DIY: LUSH Bath Bomb

LUSH bath bombs have been making appearances on Instagram and making girls bathtubs turn beautiful shades of blues, purples, oranges, and pinks. Pretty much, they’re to die for right now. Who doesn’t want their bath to look pretty? But going on the LUSH website and adding a few bath bombs to your cart is just heartbreaking.

Averaging 7 dollars a bath bomb, some as high as 11 dollars for just one, well, seems like you’d be soaking in a tub of regret instead of bliss. So what’s a girl to do? With a few ingredients you have lying around the house, and only one that you have to order off of Amazon, you can make bath bombs as your own leisure- and without making your wallet cry for just one.

What you’ll need

Baking soda
Corn Starch
Epsom Salts
Citric Acid (this you can just order off of Amazon)
Canola Oil (or any thin oil)
Flavored Extract
Food Dye

To make the bath bomb pretty (pick one or two):

Sprinkles
Glitter
Sugar Flower (cake decoration)
Tennis Ball (mold)

Recipe yields 1 small bath bomb.

What to do

First, in a bowl you’ll want to measure out 2 tablespoons baking soda, 1 tablespoon corn starch, 1 tablespoon Epsom salts, 1 tablespoon citric acid and mix them together with a fork. Make sure they are evenly distributed throughout.

Then, in a jar you’ll want to measure out ¼ teaspoon of canola oil and ¾ teaspoon of your choice of flavored extract. We used strawberry extract and highly recommend it. Put these in the jar and close it up and shake it so the liquids get mixed together.

This next step is the trickiest part of the whole process. Pour the liquid onto the dry ingredients, but make sure to stir right away or even as you are pouring. You’ll see the liquid start to cause the bath bomb mixture to fizz and you don’t want yours to fizz out right there in the bowl. After you’ve given that a good mix and it’s started clumping together, go ahead of pick your food dye color and add two drops. Adding too much liquid will also cause your bath bomb to fizz out before you ever get to use it. Mix until the color is even.

Here’s where you can get creative. If you want the normal shape of a bath bomb, take a tennis ball and slice it right down the middle to give you your sphere mold. For the decorations, you’ll want to place your sprinkles, glitter, or other decoration at the bottom of your mold. Then take the mixture you just made and begin packing it. Be sure to pack it in there good.

Once you’re done putting them into the mold, let them dry for at least 24 hours before taking them out of the mold and wait 48 hours before using them or packaging them if they are a gift.

Now you’ve got the ingredients to make bath bombs whenever you please— and for a lot cheaper! You can get creative with the decorations and molds, and even try layering two different colors of the mixture for another cool effect. So now go ahead, take that bath guilt-free with your homemade bath bombs.