Happy Easter! Kaolin Bath Bombs Recipe

This recipe uses a fabulous British product - Cornish Kaolin Clay - and makes a ROCK hard bath bomb. Perfect for novelty bath bombs such as the massive Easter Egg shell pictured here.  

Colourful & calorie free, this was made using a cracked effect chocolate egg mould (you can now buy one here) which we filled leaving a hollowed out centre.  Doing so enabled us to "fill" the egg with 60mm bath bomb eggs.  The two halves were then simply tied together with curling ribbon so that the inner contents could be seen.

Using the clay appears to speed up the drying time and in turn helped with moulding such a large form.

In combination with Witch Hazel, this is a fairly easy recipe to use for all situations and one that you could adapt to make any kind of bath bomb fizzer.  

INGREDIENTS:

600g Sodium Bicarbonate
300g Citric Acid
50g Corn Flour
75g Kaolin Light BP Grade Clay
10ml Coconut Fragrance (any of your choice)
Acid Red water soluble powder colour
Witch Hazel spritz to bind 

METHOD:

Combine all of the dry ingredients thoroughly in a plastic or glass bowl kept for the purpose.
Add the tip of a teaspoon of powder colour and mix well. The colour will not be apparent until you add moisture, so don't be tempted to add too much.
Add your fragrance whilst mixing constantly with (gloved) hands
Spritz 5 or 6 sprays at a time with Witch hazel, repeating 6 or 8 times or until the mix holds together when pressed in the palm of your hand. The correct consistency is the same as is needed when making successful sandcastles - damp but not over wet.
Press into the mould with fingers, spreading evenly and leaving a hollow in the middle of the mould.
Set aside to dry for 15 minutes before removing carefully and allowing to dry completely (1 hour)

You can of course use the mix in any mould and adapt the colour and fragrance to suit.

Enjoy!



All Natural Bath Bomb Recipe

This is a really simple recipe that uses no artificial fragrance or colour.  

Even if you find fragrance overpowering, you can still enjoy a relaxing and cleansing bath filled with fizz and the sensory delights of aroma & colour that comes only from gorgeously natural ingredients.  

The pure Cocoa Butter in this recipe will literally feed your skin, leaving you feeling pampered and moisturised without any effort.

As you would expect, the aroma of these beautiful bath bombs is gentle and soothing; perfectly suited to those who struggle with strong smells or indeed anyone who needs that bit of me time.

What you might not expect is that the aroma from this recipe is soooo nice! Enjoy :)

Ingredients

250g Sodium Bicarbonate

125g Citric Acid

50g Corn Starch (Corn Flour)

50g Dried Mango Powder

Orange flower water in a spritz bottle to bind (about 15-20ml needed here)

Grated Natural Cocoa Butter (unbleached to keep its natural properties and aroma)

Handful of Calendula flowers
(All of the above ingredients are available at www.bathbomb.biz)

The above will make around 5 Bath Bombs when using a 60mm two part mould, or will make dozens and dozens of little fizzers using silicone ice tray type moulds.  We also used a PVC soap & bath bomb tray type mould and these worked really well.

Method

Place the bicarb, citric and corn flour in a large plastic bowl & using gloved hands, combine the ingredients

Add the Mango powder & combine, squashing any lumps between finger & thumb (Mango has a tendency to clump)

Taking a lump of Cocoa Butter, grate in around 10-20g and stir through the mix

Add a handful of Calendula Petals (Not too many or you may have problems getting the mix to hold its shape)

Spritz with Orange Flower water 5-6 sprays at a time whilst moving the mix around with your hands.  When the mix is holding together if squeezed in your palm, its ready for moulding. (Think damp sandcastle sand - do not over wet)

Place into your moulds and allow to dry.  Wrap to preserve the aroma until required.

As this recipe contains a "butter" please use caution - the bath will be slippery.

Tip when you get out of your bath, just pat your skin dry allowing the film of Cocoa Butter to remain and work its magic!

If you prefer a stronger aroma you can simply adapt this recipe by adding your favourite fragrance or essential oils.  We recommend using a citrus Essential oil - Tangerine or Mandarin work really well with the ingredient combination here.  Use around 1% so for this quantity you'd need around 4.5ml.

What do you think?  Let us know if you'll be giving these a try we would love to hear from you.

And if you'd like to share pictures of your own creations please do join us on Facebook here

Top 10 Tips - Bath Bombs

As we've had many people asking for help with their Bath Bomb making recently, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit this earlier post.

