Recipe: How to make homemade bath bombs

By Cassie Weiss, Features Editor

As cliché as it sounds, bubble baths have always been my favourite form of self-care. Scalding hot water, bubbles, a fragrance that you love, music and candles — honestly, I can feel myself relaxing as we speak.

So naturally, when the province decided to announce the imminent minor lockdown, I went into a panic. I thought, “How am I supposed to continue to endorse my own self-care when, once again, all the non-essential bath and body stores I frequent are going to quickly close down in order to protect us all?”

Of course I’m being slightly dramatic, as shopping malls are not closing down — but the reality is, I should not leave the house unless absolutely necessary due to my job and the people that I love and want to protect. Yes, I could still order online, but that option has just never been my favourite method of shopping — how am I able to smell the bath bombs through a computer screen?

So, I decided to do a little research and figure out a recipe for lovely bath products that would give me everything I needed, like relaxing smells and fizzing bath water that would surround me in colour.

Bath bombs have always seemed like a tricky thing to make, what with needing citric acid, molds and all the other weird ingredients that some of the recipes call for. I didn’t want to have to go on a hunt just so I could make something at home. Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of avoiding the crowds?

After an hour of searching, I finally found a recipe that nixed the citric acid, added some cream of tartar and voila — I was blessed with these perfect little homemade bath bombs that I didn’t even have to go shopping for.

Note: I did buy the bath bomb mold a few years ago from a store in Calgary, but I’m sure you could also order them online for a few extra dollars. I would also recommend having more than one as it takes a lot of patience to make these bombs one at a time.

Now, if you are anything like me, you might add all these ingredients together and be highly confused at just exactly how they are supposed to create anything that resembles a bath bomb — but trust me, if you follow these few simple steps, you will have your very own bath goodies.

A couple things to note:

– I usually use my hands as I find it creates the best distribution of materials.

– If the mixture seems weird, don’t freak out like I did the first time. As it dries, it will harden in the molds and turn out perfectly.

– These bath bombs aren’t super fizzy — we can’t all be Lush, as sad as that makes me. But, they leave the water smelling and feeling super nice.

– As you work, the mixture will start to dry up — just keep spritzing it with water to get that perfect hold.