A common problem when making bath salts at home is that they often clump together and lose their fragrance. By adding a "secret ingredient" that professionals use when making bath salts, you will have much better results. Read on to find out about this "secret ingredient" for great bath salts:
Homemade Bath Salts - The "Secret Ingredient" For Success
By Michelle Lee Summers
Homemade bath salts are easy to make yet they look like a purchased gift from an exclusive spa. You have likely seen pretty colored and scented bath salts in bath and body stores for up prices up to $15.99 a bottle. What you probably didn't already know is that the markup on this product can be up to 600%. Ouch! This means that the raw ingredients to make them cost only about $2.28. I refuse to pay this ridiculous markup on this bath product, and so should you, as they are so simple to make. How simple are they to make? So simple that a child could easily make them! But you should know that there is a "secret ingredient" that will greatly improve your finished product's ability to retain its scent, prevents caking and increases its shelf life.
The only ingredient that you may have a problem finding for your homemade bath salts is dendritic salt, and bingo--it's the secret ingredient! All other ingredients to create homemade bath salts can be easily found in your local drug and grocery stores. Dendritic salt is added to help the bath salts hold their fragrance better, as well as reduce the caking sometimes seen with salts.Dendritic salt is a man-made product. It is made by adding a very small amount of yellow prussate to sodium chloride. This makes the sodium chloride crystals grow in a star pattern, giving the dendritic salt a larger surface area. In turn, the larger surface area of the crystals enables the salt to hold on to the molecules of fragrance better than regular salt crystals can.
Although dendritic salt is an optional ingredient in homemade bath salts, it is advisable to use it if you are using essential oils in your bath salts. Essential oils can, and do, go rancid when exposed to the magnesium in Epsom and sea salts. Adding dendritic salt to your recipe can add a longer (and much better smelling) shelf life to your bath salts. If you can't find dendritic salt on the shelves of your local stores, there are a number of online suppliers that carry them, and they are not horribly expensive. One online supplier sells them for $3.36 for a 5lb. container. As well as preventing your essential oils becoming quickly rancid, the addition of dendritic salt to your bath salts recipe reduces the caking sometimes seen with salts.
Now that you know the "secret ingredient" in creating homemade bath salts, here are the other ingredients that turn a plain old soak into a real retreat. The other ingredients you will need are glycerin, Epsom and/or sea salts, baking soda,essential or fragrance oils, colorant and a little vegetable oil of your choice. That's it! Just stir these ingredients together and put in a pretty bottle to make an easy, colorful and thoughtful gift for family and friends that's kind to your wallet and the environment too. Even canning jars with lids make great containers for your finished product when you tie them with a pretty bow.
Curious about how you can make luxurious homemade beauty products like bath salts to save money and to avoid products with harsh chemicals on your skin? It's easy to make them when you know how! Visit http://homemadebeautyproducts.info for easy recipes and advice on creating your own beauty products from ingredients already in your pantry! Make Your Skin Glow--Start Creating Your Own Homemade Beauty Products with just a click!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Lee_Summers http://EzineArticles.com/?Homemade-Bath-Salts---The-Secret-Ingredient-For-Success&id=3337767
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