Anatomy of a Bath Bomb
Anatomy of a Bath Bomb, or... ...a Look Inside one of Lush’s Best Selling Bath Bombs.
Wouldn’t you like to make bath bombs as good as Lush’s? How about exactly like Lush’s? (How about even better than Lush’s?) Lush bath bombs are legendary among bath lovers. Their international success proves that there are thousands of people all around the world who gladly pay $4 to $8 per bomb plus shipping for these fun, elegant, single-serving bath treats! But as Jenni, a new Bath Bomber, so eloquently puts it: “I started to realize the girls at my local “LUSH” stores eyes lit up when I hit the corner. I spent tons of money and sometimes I got a hit with a soap or bomb I liked, sometimes I didn’t. Some would leave my bathtub stained, some would lose their scent, etc, etc.” Yes. Bath products can be an expensive addiction; after all, they cost more than a Venti Mocha from Starbucks. Two bath bombs per week averages about $700 per year, and that’s just bath bombs, not anything else. Don’t you wish you could have more of these addictive fizzy bath balls without spending so much? Are there things you wish you could change about Lush’s and Basin’s offerings? Do you wish for a stronger, more lasting scent? More moisturizer? I’m sure it’s not a big surprise that you can make them yourself. I’m sure you “know” that it’s possible, but you might not think you can do a good enough job for your
Bath bombs are easy to make if you have basic kitchen skills. The skill level you need is around the same level as making a cake from a mix. Not rocket science, but a little common sense.
standards. You may not be confident that your bath bombs will be “pro” enough, but that’s the reason for this paper! You may have even seen ‘recipes’ on the internet for bath bombs, but maybe they didn’t exactly have the same status as a Lush bath bomb... The homespun versions might seem basic and boring, not fun and cool like the official brands.
Anatomy of a Bath Bomb
In this guide, “Anatomy Of A Bath Bomb,” I show you how you can make the exact same thing. I mean exact, with the very same ingredients. I take one of their best-selling bath bombs, one with “special ingredients” that are probably outside your comfort zone, and dissect it so that you can see for yourself how there’s nothing to it. So now, let’s look at Lush’s web site, where they list the ingredients of their bath bombs, and analyze one of their bath bombs. For this analysis, we’ll choose “Butterball,” which is a best-seller because of its moisturizing qualities and vanilla-based scent. At four and a half stars, with 651 reviews on their website, we can’t go wrong. The ingredients of Butterball are: 1) Sodium Bicarbonate 2) Citric Acid 3) Cocoa Butter 4) Synthetic Musk 5) Ylang Ylang Oil 6) Perfume See it on the website at: http://usa.lush.com/cgi-bin/lushdb/ 12?expand=Bath Let’s look at the ingredients one at a time. First of all, the combination of sodium bicarbonate plus citric acid is what makes the bath bombs fizz. When you add water, they react together and produce: trisodium citrate, a harmless weak chemical » that is used in many soft drinks for flavor carbon dioxide, the bubbles » more water » The gradual production of carbon dioxide is what makes the bubbles.
Next is cocoa butter, which you can get at
Why make bath bombs? It’s frugal! You can make them for $1, not $5. You can make the perfect bath bomb! Learn to customize with the ingredients and scents you want. You learn a valuable, fun skill for life. If Lush suddenly went out of business, you’d still be able to get your fix. You’ll never be emptyhanded when you need to give a gift. Handmade bath bombs are special, and you can make them with 100% natural ingredients for those who are sensitive to synthetic scents and chemicals. It’s incredibly fun, creative, and satisfying as a hobby or a business.
Anatomy of a Bath Bomb
almost any drug store. The cocoa butter melts in the bath water, assuming it’s hot enough, and moisturizes your skin. When you read the reviews, some people like this, but others call it an “oil slick” because there is a fair amount in there! Synthetic musk is a general category of aroma materials, and musks are used in almost every class of fragranced product from laundry detergents to high-end perfumes. Musks have to be synthetic because of animal cruelty laws; real musks haven’t been used in the US since the seventies. Ylang ylang essential oil. Essential oils come from a single plant source and are concentrated “oils” made from either pressing or steam distillation. Essential oils are used for both scenting and therapeutic purposes; however, whatever skin-benefitting properties the ylang ylang has won’t matter with the small amount used in these bath bombs. Perfume. This is a general term for any fragrance, either natural or man-made. In fact, they could have listed all the fragrance components as simply “fragrance” or “perfume,” but they didn’t because Lush wanted to emphasize the use of natural fragrances in their bath bombs. In this case, the fragrance is probably a vanilla fragrance oil with some man-made fragrance materials. Natural vanilla frargances tend to be expensive, and they also turn products brown. That’s harmless, but unattractive to customers. This bath bomb has no color, so we don’t need to worry about that this time. If you wonder if it’s really worth it to make these things, I’ve often wondered that too. Sometimes, a do-it-yourself lifestyle seems more trouble than it’s worth. I’m like that with sewing; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given away all my fabric and patterns, just to hack away at it again in a few months. Don’t give up - just remind yourself why you wanted to make bath bombs in the first place. Need a hint? » You can save moneey! Two baths bombs a week equals $700 per year, not counting tax and shipping. » Your bath bomb habit is self sufficient. If Lush or Basin suddenly went out of business, you could still get your fix. » You’re wealthy when you can produce your own goods. You can have an abundent “harvest” of bath bombs whenever you want. » You can get the bath bombs you want without worrying if they’ll be discontinued or suddenly become hard to find. You can customize them to your exact needs. » Practice makes perfect... or rather, practice makes professional. You have the potential to make bath bombs better than any company if you keep at it. Next to your own creative ideas, Lush’s bath bombs are plain!
