I’ve always been a HUGE fan of baths… and the whole pretend-spa-at-home thing! I love setting aside a little “me time” in the form of a face mask, a hot bath and maybe a glass of wine? Today I’m excited to teach you a really simple recipe for an epsom salt bath soak.
When I started “cleaning up” my beauty (and household products) routine last year, it took time. Like, A LOT of time. I am still replacing products one at a time. I use the Think Dirty app to check how clean the products are that I see at the store (you can scan barcodes, which is nice), and I also use it to look up individual ingredients when I make my own recipes.
Anyway! This is a replacement for the popular epsom salt bath soak I used to buy, which was loaded with artificial fragrances.
I like this recipe because there are SO few ingredients, and it smells incredible. I made two versions of scents, just for fun.
-Epsom salt (I got this giant bag. Be sure to get a brand where the only ingredient is Epsom salt.)
-baking soda (aluminum free)
-essential oils for scent (I used lavender, peppermint, fir needle, lemon and tea tree.
-glass or plastic containers (different sizes available here)
-cute measuring cups or scoops for each jar
Mix 4 cups epsom salt, 2 cups baking soda and 30 drops essential oils.
For my first batch, I used 20 drops lavender and 10 drops peppermint. It’s just the right amount of both and super refreshing! For the second batch, I mixed 10 drops each white fir, lemon and tea tree. It smells super fresh and clean.
Pour each batch into a jar, add a cute measuring cup, and it’s done. Easy peasy!
If you know me at all, you know I LOVE LABELING THINGS.
For this set I used paint in colors that somewhat represented the fragrances to me. I just painted straight onto the jar with acrylic paint.
Later on, when I want to repurpose this jar, it will scrub right off!
I wasted no time. I took a bath like 30 minutes after I took this photo…. Haha!
These jars make amazing gifts too…. just replace it with a screw-top jar and add a cute ribbon.
xoxo! Elsie
Credits//Author and Photography: Elsie Larson. Photos edited with the NEW A Beautiful Mess actions.
29 Comments
Super easy, and it’ll help force me to take a bath more often… I don’t mind that at all! Thanks for this, I love how you can change the scents to suit your fancy!
http://thedianaedition.com
What a cool idea, I love that you can do it yourself so easily!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
A bath is on the schedule – going to Vietnam soon where I’ll have a bathtub since I don’t have one at home.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Ooooh lovely! Does this stuff fizz in the bath water like bath bombs?
OH Elsie! Where are the gold scoops from?!?!
OMG, I am going to start making this as soon as I get everything. I have been purchasing it for years. This looks like it would save me some money making large batches like this.
xoxo
Kashia
http://www.thelifeshecreated.com
HI Katy, no it doesn’t fizz. I’m pretty sure the ingredient that causes it to fizz is citric acid.
This just smells good! :))
xx! Elsie
They are measuring cups from Target!
xx- Elsie
Yes totally!!!
xx- Elsie
Ah, I really need to get on the bath train. I’ve always been weird about them, but my sister gifted me some Lush bath bombs for Christmas that I have to try! Also, soaking in an epsom salt bath sounds pretty nice, got gonna lie. 😉
http://www.wonderlandsam.com
Totally love this – doing it tomorrow! x
Izzy |http://www.pinchofdelight.com
Looks great – What purpose does the baking soda serve? ?
Ahhh bath soak… i actually love everything that you can put in your bath really, bath bombs have my preference so far but since i have everything at home to try these bath soaks, i’m gonna give them a go!
Thanks Elsie! xo
Melodie
http://www.happymelodie.com
So cute!
Love the painted labeling!
This looks amazing – I’ve been trying to take harmful chemicals out of my beauty routine too, so it’s nice to have easy recipes like this to turn to! I bet the lavender and peppermint sounds amazing, two of my favourite scents xx
http://www.jessthetics.com
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed it Diana!
xx- Elsie
Hey there!
Here’s a helpful article on some of the benefits- http://www.curejoy.com/content/benefits-baking-soda-for-skin/ xx- Elsie
That’s awesome Jess. Me too! I have been working at this for about a year and a half and I still learn something new every single week.
xx- Elsie
I have been hearing about Epsom Salt baths everywhere. I know, I know…it’s a sign.
I made a ton of this for Christmas and gave them out as gifts! Mixed it with pink flower petals and Himalayan salt to give it some nice colour 🙂
This would be so relaxing! http://www.likehanna.com
Epsom salt soaks are my favorite thing to do at the end of a long day! Totally going to be making this soon!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
And for those with no time for that wonderful bath this week..there is now an Epsom gel in a tube that is wonderful for aches and pains..find it at Walmart near the pharmacy.
awesome – thank you. I do bath mixes all the time but had not heard about that before.
Why add the baking soda?
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I seriously LOVE this for baths. It makes me feel like I am at a spa. I have even added some himalayan sea salts for an extra detox boost!
Seems really easy to do. And, definitely worth a try. Usually use bath crystals when I have the time to soak (usually it’s a quick shower, with a good sea salt soap). Will try your suggestion soon! Your bottles look very cute!