I absolutely love a long, hot bath in my over-sized whirlpool tub. In my perfect life I soak for and hour every night surrounded by candles while I read a great novel and sip herbal tea just like Oprah. In my real life I have taken a bath exactly 5 times in the 6 years we have lived in this house. How does that happen? My boys have used my big whirlpool tub more than I have. Way more. So I decided that I needed a little motivation. And what better motivation is there than lavender bath salts. If I wasn’t busy writing this post I’d be in the tub right now.
Good quality bath salts are surprisingly expensive which I don’t understand because the ingredients are cheap. Really cheap. The great news is that you can make them yourself in 5 minutes and you can customize them any way you want especially with the scent. Lavender is my favorite for its sedative qualities but the choices of essential oils are many. You can buy essential oils here.
Epsom Salt–not the kind of salt you eat but actually a mineral compound called magnesium sulfate which most people are deficient in and can be absorbed through the skin. Some of the countless health benefits include relaxing the nervous system, curing skin problems, soothing back pain and aching limbs, easing muscle strain, treating cuts, relieving colds and congestion, and drawing toxins from the body.
Mineral Salt—contains many beneficial minerals and nutrients that keep your skin smooth and soft. Salt also draws out impurities, pollution, oil and dirt from the skin.
Baking Soda—makes a wonderful spa-like bath for soaking away aches and pains and detoxing. It also cleans the tub and the drain, as a bonus!
Lavender EO—widely used for its calming and relaxing properties, supports healthy respiratory function, eases muscle tension, helps skin recover quickly.
I only use therapeutic grade essential oils because they are of the highest purity you can buy. Your skin is the largest organ in your body and what you put on you, you put in you, so whatever brand you use make sure it is pure enough to take internally.
Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl, add your essential oils, stir it up and you’re good to go. How easy was that? I used one of my favorite therapeutic essential oils, lavender, and these salts smell divine. I also added some culinary lavender buds I had in my cupboard because I think it looks really nice and I am giving this batch away as a gift. If the bath salts were for me I would leave them out as the lavender essential oil smells wonderful enough on its own.
With the stress of the holidays upon us I am thinking this would make a great Christmas gift for my girlfriends. Everyone needs a little pampering this time of year and what better way to show someone you care than a beautiful jar of lavender bath salts. You can make a cute label, if you’re good at that sort of thing, but I like to leave it up to the professionals. I found these gorgeous labels on my new favorite website www.liagriffith.com. To get these tags go here: http://liagriffith.com/printable-lavender-bath-salt-labels/ but definitely spend some time browsing all the beautiful stuff on her site. Afterwards go immediately to your kitchen and make some lavender bath salt love. Your bathtub will thank you.
Lavender Bath Salts
3 cups Epsom Salt
3/4 cup mineral salt
3/4 cup baking soda
30 drops lavender essential oil
1-2 tbsp. lavender flowers (optional)
Mix Epsom salt, mineral salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Add essential oil and mix thoroughly to distribute scent. Add lavender flowers, if using, and stir to combine. Pour into a pretty container with an air-tight lid. Fill tub with hot water and add 1-2 cups bath salts while water is still running. Bathe often and enjoy.
Kim says
Thanks for the recipe! I’m pinning it 🙂 I am also a doTERRA rep: LOVE THEM! Whoo!
Fabulous Farm Girl says
Your welcome Kim! Make sure you set some time aside for yourself and take a well-deserved soak. Then check back here for more ideas on using your doTERRA oils in all sorts of fun DIY stuff:)
Annette Belanp says
I love lavender, thanks for sharing this!
Fabulous Farm Girl says
You’re welcome Annette–thanks for stopping by.
–Leah
Vidya Sudarsan says
Lovely! I never thought it would be so simple to make these salts..
Fabulous Farm Girl says
Thanks Vidya. Not only are bath salts simple and inexpensive to make, they also make really nice gifts. Have a fabulous week!
–Leah
MBSANOK says
Wow! I just was looking at the soap post you wrote. This also looks like a great project. And I absolutely love lavender — it’s the most relaxing scent.
Fabulous Farm Girl says
I agree with you about lavender. It’s one of my favorite scents and so great in a bath before bed. Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous week.
–Leah
Theboxqueen says
Love learning about this recipe for lavender bath salts. <3 I also adore baths and it's actually my mom time whenever I can sneak away for 15 minutes. 🙂 This looks easy enough to make at home which is so nice. Visiting from Sits Sharefest. XOXO, Elif
Fabulous Farm Girl says
I agree with you BoxQueen! It’s a good day when I get a little “mom-time” and can take a bath. You can make these salts up in a jif and they will turn your bath into a luxury spa. Well, as close as I ever seem to get anyway. LOL! Enjoy and have a great week.
–Leah
Michelle @ Vitamin Sunshine says
I love lavender. And I love making products like these at home and controlling the ingredients. This would make such a great gift! Pinning so I remember this at Christmas time!
Fabulous Farm Girl says
Hi Michelle–thanks for stopping by! I gave Lavender Bath Salts as gifts to my friends last Christmas. I got the cute glass containers at Walmart and the whole project was fairly inexpensive. Plus the reponse was great so I highly recommend it. Have a fabulous week!
–Leah
Michelle @ Green Earth Bazaar says
I love lavender and good ol’ soak. Sweet dreams will ensue. 🙂
Jolene says
I just made this again (because I absolutely love it!!), but this time I added the lavender flowers (that I found at Whole Foods). While it looks prettier with the lavender flowers in the bottle, it was a little weird having them floating around in my bath water. I probably won’t do that next time I make it.
Leah says
I agree Jolene! When I make it for myself I don’t use the lavender buds. It’s more for giving as gifts so your friends can have weird things floating around in their bath water. LOL!
Anna says
Ok, I have a question: I added baking soda as you indicate and something weird happened after 4 week or so: the salt turned into ugly flakes that do not dissolve but float on the surface, it looks really weird. Do you know what the reason might be? It was kept in a glass jar with a tight lid so I am puzzled.
Leah says
Hi Anna–I am stumped on that one. I’ve made this bath salt so many times and still have some I made almost a year ago. I’ve never had that happen. I’m not even sure how it COULD happen. I mean salt is salt so I can’t figure out how it would turn into flakes. Sorry I can’t be of more help but maybe try making it again with a smaller batch and see if it happens again. Good luck. 🙂
–Leah
Carolyn says
I love your humor and all your amazing recipies! I love doTerra oils too and made some bath salts with the same ingredients you listed above, at Christmastime…but every time I put the stopper lid on the bottle it would pop off a few minutes later! By the time it had stopped popping the salts had become very solidified…any ideas what I did wrong???
(it wasn’t your recipe, but the ingredients were the same)
Leah says
Hi Carolyn–thanks for stopping by! I must say that your question has me stumped. I’ve made lots of bath salts and never had that problem. I sounds like a build up of pressure but none of the ingredients I use would cause that. Did you possibly get some water in it. Baking soda and water will have a reaction and the water could explain why it solidified. Other than that I have no idea. If you can get it out of the container (using a knife or screwdriver to break it up) then I would put in a blender or food processor to get it back to the right consistency. Then spread it out on a cookie sheet and leave it out to dry for several days. It should be fine to use after that. Hope that helps!
–Leah