use epsom salt in this one.

Light Oil - Oils help add a bit more moisture to your skin. Something like jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, etc. I'm using apricot kernel oil. Baby oil is nice too! I'd avoid something like olive oil because it tends to be a bit heavy and the smell might be a little over powering.

Essential Oils - These are what give your bomb it's lovely scent and skin refreshing properties. Watch out for fragrance oils. These can be okay too, but you have to be careful to make sure that they're safe for skin products, and they don't have the same good for you properties that the EO's do. I stick to EO's and they can be easily found at health food stores.

In this bomb I used:

Cinnamon Essential Oil - This oil has a whole host of benefits, but the ones I"m going to choose to point out are that it's an anti-inflammatory and also aids in circulation. This oil makes this bomb perfect for a post-ice skating bath!

Clove Essential Oil - This one has many of the same benefits as cinnamon.

Sweet Orange Oil - Citrus oils are toning on the skin and help lighten things up with their bright and cheery scent.

Water - I use tap water. If you wanted to get fancy purified water I guess you could :)

**NOTE: I found this site very interesting and helpful with the benefits of natural additives for skin care products**

Also needed:

Mixing bowl

Mixing spoon

Small bowl

Mould of some sort - this could be a soap or chocolate mould from a craft store, or even ice cube trays or muffin tins. Those little plastic eggs would work too, or those plastic Christmas ornaments that you can split in two.

To make one small batch of bath bombs use:

1 cup baking soda

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup salt

1-2 Tbsp water

few drops food coloring (optional)

2-3 Tbsp oil

1 tsp essential oils

1/2 cup citric acid

Step one:

Mix all dry ingredients (except citric acid) in a large bowl

Step two:

In a small bowl mix food coloring and water (if using food coloring - you don't have to.) Then add in your oils, and mix as well as you can (I know, it's oil and water, not going to happen)

When I use a combination of essential oils I measure them out into my teaspoon adding a little of each until I find a proportion I like and fill the measuring spoon.

Step three:

Add your liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. The color helps you to know if it's well mixed.

Your mixture should be like moist sand, but on the dry-ish side. When you squeeze a handful of it together it should hold. If not, add a little bit more water, a tiny bit at a time.

Step four:

Add your citric acid. Mix well. (Note: You might want to initially mix with a spoon...once I plunged my hands straight into the bowl with all the citric acid on top and every little cut on my hands burned so bad. It's like dunking your hands into straight lemon juice. Not a good idea. But once things are mixed up, it doesn't burn like that! lol)

Step five:

Pack your bomb tightly into your mould.

I turn mine out almost immediately onto parchment paper to finish drying. I leave them out to dry for about 24 hours. Store your bombs in a cool dry place (airtight container or plastic bag) until you're ready to use!

You can have a lot of fun with bath bombs making them all kinds of shapes, colors, fragrances and perhaps include some extras. Why not add some tea to your bomb? Grated cocoa butter is fabulous too (it makes a bomb similar to the one that Leslie is reviewing today! You should hop on over and check it out!)

The great thing about making your own? You can make them however you want and you know what's in them and how fresh they are!

Thanks for stopping by! Tomorrow I'll be reviewing a face mask for that instant pick me up! Don't forget that Saturday is our big giveaway!

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