Anatomy of a Bath Bomb
As you can see, there is not a lot to a bath bomb, even from the most popular company. Where people get tripped up, though, is when they encounter unfamiliar ingredients. “I can’t possibly make that because it has this special ingredient,” is the common feeling. “I don’t have this special ingredient, so mine won’t be as good.” Here’s the thing - you can get these special ingredients most of the time if you’re willing to look for them and use your head a little. The real issue is that most people are afraid of the unfamiliar and won’t go out of their comfort zones. It’s much more comfortable to give up at the first hint of uncertainty and just leave it up to the experts. That’s partly why experts are paid a lot. Now, let’s get these ingredients in your comfort zone!
Baking soda
Anyone can get this at the grocery store. One sixteen ounce box is enough to make four good-sized bath bombs, and you can find it in bulk at Costco or Sam’s Club.
Find it online:
http://www.chemistrystore.com/sodium_bicarbonate.htm http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product. asp?product_id=othbakings&searchflag=1 http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/bulkmisc/ bulkmisc.html
Citric acid
This isn’t as common, and unless you’re in a pinch, I do not recommend getting it from the grocery store. It’s too expensive! Get it online, and it only costs two dollars a pound.
Find it online:
http://www.chemistrystore.com/ citric_acid.htm http://www.fromnaturewithlove. com/product.asp?product_id=ot hcitric&searchflag=1 http://www.mountainroseherbs. com/bulkmisc/bulkmisc.html
Cocoa butter - you can get
this at the drug store in sticks. Or you can get it from a bath and body supply store online, where it will be less expensive.
Find it online:
http://www.chemistrystore.com/ butters.htm#Cocoa%20Butter http://www.fromnaturewithlove. com/product.asp?product_ id=butcocoa&searchflag=1 http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/search/search. php?keywords=cocoa
Synthetic musk.
I’m guessing here is where you felt that little seed of self-doubt. “How can I get this?? It sounds expensive and hard to find.” Nothing could be further from the truth - I am going to give you one of the best sources for this material. They are called “The Perfumer’s Apprentice,” and they are a little perfume supply and custom blending shop in California. They carry many dif-
Anatomy of a Bath Bomb
ferent kinds of synthetic musks, as you will see. Which one should you choose? This is a sweet vanilla / tropical floral blend, so I recommend Ambrettolide because it is not too “animalic” and will blend well with the vanilla scent. Musks are fun, but they can be off-putting at first when you get into the really animal-smelling ones.
Find it online:
http://store.perfumersapprentice.com/ac-440.html But that was easy, wasn’t it? One mystery, solved!
Ylang ylang essential oil is pretty easy to find. You can get it at Whole Foods or
Henry’s or other health food store - those are just the ones in my area, Southern California. If you order online, it will be less expensive. You don’t need much since it is strong! I recommend the 1/4 ounce size.
Find it online:
http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=eoylang&searchflag=1 http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=eoylangexmad&searchflag=1 Perfume, as we discussed earlier, is a general term for fragrances both natural and manmade, much like “natural and artificial flavoring” is an ingredient in food. This is the only ingredient for which you have to do a bit of detective work. In other words, use your nose! Though we may not know exactly what’s included in “perfume,” I’m willing to make a good bet on a vanilla-cream fragrance oil. There are a lot of these to choose from since vanilla is one of the most popular classes of fragrance for bath and body products. If you’re a purist, you can try to match the fragrance exactly by trying a number of vanillatype fragrances. But one of the main benefits of DIY is how you can custom tailor your products to suit yourself. In essence, you can get exactly what you want as long as you are willing to work for it. There are only two kinds of people who can get exactly what they want - the very, very rich / royalty, and do-it-yourselfers.
Find it online:
http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=fovanmusk&searchflag=1 http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=fotahvanilla&searchflag=1 http://store.perfumersapprentice.com/fr-64.html http://store.perfumersapprentice.com/fr-100.html http://store.perfumersapprentice.com/fr-109.html You can also get ylang ylang fragrance, not essential oil, if you want to safely experiment
Anatomy of a Bath Bomb
without worrying about wasting precious ingredients. It’s certainly less expensive! In my opinion, using a fragrance oil instead of essential oil will not matter in this case. The amount of essential oil in a bath bomb is not very much.
Find it online:
http://store.perfumersapprentice.com/fr-121.html http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product. asp?product_id=foylang&searchflag=1 So there you are - the famous “Butterball” bath bomb, deconstructed. I hope by giving you this paper, I’ve made your comfort zone a little bigger. The truth is, you can make bath bombs every bit as good as the ones you can buy in stores, even the ones with “special ingredients.” If you don’t know how to mix and mold your bath bombs, stay tuned for the new, revised Bath Bomb Fast Guide. (The old one has been taken down because it really needed a facelift.) But even without the Fast Guide, you can get excellent bath bomb making instruction online. It won’t be as thorough or complete, but start by typing “how to make bath bombs” in Google. You will get many pages with the basic recipe and instructions. Now, feel the satisfaction of making your own bath bombs when you next relax in the tub, or enjoy the looks on your friends’ faces when you present your handmade bath bombs as gifts. Before I sign off, let me leave you with this thought: You now have the power to make bath bombs “as good as” Lush’s! But this is just the beginning. With your innate creativity, you can surely make something better! Something just for you, customized with your own signature ideas and unique philosophy. - Katherine
Important Note: I am no longer going to publish articles online because maintaining my website takes too much time. Instead, I’m reducing the number of pages online, and releasing PDFs like this one to my member list whenever I come out with something new. The site will just be posting updates and occasionally polls. You’re probably already a member since you’re getting this paper, but just in case, you can join here: http://www.excellentlivingguide. com/bb_fastguide.html