Elaine Green - BATH BOMBS: Easy Beginners Recipes To Unlock The Therapeutic Power Of Bath Bombs For Better Health

Additionally, kidsenjoy the fascination and fun that comes with making and usingthese bombs. But what exactly are bath bombs? They arehard-packed mixtures of natural chemicals and scents. Bath bombsare intended to fizz once they come in contact with water. Thefizzing is due to the carbon dioxide produced when the alkalinesodium bicarbonate commonly called baking soda reacts with thecitric acid in the water. The result is an aromatic bath water and amoisturized skin. It is not all about the fizz though.

Bath bombsare therapeutic due to the type of oils that were utilized in itsproduction. For instance, lavender has been used for thousands ofyears as a mild sedative which help to reduce stress, anxiety andinduce restful sleep. Thus lavender oil as a bomb bath ingredientis a natural de-stressor. There are other advantages to making andusing bath bombs such as: 1. They are easy and fun to make. 2.

They are all natural as you get to combineyour own ingredients. Commercial bombs contain lots of hiddeningredients that are not really good for the skin. An example ofthis is Sodium Laurel Sulphite. While this ingredient will give younice bubbles, it can burn the skin in its raw state. 3. 4. 4.

They will keep you smelling nice andfeeling fresh. Bath bombs are rich in fragrance. When you use it,the fragrance will be felt in your bathroom and its surroundingenvironments and the scents will also stay with you for severaldays. 5. They are affordable -you get to save up tohalf of the cost of commercial bath bombs. Basic Bath BombIngredients Dry: Citric Acid Citric Acid is a white powder that isresponsible for the tart taste of citrus fruit.

It reacts with thebaking soda and has been confirmed to help skin problems. Citric acid is very affordable. You can getthem in health-food stores, canning or baking section of yourgrocery store, wine making suppliers and pharmacies (since it is aneffective treatment for skin issues). Citric acid is also used in dyeing fabric, sosearch at an upscale/specialty art store or simply buy online. An alternative to citric acid is cream oftartar. However it is more expensive and stronger than citric acidso use half the amount as a replacement for citric acid.

Cornstarch Cornstarch is also a powdery substance. It iswhat binds the bombs and enables them float. It is cheap to buy aswell. Baking Soda Baking soda is a rising agent and the secretto our bath bomb! Salts Epsom salts eases tension and muscle pain. Itreduces swelling, relaxes the nervous system and eliminates toxinsfrom the body. Dead Sea Salts draw out impurities and toxins,detoxifies and reduces inflammation of the joints and muscles andjoints.

Wet: There are more than a hundred differentessential oils and every one of them has its own specific benefit.Therefore, it is easy to create a bath bomb with an essential oilthat provides a desired specific benefit. Other wet ingredients include carrier orvegetable oil, water and coloring. Getting The Right Consistency Getting the right consistency isthe trickiest part of making bath bombs. It is tricky in the sensethat it is easily affected by several factors. One of such is theweather which you have no control over. It may be too cold, too hotor even too humid.

Another factor is that fragrance oils react indifferent ways to the bath bomb mixture. Nevertheless, the perfect consistency can belikened to a perfect snow -powdery but easily packed together whengrabbed and squeezed. One way to test this is to squeeze a handfulof mix and drop it into a bowl. If it completely breaks apart, thenyou should add more liquid. If it remains fairly solid, then it isready to be molded. How To Know When Mixture Its Too Wet: It feels wet or excessively damp.

It is doughy or sticks on the mold or toyour fingers. It emits a LOUD hissing or a cracklingsound. How To Know When Mixture Its Too Dry: It is crumbly, pebbly or just hard. It feels sandy and slips through fingerseasily. It clumps together for 3-5 seconds and thencrumbles apart (you are almost there though). If you discover you have added too muchwater, simply add the prepared extra mix (see basic bath bombrecipe below) and soak it up.

Since it contains the perfect ratioof 2 parts sodium and 1 part citric acid, the balance will not bescrewed up. Adding only sodium or citric acid will lead to lessfizz power but manageable in an emergency. The right consistency should also be easy tomold and remove from mold. While you need to be a bit firm whenpacking them into the mold, they should stay together with minimaleffort. They should compress effortlessly and the edges of yourmold will almost touch or even touch. If you are using a roundmold, they will appear to drop right out of it.

When you take itout from the mold, they shouldnt stick in it. Ensure you regularly clean the mold duringthe batch making. Use a clean, dry cloth to wipe it clean. Do notleave your mixture for too long before you mold your bombs. This isbecause the water will evaporate and this will crack yourbombs. Molding Your Bath Bombs Molding can be a little tricky but youcan always get a way around it.

The difficulty is usually due tothe quantity of water in the bomb. The following tips willhopefully address many common molding problems: 1. Keep ThemSmall As a beginner, it is easier to make smallbombs than big ones. They can be handled without difficulty. Theyalso tend to stay together better than the big ones. 2. 2.

Use A Round Mold Or ASmooth One Do not use molds with sharp edges or corners.For instance round cookies, unlike those with sharp edges tend tostay intact. So rounder is usually stronger. If you are using anice cube tray, use one with rounded cubes. 3. To Mold: * Transfer the mixture into one half of themold with a spoon. * Fill the mold more than half full. * Fill the mold more than half full.

Setaside and repeat with the other half mold. Gently push the twohalves together and then squeeze firmly. * Remove the top half by placing a sheet ofcellophane in your palm and turning the unmolded half onto yourpalm. This will help in easily removing the other half of themold. * Carefully place the bomb on a clean &dry surface. Coloring Your Bath Bombs LiquidColoring To tint your bombs, add the liquid coloringfirst as it is water-based and may be perfect for the rightconsistency.

There are limits to using it liquidcoloring-You can only add so much before the mixture gets too wet.Again you cannot make certain colors such as vibrant pink or purplevery well. Your liquid color will foam a bit and ball up when youattempt to blend it in. To enable it distribute more evenly, use theback of your spoon to squash the little balls against the side ofthe bowl. Add more water if necessary until you get theaforementioned consistency. The water will also speed up thedistribution of the color. If you mistakenly make it too wet, usethe extra mix.

Using More Than One Color It is not difficult to make swirled orlayered bath bombs; it only required an extra bit of labor andspace. Begin by mixing up your dry stuff, fragrance,oils and other ingredients that arent water. Next, separate themixture into as many bowls as you want colors. Mix the water andcolor in each bowl, separately. This is better than just puttingthe colors into one big bowl and then shaking it a few times to getthe swirl- some people do this. However, the danger is that it may blend toomuch together, giving you a disagreeable color rather than a niceswirled effect.