Bath Salts are a great idea for a homemade holiday gift and have a very simple and inexpensive basic recipe. You can easily customize it by changing the type of sea salt you add (yes, there are several) adding a little color and by experimenting with different essential oils, alone or in combination with other essential oils.
* 3 cups Epsom Salt
* 2 cups sea salt of your choice
* 1/2 ounce of fragrance or essential oil
* 1 cup baking soda (acts as a water softener)
* 3 tbsp. Glycerin or oil--optional
Measure your the salts out into a mixing bowl and mix well together, breaking up any clumps or lumps as you go. When well mixed, add 1 cup baking soda. If you want to make more or less bath salts than this recipe calls for, just remember to keep the Epsom, sea salts and baking soda in a 3:2:1 ratio. If you add either the glycerin or the oil, it helps to keep your skin from drying out a bit, as well as makes the salts nice and shiny. If you are using glycerin and color, mix them together separately before adding to the salt mixture.
Note: Bath products containing glycerin and jetted tubs are not a good combination, so don't fire up the old Jacuzzi and pour a bunch of these in. The glycerin is hard on the jets.
An optional, but highly recommended addition to your bath salts is either dendritic salts or Natrasorb Bath. Both help prevent clumps and lumps in your bath salts, and help your blend hold its fragrance much longer. For a recipe this size, you would add 1 cup of dendritic salts or 1/2 a cup of Natrasorb Bath. Add your fragrance directly to whichever of these you choose before adding to the salt/soda mixture.
Add color by the dropful until your desired shade is reached. You can even divide your bath salts and add color separately to the smaller lots, for a beautiful, multi-colored final result. Measuing out a portion of your bath salts into a ziplock bag works great for adding color; just knead it in. Coloring a portion of your bath salts and combining it in layers with the uncolored salts gives a very nice effect as well.
[phpzon]Epsom salt, 1, HomeGarden[/phpzon]
[phpzon]sea salt, 1, HomeGarden[/phpzon]
[phpzon]liquid glycerin 4 oz, 1, HealthPersonalCare[/phpzon]
[phpzon]vegetable glycerin, 1, HealthPersonalCare[/phpzon]
[phpzon]essential oil sampler, 2, HealthPersonalCare[/phpzon]