Hand made bath bombs are a joy to use and so much fun to make.  With a few pointers, it's simple to learn to create your own bath fizzers easily at home and it's a great activity to share with children.  Once you've mastered the basics, you can create gifts for friends and family to be proud of.  After all, there's nothing quite like a hand made gift!

As always, feel free to contact us if you need more help 

1) Select your Citric Acid carefully; Super fine granules (table salt size) are best. Powder is too volatile, whilst coarse granules have a lumpy appearance and may "bobble" as your bath bombs dry out.

2) Be fussy about your Bicarb! Fine food grade Sodium Bicarbonate is best. Technical grade may contain unwanted impurities and granular varieties will result in a coarse looking bath bomb.

3) Want smooth bath bombs? Use Cornflour (Cornstarch) as 10-15% of your dry ingredient content. Cornflour also helps control the fizzing reaction between the ingredients as you are mixing.

4) Dry Ingredients = food grade.   Some of the ingredients such as Bicarb, Citric & Cornflour can be sourced in food stores.

5)Wet ingredients = cosmetic/toiletry grade. Fragrance, colours, etc should be purchased as cosmetic/toiletry grade.  Essential oils should be pure or blended with base oils.

6) Don't use water. Really, don't. Using water to bind your mix causes fizzing & expansion in the mixing process. Fact. Result = stressful and unattractive mad panic to get the mix to stick and mould without turning into a fizzing flop. (You can do it - but why?!) Vegetable Base Oils (Sweet almond, Grape Seed etc) or Witch hazel work well. Witch Hazel speeds the drying time so that your bath bombs can be safely handled/removed from their moulds within minutes.(depending upon the size of the mould) 

7) Spray your "wet" ingredients onto the mix. If using Witch Hazel to bind, always spritz from a fine mist "finger" spray. Oil can be "dripped" into your mix or sprayed on with the aid of a trigger type spray (the sort you get on a Febreeze bottle). Spraying helps distribute the oil more evenly and therefore there is less risk of some premature fizzing in the bowl.

8) Wear gloves and mix with your hands. You will learn to detect the correct consistency for making the perfect bath bombs, but believe me you will get there faster by using your hands as opposed to a spoon. Simply spray or pour with one hand whilst mixing with the other.

9) Ensure your moulds or containers are dry. Keep them away from the bowl when mixing/spritzing to avoid wetting them accidentally.  Sound obvious? Hmmm well we've been there.  Wet moulds = stuck & stranded creations! If this happens and you cannot remove your bath bomb - run the whole mould under the tap - it's preferrable to breaking the mould.  Alternatively, I've taken an entire-mould-stranded-but-otherwise-perfect bath bomb into the bath before. (Waste not want not as my Gramma said.) 

10) Don't over wet your mix; aim to achieve the same consistency that is needed to make really good sandcastles.  Damp enough to hold together but not sloppy. You can always add more moisture but if you've overdone it, it's almost impossible to recover your mix and adding more dry ingredient rarely helps.

11) Avoid steamy kitchens! Set your creations aside to dry in a damp free atmosphere.  If you've cooked a roast, rustled up some bath bombs and set them aside in your kitchen you may find when you return to admire them later that they've developed "bobbles". This is simply the damp in the air and can be avoided.

We hope these have been useful tips...We'd love to hear your experiences, so please do comment below :)

PS... ok so there are 11 top tips. Things don't always go to plan.... a bit like making bath bombs! Perhaps the best things in life are meant to be a little harder to achieve?  Philosophy aside, if you'd like a few more free recipes, hints and tips - why not sign up to our newsletter?  We won't spam you, but we will send you exclusive offers, the latest product news and free tips & recipes from time to time

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Christmas Pudding Tutorial

Christmas Pud Bath Bombs

These little "puddings" are of course a bath bomb in disguise.
Packed with the usual array of fizzing ingredients we've added some detoxifying Epsom Salts (for texture as well as therapeutic value) and a little skin loving Sweet Almond oil for a touch of luxury.  You can make them without and stick with a simple Witch Hazel bath bomb recipe if you prefer.



For authenticity we've also thrown in a handful of sugar strands - the sort you'd decorate a cake with.  These will dissolve in a warm bath with no ill effect but will help create a Christmas Pud effect.  Again, omit these if you prefer.

Ingredients (will make 5/6 large pudding pot puds or several 50 or 60mm round puds)

500g Sodium Bicarbonate
250g Citric Acid

100g Cornflour (optional but advised if using spherical rigid moulds)

15g Epsom Salts 
15ml Sweet Almond Oil (Or other vegetable base oil such as Grape Seed)
10-15ml Toiletry Grade Fragrance Concentrate - Christmas Pudding is ideal!
1/2 tsp of Chocolate Brown Water Soluble Colour Powder
Crystalina Cosmetic Glitter
Chocolate and White Sugar Strands
Witch Hazel as needed to bind the mix
Holly & Berry decoration or similar
Red and Green cake sprinkles (any design)(optional)
Small grip seal bag & a Sixpence (optional)

(Click HERE for a kit containing the ingredients to make your own Puds!)
You will also need; two plastic mixing bowls, gloves and a mask if susceptible to the dust created when mixing the dry ingredients.  If you wish to use up any leftover mix, have an ice cube type mould or some petit four cases handy.

Finally the other magic "ingredient" you will need for these is the pudding pot.  We've reused a clean steamed pudding bowl - the type you can buy containing a chocolate or treacle microwave pudding.  (Isn't that the perfect excuse to rush out and buy a fridge full?!!) You can also use an old plastic shop bought christmas pudding bowl provided it is the smallest size.  If you can' t get these though, you can still make a gorgeous pudding in a regular 50 or 60mm 2 part mould.

Step 1

Wearing gloves all the time and using your hands to mix;

Mix Bicarb, Citric Corn flour and Epsom Salts in one bowl.  When thoroughly combined, put one third of the mix into the second bowl.  The larger bowl will become your brown "pudding" portion of the finished product and the smaller bowl will remain white and act as the white sauce on top of the pudding.

Step 2 The large bowl

Add the brown powder colour.  Stir thoroughly. 
Add sprinkles if using.
Add 5-10ml of fragrance concentrate a few drops at a time stirring constantly.
Add 10ml of Sweet Almond Oil and stir thoroughly
Spritz with Witch hazel 5 or 6 sprays at a time and mix well until your mixture is holding together - like the sand you make sandcastles with this mix should be damp but not wet.  If you can form a clump in your hand that doesn't crumble, it's probably ready.


Step 3 The small bowl

Working quickly...

To the small bowl add some crystallina and stir through if using
Add 5ml of Fragrance concentrate and mix well
Add 5ml of Sweet Almond Oil and mix well
Spritz with Witch hazel as above

You will need to work quickly to ensure your large mix doesn't dry out whilst you're mixing.  If it has, spritz a few times with Witch Hazel and continue to the next step.

Step 4

Moulding.

If using pudding pots

If you want to top your pudding with glitter you can simply sprinkle some into the pot before filling.

Fill the pot to about a fifth of the way up with white mix - this will be the top of the pudding.

Ensure that the mix is compact - push down with your fingers as you fill the pot. Don't worry about an even edge as these are most effective with a natural looking wavy edge to the "sauce".

Follow immediately with the brown mix filling the pot to the top, pushing the mix down as you do so.  Level the base with your hands.

Set aside and repeat until all pots are full.

Allow to dry for about 15 minutes and then de mould. We suggest you don't leave it longer or your puddings may become stuck. 

To de mould simply upturn the pudding, supporting it underneath with your hand and place on a flat surface upside down.  Push gently in the middle of the pot and if necessary very gently squeeze the sides of the pot.  The pudding bomb should just slide out.  If not, leave 5 minutes and try again.

Add your decoration at this point, before the bath bomb is too hard.  Using a holly topper gently push the "stalk" into the bath bomb - avoid too much pressure or your bath bomb may crack.  If you do see a crack forming carefully push it back together.

Sprinkle with glitter if using.

Leave the puddings at least another 45 minutes before attempting to wrap.

Using 2 part moulds;

Take one half of a mould and fill with brown mix - over fill if you can.  Take the second half, pop a few red and white sprinkles into the mould if using and then use the mould to scoop some white mix into itself.  Now carefully scoop some brown mix into this second half, again using the mould.  What you're trying to do is create a small "blob" of white on top of the sphere to represent the sauce.  Really, it isn't crucial how you do this as the combination of the two colours and some red and white sprinkles or a sprig of holly will do the trick and create a stunning effect.  When you have the second half full bring the two halves together smoothly and without twisting the halves.  This does take some practice therefore to avoid endng up with bowls of mixed colour, we suggest you perform this bit of the moulding process over a sheet of kitchen paper. 

Allow to dry in the moulds for 10-20 minutes according to size and then gently ease one half of the mould away. At this point if you're using a plastic Holly topper we suggest you put that onto your bath bomb now, gently easing the "stalk" into the white area of the bath bomb.  Sprinkle with glitter if using.

Allow to set further for 10 more minutes before removing the final half.  Your puds will need another 30-50 minutes to dry to the point where it's safe to pick them up and wrap them.

Using leftover mix

If you have some petit four cases, and your mix isn't too dry you can try rolling some into small balls and dusting with glitter or even cocoa powder for a truffle effect.  Or even just creating hand rolled mini puds.  If your mix is really dry you can always spritz or add a tiny amount of Almond Oil to help with this.

If you really want to go a step further and add a touch of nostalgia why not embed something in your puddings?  Using a small grip seal bag, there's just enough room for a coin for instance.


Enjoy!  This recipe will be featured in Making Magazine's November issue, do have a look at their website packed full of craft ideas. 

Top Ten Tips for Making Bath Bombs

1) Select your Citric Acid carefully; Super fine granules (table salt size) are best. Powder is too volatile, whilst coarse granules have a lumpy appearance and may "bobble" as your bath bombs dry out.

2) Be fussy about your Bicarb! Fine food grade Sodium Bicarbonate is best. Technical grade may contain unwanted impurities and granular varieties will result in a coarse looking bath bomb.

3) Want smooth bath bombs? Use Cornflour (Cornstarch) as 10-15% of your dry ingredient content. Cornflour also helps control the fizzing reaction between the ingredients as you are mixing.

4) Dry Ingredients = food grade.   Some of the ingredients such as Bicarb, Citric & Cornflour can be sourced in food stores.

5)Wet ingredients = cosmetic/toiletry grade. Fragrance, colours, etc should be purchased as cosmetic/toiletry grade.  Essential oils should be pure or blended with base oils.

6) Don't use water. Really, don't. Using water to bind your mix causes fizzing & expansion in the mixing process. Fact. Result = stressful and unattractive mad panic to get the mix to stick and mould without turning into a fizzing flop. (You can do it - but why?!) Vegetable Base Oils (Sweet almond, Grape Seed etc) or Witch hazel work well. Witch Hazel speeds the drying time so that your bath bombs can be safely handled/removed from their moulds within minutes.(depending upon the size of the mould) 

7) Spray your "wet" ingredients onto the mix. If using Witch Hazel to bind, always spritz from a fine mist "finger" spray. Oil can be "dripped" into your mix or sprayed on with the aid of a trigger type spray (the sort you get on a Febreeze bottle). Spraying helps distribute the oil more evenly and therefore there is less risk of some premature fizzing in the bowl.

8) Wear gloves and mix with your hands. You will learn to detect the correct consistency for making the perfect bath bombs, but believe me you will get there faster by using your hands as opposed to a spoon. Simply spray or pour with one hand whilst mixing with the other.

9) Ensure your moulds or containers are dry. Keep them away from the bowl when mixing/spritzing to avoid wetting them accidentally.  Sound obvious? Hmmm well we've been there.  Wet moulds = stuck & stranded creations! If this happens and you cannot remove your bath bomb - run the whole mould under the tap - it's preferrable to breaking the mould.  Alternatively, I've taken an entire-mould-stranded-but-otherwise-perfect bath bomb into the bath before. (Waste not want not as my Gramma said.) 

10) Don't over wet your mix; aim to achieve the same consistency that is needed to make really good sandcastles.  Damp enough to hold together but not sloppy. You can always add more moisture but if you've overdone it, it's almost impossible to recover your mix and adding more dry ingredient rarely helps.

11) Avoid steamy kitchens! Set your creations aside to dry in a damp free atmosphere.  If you've cooked a roast, rustled up some bath bombs and set them aside in your kitchen you may find when you return to admire them later that they've developed "bobbles". This is simply the damp in the air and can be avoided.

We hope these have been useful tips...We'd love to hear your experiences, so please do comment below :)


PS... ok so there are 11 top tips. Things don't always go to plan.... a bit like making bath bombs! Perhaps the best things in life are meant to be a little harder to achieve?  Philosophy aside, if you'd like a few more free recipes, hints and tips - why not sign up to our newsletter?